INNOVATION: It's About Time!
During the past few years I've noticed a curious paradox heading its ugly rear among business leaders tooting the horn for innovation. On one hand they want the rank and file to step up to the plate and own the effort to innovate. On the other hand, they are unwilling to grant the people they are exhorting any more TIME to innovate.
Somehow, magically, they expect aspiring innovators to not only generate game-changing ideas in their spare time, but do all the research, data collection, business case building, piloting, project management, idea development, testing, report generation, and troubleshooting in between their other assignments.
Tooth fairy alert!
This is not the way it happens, folks! Not only is this approach unreasonable, it's unfair, unbalanced, and unworkable. You cannot shoehorn game-changing innovation projects into the already overcommitted schedules of your overworked workforce. If you do, it won't be innovation you'll get, only half-finished projects and a whole lot of cranky people complaining to you in between meetings.
Aspiring innovators don't need pep talks. They need TIME. Time to think. And time to dream. Time to collaborate. And time to plan. Time to pilot. And time to test. Time to tinker. And time to tinker again.
That's why Google and 3M give its workforce 20% of their time to work on projects not immediately connected to its core business. That's why W.L. Gore gives its workforce a half day a week to follow their fascinations. That's why Corel instituted it's virtual garage program.
"Dig where the oil is," Edward deBono once said. Indeed! And where is the oil? Right beneath the feet of each and every employee who is fascinated by the work they do, aligned with their company's mission, and given enough time to make magic happen.
Need proof? 50% of Google's newly launched features were birthed during this so-called "free time" -- midwived by engineers, programmers, and other assorted wizards happily following their muse.
The fear? If you give people "freedom" they'll end up playing video games and taking 3-hour lunches. Alas, when fear takes over, folks, (the same fear Peter Drucker asked us all many years ago to remove from the workplace), vision is supplanted by supervision and all his micromanaging cousins.
Time to innovate is not time wasted. It is time invested. Freedom does not necessarily lead to anarchy. It can lead to breakthrough just as easily. Remember, organizations do not innovate. People do. And people need time to innovate. Time = freedom. Freedom to choose. Freedom to explore. Freedom to express. And yes, even freedom to "fail."
If you've hired the right people, communicated a compelling vision, and established the kind of culture that brings out the best in a human being, you are 80% there.
Now all you need to do is find a way to give your people the time they need to innovate.
(And hey, if you've found a way to do this successfully, let us know and we'll share the results with Heart of Innovation readers some time soon.)
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at July 23, 2008 12:36 AM
Comments
Yes! Yes!!! Yes!!!!! And by the way, sometimes innovators need down time that may look totally and completely "unproductive" eegads!! They may need to watch a movie, read magazines, play--God forbid---games. But there's got to be research out there (Mitch, you probrably have this...) that supports the idea that when we take time to just futz, we're giving the creative parts of our brains time to innovate and come up with ideas in the free flow.
Years ago I worked for a magazine. You would have thought we were curing cancer at the pell mell rate that we worked every day. My favorite time was when a bunch of competitor magazines would come in. I loved sneaking away and taking time to flip through them. Always inspired me with new ideas that wouldn't come to me when I was in a stressed out mode trying to get the work done!
Posted by: Lynn Kindler ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 24, 2008 12:00 PM
Hola,
Having enough free time is indeed crucial, but this is only the first step: people need tools that can help them ideate and manage their innovation efforts. Having the time without having a clue on how to use it might be frustrating (to say the least). Companies that wish to be innovative should develop a Culture and Practice of Creativity, and conduct programs that both teach participants new skills and processes, and help them overcome the barriers that can hinder inventiveness.To read more about one such method, visit SIT's innovation blog at www.sitsite.com/blog
Posted by: mimi at July 29, 2008 04:37 AM
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