Search this site

Fostering innovation is a critical leadership responsibility. Leading in today's turbulent and digital marketplace requires more than cliché advice about out-of-the-box thinking. Leadership performance expectations are increasingly more complex. Leaders are expected to deliver low cost and high reliability, standardization and personalization, global consistency and local sensitivity, to name a few. Advances in technology are driving this evolution as leaders scramble to provide choices to stakeholders with competing priorities. The challenge leaders face is that our thinking is easily limited by the familiar. A closed mind is a hard thing to open. It is a classic "blind men and an elephant" parable problem where an individual perceives absolute truth based on subjective experiences. The conventional advice for leaders to think outside the box does not go far enough to produce significant positive change. Leaders looking to innovate need data-informed creative thinking. “There’s one thing worse than change and that’s the status quo.” John le Carre Debunking an Innovation Myth Innovation and analytics thrive in a change-based environment. A commonly held myth is that innovation comes from an epiphany versus hard work, personal sacrifice, and taking risks. The story of how Isaac Newton discovered gravity is a commonly used example of the widely held oversimplification of innovation. In reality, Isaac Newton used mathematics to explain how gravity works, rather than an apple falling on his head that lead to the discovery. The epiphany aspect of innovation is like when the last piece of a puzzle fits together. What matters is the ability for leaders to clearly see a problem with the talent to solve it rather than the epiphany moment. What Leaders Really Need Technology is collecting a deluge of information that has the potential to make or break any organization. In a 2019 Gartner survey of HR leaders, only 21% believe their organizations effectively use talent analytics to make better decisions. Descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive, and cognitive analytics provides leaders with technology-enabled data-driven models and visualizations within the innovation process. Leaders need the ability to leverage analytics in each of the four phases of innovation: Problem exploration: Answering what are the possible problems? Problem selection: Answering what problems should be solved first? Solution exploration: Answering what are the possible solutions for the selected problem? Solution selection: Answering what are the best solutions to the selected problem? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a GameChanger Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the world. AI promises to enhance leaders' decision-making speed by making sense of the deluge of data available today, better managing creative complexity and asking and answering questions better throughout the innovation process. Today, AI is already positively impacting each of the four phases of innovation. In one recent case study involving the solution selection phase, a team utilized AI modeling to identify highly-rated features important to 1000 stakeholders from more than 60 countries. The AI model proved to be 23% better at predicting highly-rated features than average community ratings. The case study suggested that AI could indeed help innovation leaders automate solution selection. The volatile marketplace rewards speed and speed creates time for leaders that can be used to generate more significant advantages. We can partner with you to develop a more future smart organization and get the workforce introduction to Artificial Intelligence and data analytics right. Partner with us and build increased organizational creativity and a culture that fits the future of the business you need. Contact us to schedule a conversation. References: Bartlett, R. (2013). A practitioner's guide to data analytics: Using data analysis to improve your organization's decision-making and strategy. McGraw-Hill. New York. BCG Henderson Institute. (2020). In conversation with Yves Morieux about complexity. https://bcghendersoninstitute.com/in-conversation-with-yves-morieux-about-complexity-858c7ccf7b30 Berkun, S. (2010). The myths of innovation (1st ed.). O'Reilly Media, Inc. Kakatkar, C., Bilgram, V., & Füller, J. (2020). Innovation analytics: Leveraging artificial intelligence in the innovation process. Business Horizons, 63(2), 171-181. Kanter, R. (2020). Think outside the building: How advanced leaders can change the world one small innovation at a time. Hachette Book Group, Inc. Ledet, E., McNulty, K., Morales, D., & Shandell, M. (2020). How to be great at people analytics. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/how-to-be-great-at-people-analytics Upcoming Webinar Series We know you are going to love these complementary leadership and professional development events! Organizational Talent Consulting’s webinar content is developed to help leaders meet today's complex workforce and digital challenges. Our free live webinars deliver superior leadership development based on the latest research with no travel costs. Participants interact directly in question-and-answer discussions with subject matter experts and authors on crucial topics to enhance expertise. Webinars are recorded and shared with participants for convenient on-demand access after the live event. Topics include leadership, strategic planning, coaching, change management, and more (register and learn more).

Research findings show that up to 95% of employees are actually unaware of or do not understand their organization's strategy. Failing to recognize the spatial gap between the door and the train's platform at the station can lead to personal injury. Likewise, too often in organizations, there is a significant gap between the created strategy and the realized strategy that puts the organization's performance at risk. Leaders can learn to mind the gap between created strategies and realized strategies by applying specific leadership competencies. Intelligence and self-assurance are essential thinking competencies for leaders to develop and apply to improve organizational performance. "It is impossible to formulate a strategy, let alone a "best" or preferred strategy, without engaging in strategic thinking" (Abraham, 2005, p. 5). Leaders need to have the intelligence and confidence to make sense of the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous reality that modern organizations operate within. Strategic thinking in an organization needs to be continuous, adapting to the shifting market and organizational capability. Empathy, energy, and humility are essential skills and abilities for leaders engaged in strategy. Taking a strategy created to realized requires effective communication. It begins with listening to employees for understanding the needs of the business and their motivations and potential concerns that strategy can produce. Also, in the absence of humility, leaders can incorrectly assume they have all the answers from their perspective, leading to significant gaps between created and realized strategy. Successful organizations are distinctive from their competition, and likewise, their strategies are unique to the culture and the organization. Distinctive means either behaving differently or doing something different than the competition. In addition to core leadership competencies organizations need to consider the organization's differentiated performance. References: Abraham, S. (2005). Stretching strategic thinking. Strategy & Leadership, 33(5), 5-12. doi:10.1108/10878570510616834 Hughes, R. L., Beatty, K. M., & Dinwoodie, D. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organization's enduring success. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Pollitt, D. (2005). Curtis fine papers aligns strategy and leadership style with business priorities: Three pillars of development for top executives. Human Resource Management International Digest, 13(6), 33-35. doi:10.1108/09670730510619312 Thompson, J., & Cole, M. (1997). Strategic competency - the learning challenge. Journal of Workplace Learning, 9(5), 153-162. doi:10.1108/13665629710169611 About the Author: Jeff's knowledge and expertise include strategic planning facilitation, strategy design, driving change, and workforce strategies to achieve influence and grow organizations in the pharmaceutical, retail, and food and beverage industries. Jeff Doolittle is the founder of Organizational Talent Consulting in Grand Rapids, MI. He can be reached at info@organizationaltalent.com or by calling (616) 803-9020. Visit https://www.organizationaltalent.com/strategic-planning-solutions to learn more about strategic planning services provided.