Earlier this week at the World Innovation Forum, some of the foremost experts on innovation discussed trends in corporate and social advancements. Here’s my rundown of the five concepts that stood out above the rest.
Grassroots development
Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor, talked about the grassroots model of innovation, citing that innovations are often the result of smaller organizations entering a market at a low level and committing to improving a core competency and/or product little by little. Giving the example of solar energy in Mongolia, Christensen suggests that green technologies may be coming from small regions and markets currently using this technology out of necessity, and committing to improving it incrementally. Toyota, Sony and others have adopted a similar model — introducing very simple products to underserved markets, and then slowly growing a base for them as they’re developed and perfected.
A passionate and motivating culture
Tony Hsieh, CEO at Zappos, is well known for leading his organization with an emphasis on culture and happiness. Far from your average CEO, Hsieh spends time studying the psychological elements of happiness and incorporating them into the Zappos culture. Through the Zappos structure, employees have control over their daily lives and larger career, are engaged in opportunities to progress, and are actively connected to the meaning of making other people happy. Zappos invests tremendous effort in training individuals, including a $4,000 bonus to new hires who quit after recognizing a poor fit with the company. Incidentally, Dan Pink, author of Drive, asserts that human beings are most motivated when they are involved in systems rich in autonomy, mastery and purpose.
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It was interesting to note the fact that all of these leaders have different ideas about innovation and motivation, so there really is not one magic answer for how to foster growth and advancement. The two ideas that stood out to me were having a passionate and motivating culture, and also the innovations that echo and reflect humanity. I think it’s important as a leader to create an environment that is conductive to the types of goals that you want your followers to accomplish. It’s important that the ambiance is set so that everyone can perform to the best of their abilities. Also, it is important for a leader to be a compassionate person in some aspect. Compassion will allow the leader to really connect with followers and avoid corruption from too much power. Having compassion and helping people that are not as fortunate as you makes you more thankful for what you do have.
ReplyDeleteYou mention "ambiance". How does a leader set that ambiance? What does s/he have to do so that everyone can perform their best? Maybe another way to ask that question is to reflect on an experience where you performed your best - what type of environment was in place, and how did the leader set that up?
ReplyDeleteFrom all of the concepts talked about from the World Innovation Forum, I think Tony Hsieh's ideals on bettering his employees was very endearing. As a CEO he works on letting employees control their own lives and take control of their happiness. It seems he really cares about those who work for and with him. He strives to help them better themselves to the best of their abilities.
ReplyDelete“Effective innovations echo and reflect humanity” is the one line in this article that really resonated with me and my idea of leadership. I think of all ideas of innovation mentioned that this is the most influential and impactful. What is a leader if not someone who relates to his or her followers and guides them to be the best societal contributor they can be? A leader who truly relays this to colleagues is a leader who can govern a group of followers with respect and effectiveness. The ideas and actions created by leaders should be a direct reflection of the needs and wants of the followers with still striking a balance with ethical practices.
ReplyDeleteI think the most important aspect of this is the factor of creating a passionate and motivating culture. If the employees are happy and motivated, then they will be working at their peak. If they are excited to come to work each day because they genuinely enjoy it, then that is the best way to attract the best and brightest employees because they will want to go somewhere where they are challenged and they want to work.
ReplyDeleteI love how Hsieh at Zappos gives a $4,000 dollar quitting bonus to new hires for recognizing they are a misfit in the company. According to a recent Harvard study it can cost as much as 3 time an employees average annual salary to deal with a bad hire!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.integriview.com/PDF/The%20Cost%20Of%20A%20Poor%20Hire.pdf
I think that Hsieh is an innovative leader for his solution to the problems facing companies who have made a pore decision on an employe.
In this way he has surrounded himself as a leader with followers who genuinely want to follow and believe in the mission of the company!