The session’s going well. Comfortably seated on leather seats, your team has efficiently dissected the product, juggled concepts, whisked the financials up and down in a cocktail shaker and set fire to the business plan. You’re off to a good start. As their leader, you summarize the teams’ exciting new ideas.  One colleague suggests amusing puns, another submits a carefully handwritten list. This could get tricky. There’s potential for disagreement in the ranks, with lots of sensitive

egos jostling for priority. You don’t want to offend anyone but you also want the right result. You need Tonglen.

The wisdom of Tonglen began with Geshe Chekawa, an 11th century Tibetan monk. Legend has it that he stumbled upon a book in his teacher’s room, open at the following lines: “Give all profit and gain to others, take all loss and defeat upon yourself.” Struck by these words, Geshe Chekawa devoted his life to developing the practice of Tonglen, which roughly translates as ‘giving with receiving’. This counter-intuitive concept attempts an ego-reversing process, focusing devotees on compassion; the aim is to literally exchange yourself for others, to both give and receive at once.

Imagine your colleagues as Tonglen monks. Dressed in orange robes, sitting cross-legged on the boardroom carpet, they breathe in, consciously inhaling and dissolving each others’ negative thoughts. As they exhale, the room fills with joy and compassion, a release of creative energy. Slip the suit back on and maintain your peaceful breathing. Now stand by the whiteboard, intently listening to your teammates. At the same time, beneath the surface, you radiate love and encouragement, diffusing tensions and setting everyone at ease with your confident composure.

What’s changed?  Not that much. You simply learnt a new word. If everyone in your team knew the word Tonglen, would that make a difference? Well, perhaps. Because once a new word has been introduced, it can shape an entire culture.

Another good word is Chutzpah, which roughly means initiative, risk-taking, guts. Example: a psychopathic young man kills his parents in cold blood. Hauled up before the judge, he pleads for leniency on the grounds that he’s an orphan. Or take the beggar you gave a two shekel coin; he hands it back, demanding a five shekel minimum. That’s Chutzpah.

If someone cuts you up on the motorway in Israel, or pushes ahead in the line with a cunning excuse ready on his lips, you may think he’s rude, but you might also admire his Chutzpah. He’s taking a chance, giving as good as he gets. He’s got spirit.

Not all Tibetans practice Tonglen, not all Israelis are Chutzpahnik. Still, wherever these words are widely understood, they deeply influence behaviour.

There’s bound to be plenty of Chutzpah in your team innovation session. Finally that guy in Accounts has a chance to tell his incredibly funny jokes, and the normally quiet lady turns out to have a thousand radical plans. That’s great. We want our teams to give their best. But giving is not enough. For Innovation to really work, for us to all stay friends, we must foster a culture of confidence, acceptance and equality among our peers. In order for them to give, we must be ready to receive.

Innovation is an enduring process, not a day off for inventive thinking. Lasting change comes when we leave the session a strong and supportive team. Consider, what word best describes your team? Chutpzah, or Tonglen? Choose carefully. The right word can transform a culture, creating the environment you need to bring about the visions on the whiteboard.

Space is limited.
Click here to reserve your Webinar seat

Do you sometimes feel your Marketing and R&D are from different planets? Talking different languages? Is there a way to create a common language that can improve our interactions?

If the situation in this clip is familiar, you may want to read on.  

In this free, 1hr, SIT - Systematic Inventive Thinking Webinar, we’ll share with you a simple approach that makes it easier to get different stakeholders understanding the value of your technology or product.  Whether you talk to investors, project teams, marketing or R&D, we guarantee, your next conversation will be a more meaningful one.

This webinar is geared towards those in the hi-tech industry (although all are very welcome).

Title:   Innovation Talk: What’s in it for me?
  
Date:  Tuesday, December 7, 2010
  
Time:  9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EST

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Click here to register

This solution seems quite elegant, but the reality is that even with a video substitute there are still a few vital characteristics missing.  The telecommuter using video chat software is confined to the computer of the person he is talking to and is not able to be part of the office culture. 

The ingenious folks over at Willow Garage (a company that develops open source software for robot applications) have taken telecommuting one step further with the introduction of the telepresence robot.  This “robot” allows telecommuters to move around the office, be part of meetings or presentations, and totally freak out the new guy.  Check out the video below to see the telepresence robots in action at Mozilla headquarters!

During the long recruiting process and gazillion interviews I went through way back then, I spent quite some time in the SIT reception area. Having recently left a corporate career at that time, I came to the interview wearing what I thought was an appropriate interview outfit: buttoned up shirt, dress pants and high-heeled stiletto-like sandals. The first indication that I may have gotten it wrong happened as I was riding the elevator up to the SIT offices and was asked: “are you going to see the weirdoes on the third floor?”

Pretty quickly I understood what it meant. The first thing I noticed going in was the shoes or in most cases, the lack thereof. Most of the people in the office were walking around barefoot. This was accompanied, what else, by short cargo pants and plain T-shirts. As I was digesting what I was seeing, examining my own outfit all over again and feeling oh so inadequate, I thought I spotted a woman with shoes on. As she approached, I looked more carefully and realized the one real pair of shoes I managed to spot, except for flip-flops and comfort footwear, was of a bright yellow color.

Once I joined the company, I got to know its routine that includes yoga in the office on Wednesdays which the managing director religiously attends; lunch for all the company together on Mondays; photography classes initiated and taught by one of our very own; learning days dedicated to expanding and deepening our knowledge by learning from each other about facilitation, the application (and constant development) of our own methodology etc.

As time went by I also got to know my colleagues: the one that fools you into thinking he speaks Russian fluently whereas he actually speaks fluent Gibberish with a perfect Russian accent, the one that roams the offices looking for company when he needs inspiration, the one that while eating lunch one day is already securing lunch for the next day, the one that speaks backwards, the one that travels with his miniature guitar to projects, the one that gives a loud chirp known as “koolooloo” to mark the receipt of good news, the one that organizes traditional bi-annual theme parties etc.

I also discovered that everybody certainly knows how to dress up appropriately, from head to toe, when meeting with clients and facilitating workshops.

I don’t know if this is what one would imagine when thinking of a company in the innovation area but along my 15-year career, I met all kinds of characters along the way. What stands out where I now work is that once I look beyond the shoes, I see people that have a spring in their step. It could very well be the freedom of walking barefoot…but probably it’s simply the privilege of enjoying what one does and each other’s company.

I am a couple of years at SIT now and you will still not catch me walking barefoot around the office but I do show up with the occasional flip-flops and Capri pants. While it is quite a relief to be able to dress down for work, I have to admit I still occasionally stare with a bit of nostalgia at the suits hanging in my closet. But I guess, I’ve probably become one of the weirdoes on the third floor…

If you are the kind of leader with the insight that innovation is important, and you also do not accept that relying on chance or unpredictable events are valid leadership qualities; if you are the proactive, hard worker who wants to create innovation, what can you do?

Here’s a suggestion for a good start:

* Acquire knowledge – Learn about how you can implement effective innovation through systematic and focused efforts. There are many good training programs and tons of literature for this. Start with a simple test, by asking your associates how they define innovation. If you can agree on this, you have a base to build on. Then move on to gaining more knowledge about principles and models for systematic innovation.

* Create a strategic plan for innovation – Integrate a long-term plan for innovation into your overall business strategy. The plan should answer five basic questions:

1. First, what are your goals for innovation and how do these help you fulfil your overall strategic business objectives?

2. Where do you see opportunities for innovation? By revamping your products, services, processes, your business model, marketing message or maybe even your overall business strategy. What segment of your business needs renewing?

3. How radical do you need to be with innovation, and what risks can you take? Is it enough to take small incremental steps forward or do you need to do something more radical to differentiate, add value, and gain the competitive edge?

4. How can innovation be organised and managed? That is, what processes do you need to implement and what tools, competencies, skills and resources—human and financial—are necessary to effectively run these processes?

5. How is innovation measured and controlled? Which metrics do you need to obtain information for good decision-making about innovation? How are these metrics integrated into your overall business scorecard and how are they linked to your management processes and incentive system?

* Put innovation on the agenda – Innovation should be a regular item on the agenda for your senior management meetings. It should be given the same status and time for discussion and decision-making as with any other business-critical activity.

These points are just the beginning, but beginnings are important. Make sure your senior management leads these activities.

Managers who want to invest in innovation and work to overcome structural and cultural obstacles in the organisation also need support. That’s why it’s important that initiatives like the ‘Nordic Innovation Leaders’ and ‘Innovation for Growth’ get encouraged to grow and strengthen.

For example, the industry-wide Nordic Innovation Leaders(N I L) was initiated two years ago, and is already the largest Nordic network of managers who lead innovation. Its vision is for Scandinavia to become a global leader in innovation. It is an action-oriented forum for sharing and developing practical knowledge and experiences.

The Innovation for Growth program was announced in the Dagens Industri, the Swedish daily business newspaper, on September 10. This program brings together industry, academics and other institutions such as IVA.

The most important result these initiatives can bring is immediately providing concrete support to managers who want to work with innovation. And they should be prevented from becoming simply another institutional talking forum that leads nowhere.

Consider carefully, is renewal and innovation important for your organisation? Do you regularly discuss the importance of innovation, and is it integrated in your business strategy? Does your organisation just hope for innovation to happen, or do you work proactively and systematically to bring innovation about, as you do with other mission-critical activities in your business? Do you walk the talk?

This post is based on an article that was originally published at InnovationManagement.se

Orren Shalit is the founder of SIT Scandinavia.

Gunnar Storfeldt is the CEO and a partner in SIT Scandinavia.

Orren, Gunnar and the rest of us at SIT would be happy to talk to you about innovation.

Click here to contact us

The center in Sderot is now part of the “Tachlit Center“, which serves over 70 youth at risk that have dropped out of conventional educational establishments, and through this work exerts positive influence on the entire community in various ways.

SIT was the prime facilitator for this innovation camp.

May Amiel is an account manager and a senior SIT facilitator.

May works with companies to create and deploy programs for enhancing innovation throughout the organization.

May and the rest of us at SIT would be happy to talk to you about innovation.

Click here to contact us

Most everyone strongly feels a need to continuously renew their commercial offering and working methods to keep competitive in the market. They follow the modern mantra of ‘differentiate and create value’ and to achieve this, everyone wants to be more innovative.

Indeed they all like to talk the creativity and innovation talk. Most managers agree that innovation is the last stronghold for competing in a global economy. Moreover, they are interested and fascinated by the thought of working systematically with innovation in order to gain a breakthrough to create growth and profitability for their organizations.

We all agree about all this… intellectually. But very few translate this talk into action.

Senior business managers spend much time on creating their business visions, objectives and strategies. These strategies get implemented through a process of taking these important goals for areas like R&D, HR, IT, QA, finance, and production and breaking them down into operative objectives that are delegated, measured and tracked.

But what about innovation?

Most often innovation stays as a fuzzy formulation contained in business or strategy planning. Often these same formulations are then communicated to the market.

Sure, everyone wants to be seen as innovative and pioneering! Obviously, many understand the importance of being able to adapt, innovate and renew. But the gap between cheering and actually doing is just too broad!

That’s the issue – Why so much talk and so little action?

There are exceptions. Electrolux has set up an ‘Innovation Office’ to develop the company’s innovation capability in order to create new commercial opportunities. But again, this is an exception.

If you’re interested, you can do a quick survey yourself: Pick 10 companies who advertise themselves as innovative or creative. Do this the easy way and look at their market communication and their annual reports. Call up to their headquarters’ receptionist and ask to talk to their innovation manager.

You can be sure that few will be able to find someone directly responsible for innovation. They might try sending you to someone at product development, business development or marketing. Very few have a specific person in a role that actively addresses innovation issues throughout the corporation.

Why then, is there such a gap between clear intellectual acceptance of how important innovation really is and actually proactively and systematically working for innovation?

Our experience is that this comes from the basic structures and business cultures in our society.

Just look at some of the major obstacles to innovation:

* Short-sighted business objectives – Blinding focus on quarterly results makes any greater innovation effort too risky. By definition, innovation is uncertain and anyone working on innovation risks missing their quarterly financial objectives – and being disqualified as a leader.

* Standard budgeting procedures – Setting annual budgets prevents companies from taking advantage of new ideas that come up during the fiscal year. Standard budgeting models restrain applying resources and financing for any opportunities that are not planned long in advance.

* Innovation is too vague – People still think of innovation and creativity as something almost mystical, where ‘lightning strikes’ or you have to ‘think outside the box’. Do you say ‘Getting an idea’ or ‘Creating an idea’? In the worst case, you’ve been part of a woolly, embarrassing creative exercise that didn’t lead to anything concrete. As long as you think about innovation and creativity as something fuzzy and uncontrollable, that you can’t direct or do systematically, then you will find it difficult to ‘do’ innovation.

* Lack of knowledge – People don’t know how to run innovation and leaders are educated to be ‘Masters of Business Administration (MBA)’ as opposed to ‘Masters of Business Innovation’. Regardless of how much they talk or write about it, most organizations lack a basic understanding of what innovation really means. This lack of knowledge makes misunderstanding more common. As in ‘Innovation can’t be measured or controlled’; ‘Great innovations can’t result from goal-oriented processes, since they are unpredictable events’; ‘Innovation depends on the right kind of culture instead of the right kind of processes, methods and tools’.

* Consensus – Managers in the certain companies are not allowed to make individual decisions about new investments or high-risk projects. Rather, they have to seek consensus and support among many others. This slows innovative efforts and creates resistance. For example, there is a significant difference between Germany and Sweden about the kind of decision a manager can take in relation to ideas that are not fully spread and supported.

In our next post we will present our suggestions for things that can be done in order to translate the innovation talk into real actions.

This post is based on an article that was originally published at InnovationManagement.se

Orren Shalit is the founder of SIT Scandinavia.

Gunnar Storfeldt is the CEO and a partner in SIT Scandinavia.

Orren, Gunnar and the rest of us at SIT would be happy to talk to you about innovation.

Click here to contact us

B. How many innovation books have you read over the last year?
1. They write books on this stuff?
2. 1-3
3. 2-6
4. I lose count

C. How many Innovation companies are you familiar with?
1. Ooh, an innovation company!  What’s that?
2. 1
3. 5
4. All of them

D. How many innovation conferences did you attend over the last 2 years?
1. I’m sure I’ll visit one some time soon…
2. 1
3. 2
4. Attend… or speak at?

E. What’s the most effective way to encourage innovation in your organization?
1. Reward it
2. Make it “ok” to try and fail
3. Provide management backing
4. All of the above

F. What’s your preferred approach for coming up with new ideas?
1. Wait for a good idea to spark
2. Sit with a few colleagues and brainstorm
3. Use systematic tools for innovation
4. Call in the professionals innovation facilitators

G. What is the best reason for kicking off an innovation initiative?
1. There’s never a good reason to change existing successful practices
2. When there’s time and money
3. Only in a crisis situation
4. Innovation can always help me find better ways to reach any organizational goals

H. What does an organization need to do for it to become more innovative?
1. Create a constant pipeline of new products
2. Provide skills for innovative thinking for many employees
3. Put organizational support structures in place (steering committee, clear criteria for success in innovations, etc.)
4. All of the above

I. What is your reaction when you hear the term “innovation”?
1. Last year’s buzzword
2. Show me the money
3. I’m about to hear something exciting
4. Motivation to ask “What can we be doing differently and better?”

J. How many innovation blogs do you subscribe to?
1. What’s a blog?
2. 1
3. 3
4. Everything that I can get my hands on

K. What do you do to overcome your mental fixedness?
1. What’s fixedness?
2. Brainstorm
3. Try and challenge my assumptions
4. Fixed, moi?

L. What is the greatest barrier to organizational innovation?
1. My refusal to share my ingenious ideas?
2. Different kinds of fixedness
3. No clear method of measuring innovation efforts
4. Seeing innovation as separate from day-to-day business

M. What, in your opinion, is the most effective way to secure your company’s long-term future?
1. Keep on doing what we know works
2. Copy our hottest competitors
3. Re-think and improve our business model, products and practices
4. Make me CEO

How You Scored

13-25
You sound like you put the “no” in Innovation… 
Playing it safe, sticking to good, common-sense business practices, you are dependable and a steady performer.  However, keeping an open mind can help you improve your company’s performance.  Innovation is more than last year’s “buzzord” – you can come up with new ideas that can make you more competitive in an ever-changing world.  It might actually be your safest bet.

Tip for your type:
You’ve made a good start by visiting our innovation blog, keep reading and we’re sure innovation will soon become a habit.

26-38
You’re clearly an innovation champion.
You have a well-rounded, holistic view of Innovation and are clearly already using it to your advantage.  Although you realize that your individual contribution plays a major role, you know that it’s a team’s innovation effort that delivers the most effective results.

Tip for your type:
Experience a systematic, counter-intuitive approach to innovation that challenges conventional methods, learn more by reading the Harvard Business Review article: “Finding Your Innovation Sweet Spot?” (available from the HBR website or info@SITsite.com)

39-52
You’re an innovation master and mentor
You implicitly understand innovation to be a key driver of your business success – and experience has proven to you that it’s a vehicle to achieving a host of top business objectives, like organic growth, cost-cutting, and becoming more sustainable.  You’re consulted by peers and colleagues looking for someone to champion their cause to do things a little differently – and you’ll fight in their corner, safe in the knowledge that it’s the innovators who are reshaping the world.

Tip for your type:
When they make you CEO, be sure to call us in for an organizational innovation project – we have much to learn from you. info@SITsite.com

Join our free inventive thinking webinar. For additional info and registration click here