Innovation

Mapping the Innovation Gap

Published date: December 7, 2023 в 10:48 pm

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Category: Innovation,Organizational Innovation,Strategy

Once you have a systematic and routine way to innovate, you are confronted with a new problem – how to decide how much innovation is enough.  For many, this is an odd question.  If innovation is essential for survival and growth, most people would want all the innovation they can get.  But that is oversimplifying.  Too much innovation can overload the system, confuse the organization, and lead to ideation fatigue.  So how much is enough?

Here is a useful analysis that can tell you how many ideas are needed to reach your specific growth targets called “Mapping the Innovation Gap.” The steps are:

  1. Determine your revenue goals in each year over a specific time horizon. Base this on your firm’s strategic planning time horizon (usually 3 to 10 years depending on the industry).  Use the actual revenue targets from your company’s business plan.
  2. Break these annual revenue targets down over a mix of products, new and existing, in each year. Some firms call this a revenue cascade or revenue waterfall.  It shows for each year how much of the revenue comes from existing products and how much comes from new products.
  3. Estimate your Innovation Yield (number of new ideas needed to produce one new product). This varies by industry and by company depending on factors such as level of investment, core competencies, and access to technology.  Various think tanks and consultancies have estimates such as the curve pictured above.
  4. Estimate your typical idea-to-launch Lead Time (how much time it takes to develop and launch a product once it is conceived). As with the Innovation Yield, this will vary. Take a look at past product development experience and determine an average time (in years).
  5. Plot the number of new ideas needed in each year to produce the necessary new products in subsequent years. Take the number of new products needed in a specific year and divide it by the Innovation Yield.  Then plot this number back in time by the amount of Lead Time to develop ideas.

What you end up with is the number of new ideas that need to be generated each year to have a realistic chance of achieving future revenue growth targets.  It can be a sobering number depending on how aggressive your targets are.  With this number, a general manager can then task the team to “schedule” innovation, and then hold them accountable for generating the necessary number of ideas.

The bottom line:  To grow, companies need a systematic innovation method, and it needs to be applied systematically.

Innovation Archetypes

Published date: December 1, 2023 в 10:43 pm

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Category: Innovation

An archetype is an original model of a person, ideal example, or a prototype after which others are copied, patterned, or emulated; a symbol universally recognized by all.  Archetypes put context to a situation.  We use archetypes, for example, in marketing.  We create brand archetypes to assign a personality to the brand.  An example of such a model is shown at right.  In political debate, it’s useful to understand whether a commentator is an “archetypical democrat” or an “archetypical republican.” This helps frame their comments so we know where they are coming from.

Listening to the Voice of Innovation is the same. As I read blogs, interviews, and books on innovation, I try to determine the author’s innovation archetype so I know where they are coming from.  I observe at least four of these.

The four Innovation Archetypes are:

  1. Innovation Doer: These are the practitioners of innovation…people who innovate on a regular basis. The Innovation Doer is on the front lines and feels both accountable and motivated to come up with new and useful ideas.  They may or may not use a systematic approach. They approach situations with a natural inclination to change the status quo rather than preserve it.
  2. Innovation Watcher: These are people with a strong interest or obsession with innovation created by other people. They are fascinated by novelty. They consume it, read about it, and report on it. They marvel at what others create but stop short of serious innovation themselves.  They report useful insights about innovation and innovators. They add value by commenting on trends and milestones in the world of innovation. Entire websites such as Gizmodo and Engadget fit this archetype.
  3. Innovation Preacher: These are the voices that inspire others of the need to innovate. They make the case for innovation and change. They relate innovation to our everyday lives as well as to the global economy.  They create both hope and fear…hope in terms of what can be created through innovation, and fear from the consequences of not innovating…from being “disrupted.”
  4. Innovation Teacher: These are the people who teach methods and processes of innovation.  They infect others with tools to create new ideas.  Teachers are interventionalists. Their students become Doers (if they have taught them well).  A number of university professors and innovation consultants fit this archetype.

It is likely there are more innovation archetypes than these four.  Others could be defined around some of the brand archetypes displayed in the model above.  Certainly there are people who display multiple archetypes, perhaps all four.

In the corporate domain, we need all four archetypes. Those that preach create the mandate for change.  They mobilize the leadership and staff to focus on innovation as a source of organic growth. The Doers and Teachers tend to put things into motion.  Watchers are the “sense makers.”  They are trend spotters. They have a unique perspective on external innovation to give useful context to internal innovation.  A lot of corporate mergers and acquisition departments fall into this category.  They are “hunters” of opportunity.

As you listen to the Voices of Innovation, see if you can spot their archetype.  Who are the leading Innovation Preachers in our innovation community, for example?   Also, ask yourself: what is your archetype? Which do you aspire to become?  Most importantly, how will you get there?

Choosing Innovation Consultants

Published date: November 16, 2023 в 1:32 pm

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Category: Innovation,Strategy

The innovation consultancy landscape has become immensely complex, dynamic, and varied in the last several years, especially when discussing quantity. There are a variety of methodologies, approaches, as well as consultancies of all sizes. Several large accounting firms have made acquisitions of innovation consulting firms, which means the distinction between the mega-consultancies and the more boutique consultancies has become blurred.

Since the innovation consulting firm atmosphere is so dense, there are some common sense rules of thumb one must use when choosing an innovation consulting firm. Luckily, our good friend, Drew Boyd, created a list of criteria that you can utilize when choosing an innovation consulting firm.  However, due to the richness of the current marketplace and the dynamic approach, some of this list is no longer relevant. While this may be the case, it still includes a lot of useful advice. The below advice and tools will help you make an informed and educated decision when choosing an innovation consulting firm.

Choosing Innovation Consultants

Choosing an innovation consultant is challenging for two reasons: the client is not always clear what type of innovation they want, or they are not sure what type of innovation a consultant offers.

Here are three factors to consider when choosing an innovation consultant:  1.  TYPE of consultant, 2.  METHOD used, and 3.  ROLE of the consultant.

TYPE of consultant

The innovation space has become so crowded that I group them into four types (I-D-E-A):

INVENTION:  These are consultants that help you create new-to-the-world ideas.  They have a particular expertise in creativity methods or idea generation tools.  Their main focus is generation of many new product or service ideas.

DESIGN:  These are consultants that take an existing product, service, or idea and put some new, innovative form to it.  They have a particular expertise in industrial design or human factors design.  Their main focus is transforming the way a product is used or experienced.

ENGINEERING:  These are consultants that help you make the new idea work in practice.  They have a particular expertise in technology, science, research, and problem solving.  Their main focus is building it.

ACTUALIZATION:  These are consultants that help you get the innovation into the marketplace.  They have a particular expertise in marketing processes, brand, or commercial launch of a product or service.  Their main focus is selling it.

The challenge is many consultants claim to be all of these.  While true for some, my sense is that all firms started off as one type and then expanded to cover the others.  The question to ask yourself is: would you be better off matching your need to their original core expertise, or would you be better off going to a one-stop shop…a firm that can do it all even though their core expertise is, say, design.  How do you know what type the firm really is?  Study the biography of their founder.  What was the founder’s education, experience, work background, interests, etc.  The founder is where the core orientation of the firm begins.  The other practice types get bolted on later.

METHOD used

Step Two is understanding their method.  The first question I ask consultants is, “Do you know how to innovate?”  The second question is, “How?”  I want to understand their method of innovation, and I want to be able to explain it to other people.  I want to know the efficacy.  Has it worked in the past and will it work on my project?  Show me the data.

ROLE of the consultant

Step Three is understanding the role of the innovation consultant.  Is this a DIY (do-it-yourself) approach where you are given some software or other resource to create innovation on your own?  Is this a DIWY (do-it-with-you) approach where the consultant leads and facilitates groups of your employees to innovate together?  Is this a DIFY (do-it-for-you) approach where the consultant takes your problem specification and comes back with their recommended solutions?  Or, is this training?  All of these roles are valid depending on your need.

I am impressed with the talent and variety of the consultants in the innovation space today.  It becomes even more impressive when you select the right one for the job.

Launching Innovations: The Do’s and Don’ts

Published date: October 19, 2023 в 1:21 pm

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Category: Innovation,New Product Development,Strategy

At some point as an innovation leader, you and your team will launch new innovations into the market place. Those could be new products and services, it could be a new advertising campaign, or simply displaying your products at a trade show. These initiatives are an important test of your leadership. So here are my tips – the DO’s and DON’Ts for launching new initiatives.

First, lead through people. That means delegating to your team rather than trying to take on these projects yourself. Your first priority is to create a team of A players. So now is the time to use them. Thoroughbreds like to run and run fast, so put them to work on these initiatives. If you’re thinking that “it’s easier to do it myself than to explain how to do it,” forget it. When you assign a new initiative to a person, tell them what you need done and what success looks like. Let them figure it out from there.

Next, be visible during the launch of any new initiative. There’re a lot of reasons for that. First, it motivates your people when they see you care enough to be part of their event. Second, it never hurts to have another pair of hands in case a team member needs help. As an innovation leader, don’t put yourself above the team when it comes to the dirty work. Hey, a good leader needs to pick up the broom and sweep the floor just like everyone else.

Finally, hold people accountable for the outcome. It’s critical that you give people constraints up front so they know the boundaries of what they can and can’t do. Measure those results and reward people for what they achieve. If they exceed the boundaries you set for them, you gotta point it out to them.

Now, let’s look at the don’ts.

First, whatever you do, don’t micromanage your people. Details are important in any initiative, but if you get in the habit of pointing out every last detail of a project, you’re telling your team that you don’t trust them. That will eventually undermine your leadership.

Next, never upstage your team members responsible for the event when the initiative is launched. If they do all the work but it’s you that gets in front of the camera to take all the credit, your team won’t ever be loyal to you again. Now it’s okay to manage up a bit and keep your bosses informed about the initiative, but just be sure to give credit to your team for their hard work. And by the way, when you give credit to others instead of taking it all yourself, your bosses look at you as someone who’s going to move up the ladder.

Finally, avoid playing the blame game. If the initiative doesn’t go well, take responsibility. Don’t start naming others on your team as the guilty party. You want to give that team member feedback about what could have been improved. But publicly blaming them for the failure is a mistake. As the leader, stand up and take full responsibility. But then go back and understand what went wrong. What were your assumptions? What unexpected things happened that hurt the initiative? And most importantly, what are you going to do about it next time? And that’s what great innovation leaders do. They create a competent team that continuously learns, and gets better every day.

Why people don’t like innovation sessions – 7 things you can do to fix it

Published date: September 23, 2023 в 3:10 pm

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Category: Innovation,Innovation Facilitation

I find that when you invite your coworkers to an innovation session you generally receive one of these responses:

  1. Amazing! Can’t wait to have a day to meet with passionate like-minded people and really crack this topic.
  2. If you can’t find anyone else…
  3. Can’t make it.
  4. (Radio silence).

The WSJ recently posted an article citing research that giving workers alone time could yield more innovation than getting everyone in a room.

For companies who really pride themselves on innovation (don’t we all?), why is there so much negativity to attend these sessions?

I think it boils down to what  happens inside the session room, what happens before people enter the room, and what happens after people leave the room. When a session is prepared, executed and packaged properly, I fully believe that two heads are still better than one.

And so, here are seven tips on how to make your sessions worth people’s while, where they feel they can truly contribute to be agents of change:

  1. Define a clear goal and scope of the challenge, and make it clear to yourself, stakeholders and participants. If it’s too broad or large a topic, break it down into manageable nuggets otherwise people will be highly doubtful that anything can be accomplished in the timeframe (and annoyed if they were right).  If the topic is smaller scale, maybe you don’t need to bring in the cavalry just yet and you can grab 3-4 folks to think it out with you.
  2. Plan and pick your time wisely and well: How much time do you really need for your session? Make sure your goals and deliverables match the time you have. If you have a full day, plan for it in a way that’s productive, and not dragged out. Everyone will always be happy to finish early. (In fact, I know an L&D professional who always plans innovation days to end an hour before the regular work day as a perk.) If you only have two hours, assess how your topic can be covered in this timeframe, and if not modify accordingly. Extra time you don’t need will make people feel resentful. Too little time on a big topic will make people feel like they haven’t scratched the surface and whatever time they did put in was for nought. Lastly, give some thought to the day of the week the session falls out on. A Thursday or Friday session could have people worrying about finishing other deadlines they have before the weekend, making them less than thrilled to participate.
  3. Make your innovation session walk the talk: An innovation session by name and definition is different from a regular business status  meeting. The danger that lies in these sessions is when in an effort to stimulate creativity they become too gimmicky for anyone to take them seriously. Yet, if it is run in the same dry business-like manner as regular team meetings, it might not be terribly conducive to thinking in new unexplored directions. It’s a fine line to find the right methodologies that will give you the results you need, without making people in the room feel ridiculous, bored, or that they are oranges that need to be squeezed. Ask yourself – would I want to be doing this activity?
  4. Have the right (and the right amount of) people in the room: People are your number one resource. You need their knowledge, expertise, experience, and gumption. But how do you choose who should participate? First, build a heterogenous team that is familiar with the topic from different angles so ideas can be initially evaluated on the spot (without having to keep marking them “ask the guys from engineering” or “ask John” and everyone  is frustrated why John isn’t here).  This will help keep you on target with what can and cannot be done. Second, be realistic about the number of people and personalities you need for this topic and that you can handle. Too few, you may not get a rounded picture; too many can overwhelm the room and no one gets a word in if not managed properly.  And last, mind the balance of the seniority level in the room. You don’t want people to be afraid of voicing their opinions in front of others and things are left unsaid.
  5. Menu: It is well known that I would do anything for a donut. Get your people fed! At the end of the day it’s these little things that we look forward to and make us feel appreciated. It’s also hard to think straight if you’re hungry, so set people up for success.
  6. Follow up and communicate – Set yourself a monthly reminder to update the participants how the project is doing. This will keep you accountable, all while showing your gratitude to the people who took time to participate. (You don’t want someone greeting you by the water cooler with  whatever happened…?) When the project is implemented you can celebrate it. Should it get shelved, you can provide an explanation and what you’ve learned from it. People will appreciate hearing directly from you and not  through the grapevine.
  7. Do some internal reflection: After the session, give yourself feedback on how it went. What went according to plan and what went less well than expected. Were you happy with the participants? Was the timeline realistic? What would you do the same in the future and what would you change?

 Innovation sessions have so much riding on them to begin with. If you can get a group of fresh, eager, positive faces to participate, you’re halfway there already.

Creating an Innovation Community of Practice, part 2

Published date: September 15, 2023 в 12:59 pm

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Category: Innovation,Organizational Innovation

If you are here, it probably means that I’ve convinced you that you should engage with the idea of establishing your Innovation Community of Practice. Part 2 (click for part 1) of our series highlights “top innovation coaches”, their importance in having an active, impactful innovation community of practice, and the way they become key assets in the innovation community over time.

It is not about taking a course; it is about implementing new skills

(almost) Everyone loves to attend training events and courses. Assuming you have a good trainer, you should have a good time. However, an impactful program is not (only) about taking a-training, it is more about getting things done the day after. Conducting a 2/3/5/10-day training is necessary and an important beginning, but it is not enough. It doesn’t cut it. From an organizational perspective, as well as from a personal one, individuals must implement what they learned to generate growth and impact. In other words – innovation training programs, like innovation projects, must integrate an implementation phase, otherwise – it is just an exercise we once engaged in, maybe even a good learning memory.

With everything I know about training, learning, innovation (and some other things), this criteria was very clear to me when I stepped into leading my first innovation training program 7 years ago. It was obvious that I needed to provide more than “just” new knowledge. In fact, the strength of our programs – then and now – depends on engagement, especially in the post-training phase – where we get to see what participants  do (or will not do) once our team is not there 24/7 to train and mentor.

Over time, I started to notice a pattern – when you take a group of smart, talented, capable individuals, and train them to do something useful – they will all take something from the training to their professional (and personal) lives. Yet only some of them will do that in a way that brings true impact to the innovation community, to the organization (and to their career), and bring new ROI to the innovation network. Those are our top innovation coaches, the top runners.

Meet the top runners, your network’s true X-factor  

All iCoaches need to be active, promoting innovation buzz, engagement, new ideas, and small-scale initiatives. We know that they all do it in different ways, and over time – some get more active, and some – less. This is the nature of group behavior and normal statistics, and yet another important reason to consider onboarding your innovation coaches over time, using a cohort system.

Granted that top coaches are active coaches, but to be a true top runner you need something extra – which makes you a key asset to the innovation community. In other words, top runners are active in a way that highlights constant engagement, as well as a strong desire to drive business impact. They are not necessarily the ones who run the most mini-sessions or know all the tools and methodologies, yet they are the ones who bring the most added value to the innovation effort as a whole; they are the ones whom you cannot imagine your community without. It is no wonder that over time the strength of this sub-group – as individuals and as a team – will determine the strength of your innovation community.

What is this X-factor? One of those things that may be a bit difficult to explain in one sentence. It is a unique combination of skills and attributes who differentiates them from others, making sure that they will do something very useful with their learning, and by doing so – become important members in the innovation community. In some cases, top coaches are simple to spot, in others – not as much. To find these candidates, one should try looking for the ones whom you cannot imagine your network without, and the ones whom you always reach out first with every new idea, initiative or challenge, or when you need to think with someone you trust. These are your top runners.

Each innovation community is different, and so are top runners, yet they all share similar aspects and characteristics. After training hundreds of coaches, exploring their activities, what helps them to succeed, and what prohibits their efforts, let’s meet our top runners:

  1. Ben the Connector. Ben knows everyone in the organization, making him the network’s matchmaker – bringing together people, topics, and resources. He takes the time to connect, introduce, and to be introduced in all key teams and functions in the organization, knowing what they are up to, and connecting them to a relevant fellow iCoach to lead a mini-session around a specific topic identified. Ben also takes the time to make sure that topic owners and coaches are connected over time, helping them to follow up with results and ongoing innovation opportunities.
  1. Problem Solver Michael. Mike’s idea of a good day is a day in which a complicated problem was solved, preferably one that others were not able to fully grasp. Mike will always find all the time in the world to explore topics and challenges using different tools and methodologies, as well as his endless curiosity to find out different tracks and tools. People often reach out to him with a topic that others gave up on or are not sure how to address; from time to time, he will even present one of those topics to the iCoaches community, to inspire them to provide him and others with more problems to solve.
  2. Together Tammie. With some time passed since her training, Tammie became all iCoaches best wing-person for every session or activity, making her one of the network’s most active and knowledgeable coaches. Her engagement, experience, and familiarity with all iCoaches makes Tammie a key resource in many exciting initiatives, providing her with a rich pull of success stories and examples as well as an opportunity to make sure coaches meet from time to time – in small groups or as a full team.
  3. “Let’s go for it” Ellen. Ellen has no fear in leading sessions, meetings, pith, or town-hall meetings designed to showcase the network’s progress and business contribution. Ellen has top moderation skills, continually improving as she seeks additional opportunities to engage with teams, topics, and events. It is no wonder that over time Ellen became an important resource in supporting difficult sessions, as well as promoting the network’s overall wow effect.
  4. Melissa’s Management. Melissa masters innovation and organizational skills, to perfectly echo her key role in the organization and manager’s support. This unique combination makes Ellen the best person to engage with senior management and stakeholders when asking for new resources for projects and events, training opportunities for iCoaches and adjacent teams, and dealing with political problems in general. Melissa works closely with the community’s senior sponsor and is considered as one of the architects, responsible for the network’s success.

Top runners are presented here as Personas, these are not real people. Yet, I am confident that some of you will see yourselves in one of those team members, or maybe as a combination of two. Learning what makes an iCoach a top runner is useful for coaches who wish to advance, contribute, and understand how they can add value to their network; and for community leaders – when looking into improving their team’s performance as well as in the nomination phase of new coaches to be.

And what about other iCoaches? Most coaches’ networks, like most groups in general, exhibit a standard spread of motivations, skills, interests, and circumstances. It is very difficult, not to say – unlikely, to have a group in which every iCoach is a top runner. Having said that, some networks – and their senior managers, have been doing better than others in nominating, training, and mentoring their networks – improving their ratio and network strength.

Want to become more like Ellen, Michael or Melissa and master their skills and capabilities? Want to make sure you identify and nurture your top talents? Comment below or write to us directly.

While finalizing this article I was toying with the possibility of designing an innovation community in which every iCoach is a top runner. Not sure if this idea can indeed become a live innovation community of practice, but the more we highlight iCoaches’ nomination process, post-training mentoring and organizational buy-in, the closer we get. What do you think? Could you imagine this dream team in your organization?

Corporate Innovation Strategy Template

Published date: August 31, 2023 в 2:55 pm

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Category: Innovation,Organizational Innovation,Strategy

I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

          Rudyard Kipling (1902)

 

Here is a simple template to create your company’s innovation strategy:

WHAT:

  • Determine what business lines are to be innovated.
  • Determine what products or services within those business lines need innovation.
  • Establish a portfolio model that compares innovation output from one business line to another.
  • Rank order business lines based on the strength of their innovation portfolio pipelines.

WHY:

  • Determine how much innovation is needed.  Use a tool like Map-the-Gap.
  • Tie innovation to a strategy framework such as The Big Picture.
  • Focus innovation exercises to link directly to the strategy framework.
  • Use the framework to identify market adjacencies.

WHEN:

  • Schedule innovation workshops at the front end of the business cycle to help determine what projects will get funding in the next budget cycle.
  • Schedule innovation workshops after the planning cycle to jump-start new initiatives for the upcoming year.

HOW:

  • Choose specific methods of innovation to be used based on efficacy and results.
  • Combine different methods to leverage the strengths of each.
  • Integrate the methods by using the output of one as inputs for the others.

WHERE:

  • Set aside space with the specific purpose of conducting innovation workshops.

WHO:

  • Form innovation “dream teams” to maximize the success of innovation efforts.
  • Schedule training on how to use innovation methods.
  • Examine the company’s innovation culture to diagnose where it is weak.
  • Establish an innovation competency model.
  • Designate and empower commercial leaders to drive innovation efforts.

A CHAIRPERSON’S ROLE – NOT INCLUDING INNOVATION

Published date: August 24, 2023 в 5:37 pm

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Category: Innovation

A friend, who is considering assuming the position of Chairman of the Board in a company, asked for my thoughts on the matter. I googled “roles of a chairman”, found 6-7 sites that seemed to refer to the question seriously, and created a short document of what seemed to me the key points. My modest contribution was to compile a full list, weed out redundancy, deflate bombastic or overly legalistic language, and cluster the items under four categories. Why am I sharing this?

1) as a small service to chairperson-role-aspirants

2) more in my territory – I was surprised that none of the sites that I reviewed referred in any way, even remotely, to INNOVATION. Strange for me that in this day and age, when innovation is officially and very often genuinely so high on company’s priorities, none of the sites thought it relevant to mention that one of the chairperson’s roles is to assist the CEO/MD in this respect.

My recommendation is that the CP should also (as a start):

1) assist MD/CEO to raise her/his head from time to time to consider the long and longer term, even as their daily tasks take precedence in the day-by-day, and rightly so.

2) reflect to CEO/MD when their thinking seems to be constantly limited to the same patterns.

3) demand that the company’s budgets reflect the need to develop future possibilities that are substantially different than current practices.

As promised, here is the list :

Roles of the Chairperson of the Board

1) Ensure that the Board functions properly:

  • provide leadership to the board
  • responsibility for the board’s composition and development
  • ensure accurate and timely information for the board
  • plan and conduct board meetings effectively
  • get all directors involved in the board’s work
  • engage the board in assessing and improving its performance
  • ensure that the Board addresses the matters that are of strategic and material importance to the future growth and success of the company with ample time
  • supervise the definition of the division of labor between the board and the Executive Management and compliance with such
  • make sure that potential risks to the company are duly noted and communicated to CEO and management

2) In Board meetings:

  • call the meeting to order, determine if a quorum is present
  • announce the items on the order of business or agenda
  • facilitate discussion while enforcing the rules of the group
  • put questions (motions) to a vote, or apply agreed upon mechanisms for decision making
  • ensure that all voices are heard and respected
  • adjourn the meeting

3) Versus the CEO/MD

  • offer patient and respectful support and be a sounding board for ideas
  • responsibility for the CEO’s performance
  • responsibility for hiring, retaining and firing CEOs.

4) Represent the company in meetings with government and other external entities.

Nurturing Dialog: 5 Techniques for Creating Productive and Inclusive Discussions

Published date: August 17, 2023 в 10:34 am

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Category: Innovation,Innovation Facilitation,Methodology

How do you get people to speak up? Not just to share their opinions, but to share true thoughts, pleasant or otherwise?

During a training session, my mentor, Idit Biton, raised a problem with the team and asked for solutions. This was met with awkward silence and nervous glances all around. Idit gave me a look that said – “watch this”: She divided the group into pairs and gave them seven minutes to discuss and suggest a solution. On her go, the room was abuzz.

Hello?? Clearly people had what to say. So what makes someone who has an idea, suggestion, or helpful criticism clam up?

  1. Fear of public speaking – To quote Jerry Seinfeld – “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking” (and if you’ve never seen that bit of his, you’re in for a treat).
  2. Uneasiness from people in the room (either their teammates, subordinates, or supervisors. Even walls have ears.)
  3. Worried that what they are about to say will sound dumb/haughty/baseless
  4. Just plain shy. Some people turn red when all eyes are on them and they want to avoid that if they can.

If it’s your role to get input – whether as team leader, problem owner, or facilitator – you need to help get the voices out in the open. Not all who participate in your meeting or session is a natural public speaker.

Here are 5 techniques guaranteed to get people talking and sharing:

1. Dividing into pairs/trios/groups: As I shared in my story above, the talking started to flow as soon as people were divided into pairs.

Benefits:

  • You can try out your ideas and suggestions on one person which is much less intimidating than the whole group;
  • You get immediate feedback from your partners (thumbs up, thumbs down, or areas that should be polished);
  • There’s more confidence when presenting since the suggestion was liked by all partners who now stand behind the idea;
  • Only one person actually has to present;
  • Can weed out the so-so ideas and comments by having teams present their favorite, and saves time since only need to present once if both partners share the same sentiments.

2. Writing ideas and thoughts down on a piece of paper/notepad/document.

Benefits:

  • Everyone has time to gather their thoughts independently;
  • Writing things down gives people the opportunity to see how it will sound outside their head, helping word it in a way that makes sense to others;
  •  No need to actually present as they can be collected – whether placed around the room for people to peruse or just for the eyes of the person running the meeting;
  • It can be anonymous if need be. (Yes, sometimes you really need to know who said what, but that’s your future problem. First get people to spill.)

3. Using a template/model for people to arrange and share their thoughts. For example – one of my favorite models is Edward De Bono’s PMI – Plus Minus Interesting, which is used to generate discussions around the positives, negatives, and interesting parts of an idea or strategy.

Benefits:

  • Not everyone knows where to begin. A template helps guide thoughts productively;
  • Not everyone feels comfortable sharing criticism – depending who’s in the room or to be thought of as a team player. Having everyone use the same language puts everyone on the same page and provide insights from different angles;
  • Helps steer the conversation -A friend confided in me that during meetings she feels she either says nothing or talks forever. A template keeps people on point.

4. Give info in advance – make sure everyone knows what the meeting is about and what their role is in it.

Benefits:

  • People aren’t put on the spot and have adequate time to prepare;
  • If it’s not a forum they feel comfortable with they can discuss alternatives or opt out.

5. Speak to people in private – With some folks, no matter what you do, you know they won’t say everything in a public forum. If their opinion matters to you then it’s time to go one-on-one.

Benefits:

  • They can feel comfortable to share the good, the bad, and the ugly;
  • They will feel valued that you sought them out to hear what they have to say, and respect their comfort level.

These techniques can be used individually or together. You know your people, and if not – time to learn your audience. Mix and match away so that you get the valuable input you desire.

M&A Innovation

Published date: August 9, 2023 в 11:25 am

Written by:

Category: Innovation,Strategy

Relying on Mergers and Acquisitions for growth sends a signal that you don’t know how to innovate or how to manage it. M&A has other problems, too. Companies tend to overpay which actually destroys shareholder value. At best, firms end up paying full value, neither better or worse off financially. The firm grows in size, not value, and pays in the form of distraction.

What if you could use the tools and processes of innovation in mergers and acquisitions?

How could it help?

  1. Would you select acquisition targets better?
  2. Could it help understand the valuation better so you get a better deal?
  3. Might it help you implement better?

I believe innovation techniques could be applied to all three.

Here is one example: targeting – deciding who to buy.

Imagine you are the CEO of a bank, perhaps headquartered in Europe. You and the other board members have decided its time to deliver more value to the shareholders by growing the business. You decide to acquire another bank with all the spare cash you have accumulated (rather than just give it to its rightful owners.) The question is: Which bank? Should we buy one in Europe to expand our share while eliminating a competitor?  Should we expand to the U.S. market and buy one there?  Should we buy a struggling bank, get it cheap, and restore it to profitability?

No, no, no. Too simple and obvious. Nothing innovative here at all. Let’s instead apply the Subtraction Tool from Systematic Inventive Thinking and see how we can re-frame the question. Start by listing the components of your bank.

1.    Employees

2.    Customers

3.    Assets

4.    Property plant and equipment

5.    Brand

6.    Systems

7.    Management

Now, one at a time, let’s remove a component, then ask ourselves which bank we should acquire.  Imagine you had no customers. You still have all the other components, just no customers. What bank could you acquire that had the ideal customer base for YOUR bank given what it’s all about? Would you want customers who were more diverse, higher income, more profitable, lower cost to serve, more loyal, etc.? In other words, acquire a bank that delivers the perfect complement of customers. Now remove employees. You have all the other components, just no staff. Now what bank would you buy? Which has the ideal employee base for who you are? Would you go after employees who are smarter, less costly, more diverse, younger, older, etc.?

The same process, done for each component in succession, gives you a whole new innovative perspective on who to acquire. It helps you understand why you are buying, what you are getting, and how you expect to create new value and competitiveness. It helps you understand The Bet – what the deal is really all about.

M&A is an expensive way to grow. By adding the gift of innovation to the process, shareholders stand a better chance of seeing more value.

(Originally published in 2008)

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