Becoming an Innovative Organization

The Covid crisis in the spring forced many of us to scramble to reinvent the way we do business.  In June, together with Sekaten, we talked to 160 business people from around the world to better understand what they had learned from the crisis, how confident they were that they could continue to learn and adapt and what insights they had gathered about the changes needed in the way we do business.

Six systemic themes emerged from this dialogue, which we organized under the acronym ‘HEROIC’ or ‘Human, Empathetic, Role Model, Open, Innovation and Courage’.  Today, I am going to discuss the fifth – being innovative.

 

The Covid crisis has forced us to master new skills at a faster pace than ever before.  As the May 2020 Barrett Values Centre survey showed, transformation that normally would have taken 5-7 years seemed to happen in just 6 weeks.  An MITSloan Management Review article also discussed this ‘ultrafast’ innovation.  To deal with the pandemic companies need to repurpose technologies and experiment with new technologies.  This, in turn requires a higher level of collaboration than ever before (von Krogh, G., Kucukkeles, B. and Ben-Menahem, S.M., 2020)*

Our 160 participants also talked about the impact of Covid-19 on innovation.  The main themes that emerged were the following:

• Accelerate Change   Innovative, agile organizations know that when people work together change can take place quickly. (And there is no better evidence than what happened during the Great Pause this spring.) They foster the emergence of a self-organized community that allows them to speed up and adapt faster. They embrace the idea that “change is constant” and can be fun.
  

 

• Foster Connectivity  Innovative, adaptive organizations develop new ways of collaboration based on human and digital interconnectedness. Thanks to the Great Pause in the spring, virtual relationships are appreciated more than ever, and it seems that geographical borders have faded or become less important.
  

 

• Applaud Resilience and the Creativity it Engenders   Drowned in the ambiguity and complexity of the Great Pause, organizations found themselves confronted with a blank page on which they needed to draw new ways forward. This unleashed limitless creativity and allowed them to adapt and transform. This resilience should be maintained.

Innovation is not new.  But in the new Covid-19 world, it seems to have become more the norm than the exception.  Our participants saw this surge in innovation as a positive and something that should be built upon moving forward.

In my next blog, I will discuss the sixth and final theme of HEROIC organizations – being Courageous.

If you would like to learn more about HEROIC organizations and our study, please click on this link to download a copy of the report: The HEROIC REPORT

 

* von Krogh, G., Kucukkeles, B. & Ben-Menahem, S.M. (June 2020).  Lessons in Rapid Innovation from the Covid-19 Pandemic.  MITSloan Management Review, Summer Issue. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/lessons-in-rapid-innovation-from-the-covid-19-pandemic/

 

A blog series by Anne Clark

Becoming an Open Organization

The Covid crisis in the spring forced many of us to scramble to reinvent the way we do business.  In June, together with Sekaten, we talked to 160 business people from around the world to better understand what they had learned from the crisis, how confident they were that they could continue to learn and adapt and what insights they had gathered about the changes needed in the way we do business.

Six systemic themes emerged from this dialogue, which we organized under the acronym ‘HEROIC’ or ‘Human, Empathetic, Role Model, Open, Innovation and Courage’.  Today, I am going to discuss the fourth – being open.

In thinking about this blog, I came across a Harvard Business review article on creating a learning environment that begins as follows:  “Technology is disrupting every industry and area of life, and work is no exception…. As a result, there is now a premium on … the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one’s skill set to remain employable.”  (Chamorro-Premuzic and Bersin, 2018)*.  It occurred to me that by substituting ‘Covid 19’ for the word ‘technology’, one would have an almost perfect description of the past 7 months’ experience. The Covid crisis has forced all of us to master new skills, both technical and other, that many of us had never even considered before.  It has required us to listen to and learn from each other in a way we have never before experienced.

The value of this newfound openness to learning was not lost on our 160 participants.  They clearly see the value of an open, learning environment going forward.  The main themes that emerged were the following:

• Ask rather than Tell  Good at engaging, co-creating, and dialoguing on a large scale, learning organizations naturally foster coaching culture. An “ask rather than tell” style enables meaningful dialogues supporting self-development where people coach others with love and respect.
  

 

• Create a Learning Community  Learning organizations establish a feedback culture and have a great capacity to share knowledge at all levels of the organization. Becoming a living learning community, they enable people to help each other to constantly grow and adapt.
  

 

• Encourage Personal Development   Learning organizations invest in self-awareness and self-improvement. These are the pillars of a collective awareness that organizations do not transform, people do.

The value of a learning environment is not a new concept, but at the time the HBS article was written, only about 10% of companies had achieved this (Chamorro-Premuzic and Bersin).  However, the Covid Crisis has demonstrated not only the value of an open, learning environment but also how quickly this environment can be fostered when there is a need.   It has forced us to listen to each other more carefully and to learn from each other.  And that is something to take with us into the post-Covid era.

In my next blog, I will discuss the fifth theme of HEROIC organizations – being Innovative.

If you would like to learn more about HEROIC organizations and our study, please click on this link to download a copy of the report: The HEROIC REPORT

 

* Chamorro-Premuzic, T. & Bersin, J. (2018).  4 Ways to Create a Learning Culture on Your Team. Harvard Business Review, July, 12. https://hbr.org/2018/07/4-ways-to-create-a-learning-culture-on-your-team

 

A blog series by Anne Clark

Organizations as Role Models

The Covid crisis in the spring forced many of us to scramble to reinvent the way we do business.  In June, together with Sekaten, we talked to 160 business people from around the world to better understand what they had learned from the crisis, how confident they were that they could continue to learn and adapt and what insights they had gathered about the changes needed in the way we do business.

Six systemic themes emerged from this dialogue, which we organized under the acronym ‘HEROIC’ or ‘Human, Empathetic, Role Model, Open, Innovation and Courage’.  Today, I am going to discuss the third – acting as a role model.

Less time commuting + less time at lunch + less time at the water cooler = more time to think about what we are doing and why.  Are we working just to make money and sell products or can we work together to also add value to our community and the environment?  Is it not time to translate our values into deeds?

The 160 people we spoke to apparently had spent quite a bit of time on thoughts like these, and many had come to the conclusion that it was time to ‘walk the talk’ and lead by values.  The main themes that emerged were the following:

• Co-author a Higher Purpose Exemplary organizations engage all stakeholders in co-authoring a meaningful higher purpose – discovering their reason for being and their contribution to the world. They are connected to their purpose and values, and they make choices grounded on the broader idea of the common good.
  

 

• Lead with Values (not just numbers)  Value-driven leadership implies a higher level of awareness and a walk-the-talk mindset. Leading with values (not just numbers) means leading from the heart as well as from the head.
  

 

• Act as Exemplary Global Citizen  Exemplary organizations are citizens of the world and acknowledge their role in promoting human wellbeing and protect the planet. They are committed not to harm biodiversity and to use natural resources wisely.

The Covid crisis has given us more time for reflection — for thinking about the purpose and impact of the work we do.  These findings demonstrate that many people see an opportunity to move away from leading by numbers and output to leading by values and contributing to the betterment of society.

In my next blog, I will discuss the fourth theme of HEROIC organizations – being Open.

If you would like to learn more about HEROIC organizations and our study, please click on this link to download a copy of the report: The HEROIC REPORT

 

 

A blog series by Anne Clark

Becoming an Empathetic Organization

The Covid crisis in the spring forced many of us to scramble to reinvent the way we do business.  In June, together with Sekaten, we talked to 160 business people from around the world to better understand what they had learned from the crisis, how confident they were that they could continue to learn and adapt and what insights they had gathered about the changes needed in the way we do business.

Six systemic themes emerged from this dialogue, which we organized under the acronym ‘HEROIC’ or ‘Human, Empathetic, Role Model, Open, Innovation and Courage’.  Today, I am going to discuss the second – Empathetic.

In my previous blog, I discussed how the challenges of doing business in the Covid era have forced many of us to recognize our own and others’ humanity and vulnerability.  In a sense, this has had a ripple-down effect on how we interact with each other and greatly increased the empathy we show to one another.  And this is a good thing.

To quote Carl Rogers –“a high degree of empathy…is possibly the most potent and certainly one of the most potent factors in bringing about change and learning.” * The 160 people we talked to seemed to agree with this way of thinking.  Many want to see the heightened sense of listening and trust – the empathy we have been showing to each other – to continue going forward.  The main themes that emerged were the following:

• Create a Safe Space Transparent and trust-based ecosystems — caring organizations know what physical and psychological safety means.

 

• Create Dialogues and Listen Caring organizations listen to input from the whole organization and allow freedom of expression. They encourage creative dialogues that generate ideas, which can become collective creative actions. Caring organizations serve a community of people and ask them what they need.
  

 

• Demonstrate Compassion Caring means showing patience, compassion and empathy to each other. Treating people with kindness and generosity, caring organizations promote wellness and solidarity among all the stakeholders.

 

• Develop Emotional and Social Maturity Caring organizations feel totally at ease with emotions. They create a socially mature environment with a high degree of emotional intelligence where thinking, feeling and acting merge freely in daily business life.

The Covid crisis has forced us to rely on each other in new ways and find new ways of working in teams. These findings demonstrate that the kindness, empathy and understanding we have shown to each other in this remarkable period is something that people want to hang onto going forward.

In my next blog, I will discuss the third theme of HEROIC organizations – being a Role Model.

If you would like to learn more about HEROIC organizations and our study, please click on this link to download a copy of the report: The HEROIC REPORT

 

* Rogers, C. (1975). Empathic: An unappreciated way of being. The Counseling psychologist, 5(2), 2-10.

A blog series by Anne Clark

Becoming a Human Organization

The Covid crisis in the spring forced many of us to scramble to reinvent the way we do business.  In June, together with Sekaten, we talked to 160 business people from around the world to better understand what they had learned from the crisis, how confident they were that they could continue to learn and adapt and what insights they had gathered about the changes needed in the way we do business.

Six systemic themes emerged from this dialogue, which we organized under the acronym ‘HEROIC’ or ‘Human, Empathetic, Role Model, Open, Innovation and Courage’.  Today, I am going to discuss the first – Human.

How often have you been confronted with signs of your own vulnerability since the Covid crisis blew our way?  We are constantly confronted with new technologies and new ways of doing things. And we are forced more regularly to admit our own limitations. The ubiquitous Zoom call has forced us into each other’s lives in a novel and not always comfortable way.  We see the inside of our colleagues’ homes, and they see ours.  We hear (and often see) partners, children and pets.  We learn things about each other that in the pre-Covid business environment would have been unthinkable.

But, is this really a bad thing?  The 160 people we talked to did not seem to think so.  In fact, many see this enforced unveiling of everyone’s humanity as an opportunity moving forward.  The main themes that emerged were the following:

• Accept the need to pause Accepting the need to slow down saves time in the end as it helps us to focus on the priorities and projects that matter. Feeling at ease with silence and connected to the present moment enriches human connection.

 

• Be Humble Being self-aware, experimenting more without fear of not being perfect, and being able to forgive make us human. It is ok to fail and try again.

 

• Accept Vulnerability Accepting and revealing vulnerability — being more aware of one’s own limitations and the limitations of the system — is a key step towards humanizing organizations.

 

• Be Authentic In humanized organizations, people feel they can be themselves — revealing who they are, accepting their true nature, being more authentic and demonstrating honesty.

 

• Value People Creating a people-centered world, valuing people as connected human beings, not just human resources, respecting people and caring for their needs are at the heart of the heroic organization.

Clearly, in spite of all the difficulties it has brought, the Covid crisis has provided us with a mirror in which to see ourselves and learn while moving forward.  HEROIC organizations allow us to be ourselves, to be human, to make mistakes.

In my next blog, I will discuss the second theme of HEROIC organizations – Empathy.

If you would like to learn more about HEROIC organizations and our study, please click on this link to download a copy of the report: The HEROIC REPORT

 

A blog series by Anne Clark