INNOVATION CULTURE/free up organisational creativity
When Was the Last Time You Celebrated Failure?
Martin Ertl, Chief Innovation Officer, BOMBARDIER TRANSPORTATION
Is there a culture of dealing with failure in our enterprises? Failure is apart of daily live, but no set way for how to deal with it. There is little scientific documentation on how to deal with failure in companies. Failure is not the opposite of success, but it's a building block to it.
If there is no disruptive elements to create innovative ideas, then pipelines will run dry. The European and Northern American market are mature. Asia is still growing, and the management structure should realize that.
How does Bombardier Transportation deal with this? They are #1 in the rail business. In the past, they've been a project-based company. They are currently working on 200 projects. What they need to do instead of waiting for contracts, they believe they need to create an innovative project pipeline to draw companies to them. From the beginning, they know that something is going to fail. In the KPI, they added 'Number of projects they kill early.' They also listen to upper management and find figures to help them prove that their innovative ideas are worth pursing, not accepting failure in certain cases.
A company is designed for success. Failure is viewed as a personal problem.
Improving the Innovation Capability of Teams in Decentralised Organisations
Susanne Schwekendiek, Director, Product Strategy, FIDELITY INVESTMENT MANAGERS
Fidelity needed to go local for the markets they are in. How have they done this?
They have decentralized innovation for growth. For successful decentralized innovation, employees have to be empowered with the right tools across the entire organization. This may have to cross country borders. Corporate culture should be considered, and examined to see if it does fit the process. Leaders should help the employees understand the company culture.
As a team leader, you need to keep your team focused and involved on innovation. The team should be kept at a sense of urgency and that they are the responsible ones for the success of the project. Without innovation architecture, it will be difficult to create new ideas. A full understanding of corporate culture will be helpful, and it is different for every company. As a part of upper management, one should lead by example.
Creating a Culture of Courageous Leadership: Part 1
Simon King, HR Vice President, ASTRAZENECA
What does it take to make culture and innovation happen? What does it take for everyone to be at their best and most creative?
Why is innovation important in the healthcare industry? It's the difference that medicine can make with a single individual. The difference one medicine can make is huge. Medical break troughs are still in need for things like asthma and cancer. The number of compounds coming out is typically the same: even though the same number of compounds come out of innovation, the numbers going in has gone up.
Leadership and culture starts with change one person at a time. They saw a need for a change in leadership. They looked at their leaders, and then looked at the industry. In a leader: strategic vision, authentic and deep interest in people, scientific and evidence based judgment. With new leaders, they invested in team building. They did this by sending them to external organizations to see other leadership models and other team building activities.
Leadership change is not enough. Their organization structure has changed. Open innovation has created a new structure to bring new ideas in. They have just finished running an 'Inspire to Innovate' week. They had events around the world to promote innovation that has created 2000 ideas around the world. This 4-5 year journey is just two years in, but they have two drugs already on the market.
Creating a Culture of Courageous Leadership: Part 2
Thierry Van Landegem, Global Operations Dir Bell Labs, R&D, ALCATEL-LUCENT
Be excellent at what you do. Stay focused on your core business. The people you hire should be the best and they collaborate and encourage each other to work harder. Entrepreneurial skills. Ideas and people are separate. But encourage them to get together to make actionable ideas. By encouraging entrepreneurship, they've seen new, innovative business positions. Their leaders have become more diverse, written business plans, boosted innovation culture.