Post by stefanieoshea on Apr 21, 2016 11:41:39 GMT
1. Share your interpretation of barriers to innovation. Do they ring true for you? Why or why not?
The barriers to innovation occur at all levels and there has to be buy-in at those levels, much like influential communication and the other aspects of leadership that we have covered in the Leadership Academy. The ability to innovate and get the buy-in seems to depend on how well you can communicate and influence your audience – whether on an individual, group or outside stakeholder – and the preparedness behind the innovative idea that you and your team put into it. The barriers come when there has not been proper analysis of the audience, group processes are not strong, organizations are not ready for risks or the individual has not sufficiently generated an idea; all of which ring true in our own nonprofit world as well as in the for-profit world that many of us have worked in. Innovation can be risky and a lot of organizations and individuals fear risk and the consequences that can result, especially a loss in resources, but the benefits can be game changing, as some of the examples in our two chapters show (I love the keep the change part of my Bank of America account and switched to them with that feature in mind!).
2. Share an example when you tried to innovate and did not succeed. Based on your understanding of the innovation constraints framework, what prevented you from succeeding? What would you do differently with your understanding of the barriers to innovation?
My example is a minor one but was the first thing that came to mind when I read these chapters. When I first took over managing our commercial cleaning training program I made some changes including changing the work process and flow based on how I thought it would be best perceived by trainees and, especially, the funding sources that refer them. However, I did not take into account the way that the instructors and the actual work would be impacted, and it was a pretty big disaster. I thought different, but my generation of ideas was not relevant to innovation as much as it was to what I thought would be a better system. I did not consult people who had actual knowledge of the processes and tried to change a system that was not so much in need of innovation at that level, but at the individual level, which is what I eventually did. Lesson learned and minimal resources impacted but definitely not one of my best moments as a new manager!
The barriers to innovation occur at all levels and there has to be buy-in at those levels, much like influential communication and the other aspects of leadership that we have covered in the Leadership Academy. The ability to innovate and get the buy-in seems to depend on how well you can communicate and influence your audience – whether on an individual, group or outside stakeholder – and the preparedness behind the innovative idea that you and your team put into it. The barriers come when there has not been proper analysis of the audience, group processes are not strong, organizations are not ready for risks or the individual has not sufficiently generated an idea; all of which ring true in our own nonprofit world as well as in the for-profit world that many of us have worked in. Innovation can be risky and a lot of organizations and individuals fear risk and the consequences that can result, especially a loss in resources, but the benefits can be game changing, as some of the examples in our two chapters show (I love the keep the change part of my Bank of America account and switched to them with that feature in mind!).
2. Share an example when you tried to innovate and did not succeed. Based on your understanding of the innovation constraints framework, what prevented you from succeeding? What would you do differently with your understanding of the barriers to innovation?
My example is a minor one but was the first thing that came to mind when I read these chapters. When I first took over managing our commercial cleaning training program I made some changes including changing the work process and flow based on how I thought it would be best perceived by trainees and, especially, the funding sources that refer them. However, I did not take into account the way that the instructors and the actual work would be impacted, and it was a pretty big disaster. I thought different, but my generation of ideas was not relevant to innovation as much as it was to what I thought would be a better system. I did not consult people who had actual knowledge of the processes and tried to change a system that was not so much in need of innovation at that level, but at the individual level, which is what I eventually did. Lesson learned and minimal resources impacted but definitely not one of my best moments as a new manager!