“I love to break rules!” So said Joe Miller, Chief Technology Officer at Corning, in his keynote address at the Industrial Research Institute’s Annual Meeting a few weeks ago. Describing Innovation at Corning, he went on to say, “There is no prescribed process for success.” I work continually with individuals of integrity, embedded in organizations, who realize they need to risk “breaking the rules” to be innovative or simply productive. But it is exceptional to hear a senior executive acknowledge it.
Despite all the processes and programs on the market to promote innovation, research confirms that “Champions (in innovation) are essentially political actors who are not prepared to abide by organizational rules.”
Leaders deviate from established norms or generally accepted standards in order to realize their mission and accomplish their goals. They break the rules – with integrity.
I am not, of course, referring to being deceitful or dishonest or doing anything illegal. Indeed, compliance in industry is essential for safety and environmental reasons as much as fiscal responsibility. All the same, conscientious individuals in today’s hard-driving high performance organizations know that in order to accomplish innovative breakthroughs they need to break the rules.
There are no rules for rule-breaking. But here are three suggestions to guide you, if you want to go where no one has gone before:
1. Take your time in responding to pressure from others to break the rules; confirm that you are connected to your own best sense of self when blazing a new trail.
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2. Whether simply speaking up in a meeting or a much more defining act of defiance, consider the risk you are willing to incur when taking a stand.
3. Strive for internal alignment; over time your decisions and actions should be consistent and congruent with your commitment to a given direction or deeper purpose.
Breaking the rules may be difficult to justify in the moment but is essential to realize the promise of the future. Do you agree?
Showing posts with label "paying the price". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "paying the price". Show all posts
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Hurry Up and Slow Down!
"I am not this steeply sloping hour in which you see me hurrying." Rainer Maria Rilke, German Poet
I am not hurrying even though I am in motion, constantly. I am managing my fear that everything I am supposed to be doing will end in my termination. The relentless pace of meetings and reviews hides the hopelessness I feel. Productivity trumps innovation; activity supplants creativity. My attention is not focused because my purpose is unclear. I have passion, but it mostly scares me these days. If I lead with passion and inquire about purpose, I'll lose my job. Meanwhile, I am losing me.
Identity precedes productivity. The courage to be is rarer today than the impulse to do. This is not just an excursion into philosophical speculation. It is a fundamental principle of high performance.
Are we a Research organization with a capital "R" or a development organization that will continue to place our bets on short-term incremental improvements on products already in the market? A student with whom I spoke not long ago at the African Leadership Academy in Joberg described himself as "an Egyption from Cairo who is Muslim who is also African, though my skin is not black, who wants to be a global citizen." He is actively claiming who is!
I am enacting the motion of working hard but am hardly working, in terms of my own deepest values. No matter! Management just asks for more. And I keep on keeping on.
Do you know who you are? Will you speak up? It does matter!
I am not hurrying even though I am in motion, constantly. I am managing my fear that everything I am supposed to be doing will end in my termination. The relentless pace of meetings and reviews hides the hopelessness I feel. Productivity trumps innovation; activity supplants creativity. My attention is not focused because my purpose is unclear. I have passion, but it mostly scares me these days. If I lead with passion and inquire about purpose, I'll lose my job. Meanwhile, I am losing me.
Identity precedes productivity. The courage to be is rarer today than the impulse to do. This is not just an excursion into philosophical speculation. It is a fundamental principle of high performance.
Are we a Research organization with a capital "R" or a development organization that will continue to place our bets on short-term incremental improvements on products already in the market? A student with whom I spoke not long ago at the African Leadership Academy in Joberg described himself as "an Egyption from Cairo who is Muslim who is also African, though my skin is not black, who wants to be a global citizen." He is actively claiming who is!
I am enacting the motion of working hard but am hardly working, in terms of my own deepest values. No matter! Management just asks for more. And I keep on keeping on.
Do you know who you are? Will you speak up? It does matter!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Profitability and True Value
Several important people in my life, including my son, urged me to read David Brooks op ed column in the New York Times several weeks back now. I only recently got to it. Alas, "In Praise of Dullness" challenges much of what I hold important in my life and work. Brooks asserts that recent research proves that “warm, flexible, team-oriented and empathetic people are less likely to thrive as C.E.O.’s. Organized, dogged, anal-retentive and slightly boring people are more likely to thrive.” He even cites Jim Collin’s seminal work, Good to Great in support of his argument.
As one reaches the conclusion of his column, the “political” nature of his argument becomes blatantly apparent. It reinforces the need to test underlying assumptions (which are frequently very political in nature) and examine common practices for sustainable value. For example, Brooks equates political talent (ala Washington D.C. in any case ) with “charisma, charm and personal skills”. If politics is indeed about the inevitable exercise of power and struggle for control, then political skills are much more about persuasive influence and effective management than Brooks leads the reader to believe. And such political skills are important to successful leaders, regardless of position.
The current economic climate does not speak well of the “success” of American businesses, including the leadership of many CEOS. If innovation is indeed required to maintain or regain competitive strength, the human all too human factors in the work environment, including the need for trust and some measure of personal fulfillment, are essential.
Insufficient criteria for success are confused with generating sustainable true value. Paradoxically, “breaking the rules “ of what many have deemed “profitable” may be what is required.
As one reaches the conclusion of his column, the “political” nature of his argument becomes blatantly apparent. It reinforces the need to test underlying assumptions (which are frequently very political in nature) and examine common practices for sustainable value. For example, Brooks equates political talent (ala Washington D.C. in any case ) with “charisma, charm and personal skills”. If politics is indeed about the inevitable exercise of power and struggle for control, then political skills are much more about persuasive influence and effective management than Brooks leads the reader to believe. And such political skills are important to successful leaders, regardless of position.
The current economic climate does not speak well of the “success” of American businesses, including the leadership of many CEOS. If innovation is indeed required to maintain or regain competitive strength, the human all too human factors in the work environment, including the need for trust and some measure of personal fulfillment, are essential.
Insufficient criteria for success are confused with generating sustainable true value. Paradoxically, “breaking the rules “ of what many have deemed “profitable” may be what is required.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Imagine leaving your job!
A respected and very talented client was recently recruited for a new leadership role with another company. Having made plans to accept the new senior R&D position, he found himself speaking up and taking risks in new ways, reflecting his untapped vision and continuing passion for his current work. Given he was leaving his present position, any lack of support or endorsement of his work at this point by senior management would have nominal impact, if any, on his career.
As he made plans for his transition to the new employer, the economy tanked and the offer was rescinded. He found himself continuing with his current position.
I recently spoke with him. He commented without hesitation that he had significant concern about the affect of some of the "edgy" initiative he exercised in recent months, in anticipation of leaving. However, to his surprise, there was far more receptivity, even momentum, to work which he was previously cautious about leading. He became acutely aware of his limiting beliefs about what was possible, until he thought he was leaving.
Imagine what we might do if we knew there was always some place else to go, something else to do, a calling that is bigger and greater, than the current role we fulfill. This is difficult for most people, if not impossible, when economic instability and job security is very much on our minds. But such courage is essential if we are to realize our full creative potential, not merely for our own sake, but for the innovative, productive prosperity of the organizations we serve.
As he made plans for his transition to the new employer, the economy tanked and the offer was rescinded. He found himself continuing with his current position.
I recently spoke with him. He commented without hesitation that he had significant concern about the affect of some of the "edgy" initiative he exercised in recent months, in anticipation of leaving. However, to his surprise, there was far more receptivity, even momentum, to work which he was previously cautious about leading. He became acutely aware of his limiting beliefs about what was possible, until he thought he was leaving.
Imagine what we might do if we knew there was always some place else to go, something else to do, a calling that is bigger and greater, than the current role we fulfill. This is difficult for most people, if not impossible, when economic instability and job security is very much on our minds. But such courage is essential if we are to realize our full creative potential, not merely for our own sake, but for the innovative, productive prosperity of the organizations we serve.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Stretching for New Technology Strategy
Last week a client was reaching for new understanding of how to spark imagination and facilitate stretch among the leaders in his organization for a more robust global technology strategy. To think in a way that is leading edge while remaining committed to partnering with business functions can be something of a leadership dilemma for those who lead R&D functions. Often our outlook is simply too short-term and too parochial, despite our intent to reach aggressively into the future.
As I think about the challenge of stretching our thinking, creatively as well as strategically, I am acutely aware that rice has become too expensive for many who are dependent on it for survival. Last week a new exhibit opened for the summer here in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Center called Design for the Other 90%. In a local review of the exhibit, Andrew Blauvelt, the Walker design curator, comments, "Most design is geared to the wealthiest 10 percent of the population but the new idea is that the poor are the next billion customers."
Steep commodity prices may be only temporary. But examining the relationship between food and energy is but one example of the opportunity for new ways of thinking strategically in the domain of technology. G. Pascal Zachary writing in the NYTimes "The Brighter Side of Higher Prices" comments that "to be sure, engineering a new 'green revolution' that will yield, say, cheaper wheat and rice -- all the while meeting the concerns of various special interest groups -- will be much harder than designing a better music player."
The complexity of issues such as the relationship of global food supply and environmentally sound energy solutions should not deter us. "Strategy as a Wicked Problem" , by John C. Camillus in the last issue of Harvard Business Review (May, 2008) provides some very helpful guidance for strategists and others. He writes: "Wicked problems often crop up when organizations have to face constant change or unprecedented challenges. They occur in a social context; the greater the disagreement among stakeholders, the more wicked the problem. In fact, it's the social complexity of wicked problems that make them tough to manage. " Environmental degradation, terrorism, and poverty, Camillus cites, as classic examples of "wicked problems" (I shared a reprint of this article with our client.)
George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright, wrote: "This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized as a mighty one." What inspires others to imagine, to stretch, is usually not in our comfort zone. It is often not in our domain of expertise. It is simply "beyond us". But inspiration and strategy do intersect.
As I think about the challenge of stretching our thinking, creatively as well as strategically, I am acutely aware that rice has become too expensive for many who are dependent on it for survival. Last week a new exhibit opened for the summer here in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Center called Design for the Other 90%. In a local review of the exhibit, Andrew Blauvelt, the Walker design curator, comments, "Most design is geared to the wealthiest 10 percent of the population but the new idea is that the poor are the next billion customers."
Steep commodity prices may be only temporary. But examining the relationship between food and energy is but one example of the opportunity for new ways of thinking strategically in the domain of technology. G. Pascal Zachary writing in the NYTimes "The Brighter Side of Higher Prices" comments that "to be sure, engineering a new 'green revolution' that will yield, say, cheaper wheat and rice -- all the while meeting the concerns of various special interest groups -- will be much harder than designing a better music player."
The complexity of issues such as the relationship of global food supply and environmentally sound energy solutions should not deter us. "Strategy as a Wicked Problem" , by John C. Camillus in the last issue of Harvard Business Review (May, 2008) provides some very helpful guidance for strategists and others. He writes: "Wicked problems often crop up when organizations have to face constant change or unprecedented challenges. They occur in a social context; the greater the disagreement among stakeholders, the more wicked the problem. In fact, it's the social complexity of wicked problems that make them tough to manage. " Environmental degradation, terrorism, and poverty, Camillus cites, as classic examples of "wicked problems" (I shared a reprint of this article with our client.)
George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright, wrote: "This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized as a mighty one." What inspires others to imagine, to stretch, is usually not in our comfort zone. It is often not in our domain of expertise. It is simply "beyond us". But inspiration and strategy do intersect.
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