Category Archives: Leadership

Four Things You Need to Succeed in The Good Place

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

You have, no doubt, seen the design squiggle. The ubiquitous scribble is all loopy and knotty in the beginning until it finally sorts itself into a straight line by the end.

It illustrates the design process – “the journey of researching, uncovering insights, generating creative concepts, iteration of prototypes and eventually concluding in one single designed solution” – and its elegant simplicity has led it to be adopted by all sorts of other disciplines, including innovation.

But when I showed it to a client, her immediate response was, “It’s Jeremy Bearimy!”*

Wha????

And that is how I discovered The Good Place, a sitcom about four humans who die, go to The Good Place, and struggle to learn what it means to be good.

The show, created by Michael Schur of The Office and Parks and Recreation fame, is a brilliant treatise on ethics and moral philosophy. It also contains valuable wisdom about what innovators need to succeed.

Questions

With all due respect, “It’s the way it’s always been done” is an excuse that’s been used for hundreds of years to justify racism, misogyny…

Tahani Al-Jamil

This quote was a gut punch from the show’s fourth and final season. As innovators, we often hear people ask why change is needed. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” they proclaim.

But sometimes it is broke, and we don’t know it. At the very least, it can always be better.

So, while “it’s the way it’s always been done” at your company probably (hopefully) doesn’t include racism, misogyny, sexism, and other genuinely horrible things, framing the status quo as an enabler of those horrors is a harsh wake-up call to the dangers of an unquestioning commitment to continuing to do things the way they’ve always been done.

Decisions (not just Ideas)

If you’re always frozen in fear and taking too long to figure out what to do, you’ll miss your opportunity, and maybe get sucked into the propeller of a swamp boat.

Jason Mendoza

Even though Jason Mendoza is the resident idiot of The Good Place, he occasionally (and very accidentally) has moments of profound insight. This one to a situation that innovators are all too familiar with – analysis paralysis.

How often do requests for more data, more (or more relevant) benchmarks, or input from more people slow down decisions and progress? These requests are rarely rooted in doubt about the data, benchmarks, or information you presented. They are rooted in fear – the fear of making the wrong decision, being blamed or shamed, and losing a reputation or even a job.

But worse than being wrong, blamed, shamed, or unemployed is missing an opportunity to radically improve your business, team, or even the world. It’s the business equivalent of getting sucked into the propeller of a swamp boat.

Actions (not just decisions)

In football, trying to run out the clock and hoping for the best never works. It’s called “prevent defense.” You don’t take any chances and just try and hold on to your lead. But prevent defense just PREVENTS you from winning! It’s always better to try something.

Jason Mendoza

Jason does it again, this time invoking a lesson learned from his beloved Jacksonville Jaguars.

Few companies publicly admit to adopting a prevent defense, even though most companies engage in it. They play prevent defense when they don’t invest in innovation, focus exclusively on maintaining or incrementally improving what they currently do, or confine their innovation efforts to events like hackathons and shark tanks.

Incremental improvements and innovation theater keep you competitive. But they won’t get you ahead of the competition or make you a leader in your industry. In fact, they prevent it by making you feel good and safe when you’re really just running out the clock.

Perseverance

Come on, you know how this works. You fail and then you try something else. And you fail again and again, and you fail a thousand times, and you keep trying because maybe the 1,001st idea might work. Now, I’m gonna and try to find our 1,001st idea.

Michael

It’s hard to explain this quote without sharing massive spoilers, so let’s just say that The Good Place is an experiment that fails. A lot.

But it’s also an experiment that generates profound learning and universe-altering changes, things that would not have been possible without the failures.

Yes, smart innovators know when to kill a project. They also know when to try one more time. Wise innovators know the difference.

One final bit of wisdom

Innovation is hard. You will run into more resistance than expected, and things will rarely work out as planned. As long as you keep trying and learning, you won’t fail.

To paraphrase Jason Mendoza (again), you’re not a failed innovator, you’re pre-successful.

*For those of you who are, like I was, unfamiliar with Jeremy Bearimy, here’s a clip explaining it (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Rethinking Work for Human Flourishing

Leave a reply

The Four-Day Week and Beyond

Rethinking Work for Human Flourishing

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

The pandemic has forced a global reckoning with how, where, and why we work. As we emerge into a new era, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not just return to “normal,” but to innovate the very fabric of our professional lives. The four-day week is not a radical luxury—it is a logical evolution toward a more productive, sustainable, and human-centric future.

For over a century, the five-day, forty-hour work week has been the unquestioned standard. Born out of the industrial revolution, it was designed for an economy based on manual labor and factory schedules. But our world has changed. The economy is increasingly driven by knowledge work, creativity, and problem-solving, all of which are fueled by focus, well-being, and sustained energy—not by simply clocking more hours.

The traditional model is no longer serving us. We see this in the rising rates of burnout, the struggle to maintain work-life balance, and the persistent feeling that we are always “on.” This isn’t just a humanitarian issue; it’s an innovation problem. Burnout is the enemy of creativity, and exhaustion is the antithesis of a proactive, innovative culture. As a result, businesses are leaving a tremendous amount of potential on the table.

The four-day week, often implemented as a compressed work week (working the same hours in fewer days) or a true reduction in hours with no loss of pay, is emerging as a powerful antidote. It is a human-centered change that is fundamentally redefining the relationship between time, productivity, and personal well-being. And it’s proving to be a catalyst for a deeper organizational innovation in how we manage our time, our teams, and our goals. The core idea is simple yet transformative: focus on outputs, not hours. By granting employees an extra day for rest, rejuvenation, and personal pursuits, we are not just giving them a benefit; we are making an investment in their capacity for future innovation.

Case Study 1: The Icelandic Experiment

The Challenge: Public Sector Burnout and Stagnant Productivity

In the public sector in Iceland, the long-standing five-day work week was taking a toll on employee well-being. Burnout was common, and a rigid, traditional structure was stifling innovation and engagement.

The Innovation: A Large-Scale National Pilot

From 2015 to 2019, the Icelandic government, in collaboration with city councils, conducted one of the world’s most extensive trials of a four-day week. Over 2,500 public sector workers—from offices to schools to hospitals—voluntarily shifted from a 40-hour to a 35-36 hour work week with no reduction in pay. The goal was to test whether reduced hours could lead to improved well-being without sacrificing service quality or productivity.

The Results:

The results were unequivocally positive. Researchers found a dramatic increase in employee well-being, with employees reporting lower stress and burnout, and a greater sense of work-life balance. Crucially, the pilot found that productivity and service provision either remained the same or improved across most workplaces. The success of the trial led to Icelandic unions negotiating new work patterns, and as a result, over 86% of the country’s working population now has either a shorter work week or the right to negotiate for one. This large-scale, national-level change demonstrates the viability and broad appeal of the four-day week.

Key Insight: The four-day week is a viable model for improving employee well-being and productivity, even in complex, service-oriented sectors.

Case Study 2: Perpetual Guardian, a Private Sector Pioneer

The Challenge: Low Employee Engagement and Stagnant Performance

Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand-based financial services company, was grappling with low employee engagement and a feeling that its workforce was consistently overworked and underappreciated within the traditional five-day structure.

The Innovation: The “100-80-100” Model

In 2018, Perpetual Guardian conducted a six-week trial of a four-day week for its entire staff. The model they used was innovative: the “100-80-100” approach, which meant employees were paid 100% of their salary for working 80% of their time, while maintaining 100% of their productivity. The key to the trial’s success was empowering teams to find their own solutions for becoming more efficient. This led to a range of creative innovations, such as shorter meetings, more focused communication, and a collective commitment to eliminate time-wasting activities.

The Results:

The results were groundbreaking. The study found a remarkable 24% increase in employee engagement. Employees reported a better work-life balance, a reduction in stress, and an improved sense of purpose. Crucially, productivity levels either remained the same or saw a slight increase, as the teams had become more efficient in their shortened work week. Following the successful trial, the company made the policy permanent, becoming a global benchmark for the private sector’s adoption of the four-day week.

Key Insight: By empowering employees to find their own path to efficiency, the four-day week can become a catalyst for bottom-up innovation in how work gets done.

Rethinking Work for a Thriving Future

The success of these case studies and many others is forcing us to confront a fundamental question: Is the five-day work week a truly effective model, or simply an outdated tradition? The evidence is mounting that it is the latter. A three-day weekend provides more than just a day off; it offers time for rest, family, hobbies, learning, and civic engagement. These activities are not a distraction from work; they are essential for cultivating the creativity, resilience, and perspective that fuel true innovation.

Beyond the four-day week, this movement represents a larger shift toward human-centered work design. It’s about questioning long-held assumptions and innovating new systems that prioritize well-being and performance equally. It’s about moving from a culture of busyness to a culture of strategic focus. It’s about trusting our people to manage their time and empowering them with the flexibility they need to do their best work.

The companies that will win in the future are not those that demand more hours, but those that foster an environment where employees can be more productive, more creative, and more fulfilled. The four-day week is not the end of the conversation, but a powerful beginning. It’s a bold first step toward a future where our work is not just a source of income, but a source of genuine human flourishing.

Extra Extra: Futurology is not fortune telling. Futurists use a scientific approach to create their deliverables, but a methodology and tools like those in FutureHacking™ can empower anyone to engage in futurology themselves.

Image credit: Pexels

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

People Cannot Work Forever

Leave a reply

People Cannot Work Forever

GUEST POST from Mike Shipulski

When cars run out of gas, they can no longer get the job done until their tanks are filled up. And it’s the same with people, except people are asked to keep on truckin’ even though their tanks are empty.

When machines are used for a certain number of hours, they are supposed to be given rest and routine maintenance. If the maintenance isn’t completed as defined in the operator’s manual, the warranty is voided.

Maybe we could create a maintenance schedule for people. And if it’s not done, we could be okay with reduced performance, like with a machine. And when the scheduled maintenance isn’t performed on time, maybe we could blame the person who prevented it from happening.

If your lawnmower could tell you when you were using it in a way that would cause it damage, would you listen and change your behavior? How about if a person said a similar thing to you? To which one would you show more compassion?

When your car’s check engine light comes on, would you pretend you don’t see it or would you think that the car is being less than truthful? What if a person tells you their body is throwing a warning light because of how you’re driving them? Would you believe them or stomp on the accelerator?

We expect our machines to wear out and need refurbishment. We expect our cars to run out of gas if we don’t add fuel. We expect our lawnmowers to stall if we try to mow grass that’s two feet tall. We expect that their capacities and capabilities are finite. Maybe we can keep all this in mind when we set expectations for our people.

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

The Narrative Advantage

Leave a reply

How Storytelling Fuels Innovation Adoption

The Narrative Advantage

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

My work centers on understanding how human beings embrace and drive change. In this pursuit, I’ve consistently found that logic and data, while essential, often fall short of igniting true transformation. What truly captures hearts and minds, what bridges the gap between a novel idea and widespread adoption, is the power of story. Today, I want to explore The Narrative Advantage: How Storytelling Fuels Innovation Adoption.

We are wired for stories. From ancient cave paintings to modern-day blockbusters, narratives have been the primary vehicle for transmitting knowledge, building connections, and inspiring action. Innovation, at its core, represents a change from the familiar. To overcome the inherent resistance to the new, we must frame our innovations not just as solutions, but as compelling stories that resonate with human needs, desires, and aspirations.

Beyond Features and Benefits: The Emotional Connection

Too often, we launch innovations by focusing on technical specifications, features, and benefits. While this information is important, it primarily appeals to the rational mind. Adoption, however, is often an emotional decision. People need to see themselves within the innovation’s narrative, to understand how it will impact their lives, solve their problems, or fulfill their ambitions on a personal level.

Storytelling allows us to create this emotional connection. A well-crafted narrative can:

Build Empathy: By sharing stories of real people whose lives have been improved by the innovation, we foster empathy and make the abstract tangible.
Create Understanding: Complex technologies become more accessible and understandable when woven into a relatable narrative.
Inspire Action: Compelling stories can ignite passion and motivate individuals to embrace the new.
Foster Trust: Authentic and transparent storytelling builds trust in the innovation and the organization behind it.
Drive Advocacy: People who connect with an innovation’s story are more likely to become advocates, spreading the word and encouraging adoption.

Case Study 1: The Little Blue Elephant That Could – Democratizing Data with a Human Touch

Consider the challenge of introducing sophisticated data analytics tools to teams that have traditionally relied on intuition or basic spreadsheets. The technology might offer immense potential for improved decision-making and efficiency, but the learning curve and perceived complexity can be significant barriers to adoption.

One company I worked with faced this exact scenario. Their new data platform, while technically brilliant, was met with lukewarm reception. Teams felt overwhelmed by the dashboards and the sheer volume of information. That’s when we shifted our approach to emphasize storytelling.

Instead of bombarding teams with technical manuals, we developed a series of “day-in-the-life” stories featuring individuals from different departments. We created a fictional persona, “Eleanor the Analyst” (represented internally by a small blue elephant plush toy – a memorable visual anchor). Each story showcased Eleanor using the new platform to overcome a specific challenge her team faced – optimizing marketing campaigns, streamlining supply chain issues, or improving customer service.

These weren’t dry use cases; they were narratives with relatable characters, clear challenges, and triumphant resolutions, all made possible by the new data platform. We focused on the “how it felt” for Eleanor and her team – the sense of empowerment, the clarity gained, the time saved.

The Narrative Advantage in Action: By personifying the technology and illustrating its impact through engaging stories, we made the abstract concrete and the complex accessible. The little blue elephant became a symbol of data-driven success. Adoption rates soared as teams began to see themselves as the protagonist in similar success stories. The narrative shifted from “a complicated new tool we have to learn” to “a powerful ally that can help us achieve our goals.”

Case Study 2: The Silent Guardian – Building Trust in Autonomous Vehicles Through Transparent Storytelling

The advent of autonomous vehicles (AVs) presents a paradigm shift in transportation. The technology promises increased safety, efficiency, and accessibility. However, it also evokes anxieties related to trust, control, and the unknown. Overcoming this resistance is crucial for widespread adoption.

One leading AV developer understood that simply showcasing the technology’s capabilities wouldn’t be enough. They recognized the need to build a narrative of safety and reliability. Their approach centered on transparent storytelling that addressed public concerns head-on.

They created a series of short videos and blog posts that went behind the scenes of their rigorous testing processes. They featured the engineers and safety experts who were meticulously designing and validating the AV software and hardware. They shared stories of the countless simulations and real-world trials their vehicles underwent, highlighting the redundancies and fail-safe mechanisms built into the system.

Crucially, they also addressed potential failure scenarios openly and honestly, explaining how the AV system was designed to respond safely in unexpected situations. They didn’t shy away from the complexities but rather sought to demystify them through clear and accessible language.

The Narrative Advantage in Action: By telling the story of their meticulous development process, their commitment to safety, and their proactive approach to addressing potential risks, this AV developer built a narrative of trust and reliability. This transparency helped to alleviate public anxieties and fostered a greater sense of confidence in the technology. The narrative shifted from “a potentially dangerous robot car” to “a carefully engineered and rigorously tested silent guardian.”

Crafting Your Innovation Narrative

Developing a compelling innovation narrative requires more than just telling a story; it demands strategic thinking and a deep understanding of your audience. Consider these elements:

Identify Your Protagonist: Who is the hero of your story? Often, it’s the user whose problem is being solved or whose life is being improved.
Define the Challenge: What problem or pain point does your innovation address? Make it relatable and emotionally resonant.
Present Your Innovation as the Guide: How does your innovation help the protagonist overcome their challenge and achieve their goal?
Illustrate the Transformation: What does the “happily ever after” look like? How will the protagonist’s life or work be better because of your innovation?
Maintain Authenticity: Your story must be genuine and believable. Avoid hyperbole and focus on the real impact of your innovation.

In conclusion, in a world saturated with information, stories cut through the noise and forge meaningful connections. By harnessing the power of narrative, we can transform innovative ideas from abstract concepts into compelling realities that people understand, trust, and ultimately adopt. The narrative advantage isn’t a marketing afterthought; it’s the very foundation upon which successful innovation adoption is built. So, let us ask ourselves not just what our innovation does, but what story it tells. For it is in that story that we will find the key to unlocking widespread embrace and realizing the full potential of our creations.

Image credit: Pexels

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

6 Ways to Create Trust with Your Employees

Leave a reply

6 Ways to Create Trust with Your Employees

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Last week I wrote an article, 4 Ways to Create Trust with Your Customers. I don’t think anyone would argue (and the stats prove it) that a customer who trusts you is more likely to do more business with you. After all, why would they want to risk doing business elsewhere?

Well, it’s the same for employees. With so many employment issues today, it’s more important than ever to get and keep good employees. One of the crucial areas that can drive employee retention is trust. Just like customers, if employees don’t trust you, they may eventually leave for a competitor. And in the world of employee retention, a competitor is any other company that offers employment opportunities.

With that in mind, here are six ways to build trust with your employees.

1. Listen to your employees. Ask them for feedback. Frontline employees often have a better opportunity to know what customers think and say about you than anyone else in the company. Listen to them. And many employees have suggestions about processes and systems that can be improved. Creating an easy way for employees to share feedback and make suggestions can be a powerful way to improve the experience—for both customers and the employees themselves.

2. Act on the feedback and insights employees share with you. If you ask your employees for their feedback and insights and do nothing with it, employees eventually resent that they took the time to offer up their ideas and suggestions. And at some point, they will see it as a futile effort and waste of time, even if what they share with you is important. Employees often provide even more valuable feedback than customers. So, even if you choose not to use their suggestions, at least acknowledge their effort, express appreciation and let them know why.

3. Make sure leadership and management are accessible. If there is a metaphorical wall between employees and leadership, employees will always feel like they are on the outside. And if they feel like outsiders, any organization that may make them feel more included and appreciated could be the next place your employee—who you thought was happy—ends up working. There are different ways to go about this. An open-door policy is not always realistic. As an alternative, consider having “office hours”—a special time each week when employees can make an appointment. The point is that it needs to be easy for employees to connect with their managers, supervisors, and leadership.

4. Get out of the office and mingle with “the people.” If the only time employees see management or leadership is when there are problems, then the sight of them will create a level of fear and tension. Years ago, I read Tom Peter’s strategy he referred to as MBWA, Management by Wandering Around. The idea is that employees would not fear the sight of management, because they become used to seeing their bosses and leaders walking around. If a manager shows up just to point out problems or criticize, employees will always have concern whenever they see a manager or leader walking anywhere near them. The goal is to achieve trust, not fear.

5. Trust employees to do the jobs you hired them to do. If you hire good people and train them well, let them do their jobs. If employees feel like they are always being watched, scrutinized for their work and not being allowed to make the decisions you hired them to make, they will feel unfulfilled and frustrated. This is “Empowerment 101.”

6. Treat employees the way you want the customer to be treated. I refer to this as The Employee Golden Rule. You can’t expect employees to behave toward customers and each other in a way that’s different—as in better—than the way they are treated by their managers and leaders. Your actions and attitude toward your employees must be congruent with how you want them to treat your customers. You can’t invite them to your office, yell at them and then them, “Now go out there and be nice to our customers.”

What’s happening on the inside of the organization is felt on the outside by customers. To create the best customer experience, you must create a similar employee experience, if not even better. While there are many components that go into creating a great culture for an organization, trust is one of the essentials. Without it, you can’t expect to get and keep your best employees.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

Image Credit: Shep Hyken

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

You Can’t Innovate Without This One Thing

3 Replies

You Can't Innovate Without This One Thing

GUEST POST from Robyn Bolton

It just landed on your desk. Or maybe you campaigned to get it. Or perhaps you just started doing it. How the title of “Innovation Leader” got to your desk doesn’t matter nearly as much as the fact that it’s there, along with a budget and loads of expectations.

Of course, now that you have the title and the budget, you need a team to do the work and deliver the results.

Who should you look for? The people that perform well in the current business, with its processes, structures, and (relative) predictability, often struggle to navigate the constant uncertainty and change of innovation. But just because someone struggles in the process and structure of the core business doesn’t mean they’ll thrive creating something new.

What are the qualities that make someone a successful innovator?

70 answers

A lot of people have a lot to say about the qualities and characteristics that make someone an innovator. When you combine the first four Google search results for “characteristics of an innovator” with the five most common innovation talent assessments, you end up with a list of 70 different (and sometimes conflicting) traits.

The complete list is at the end of this article, but here are the characteristics that appeared more than once:

Curious
Persistent
Continuously reflective
Creative
Driven
Experiments
Imaginative
Passionate

It’s a good list, but remember, there are 62 other characteristics to consider. And that assumes that the list is exhaustive.

+1 Answer

It’s not. Something is missing.

There is one characteristic shared by every successful innovator I’ve worked with and every successful leader of innovation. It’s rarely the first (or second or third) word used to describe them, but eventually, it emerges, always said quietly, after great reflection and with dawning realization.

Vulnerability.

Whether you rolled your eyes or pumped your fist at the word made famous by Brene Brown, you’ve no doubt heard it and formed an opinion about it.

Vulnerability is the “quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.” Without it, innovation is impossible.

Innovation requires the creation of something new that creates value. If something is new, some or all of it is unknown. If there are unknowns, there are risks. Where there are risks, there is the possibility of being wrong, which opens you up to attack or harm.

When you talk to people to understand their needs, vulnerability allows you to hear what they say (versus what you want them to say).

In brainstorming sessions, vulnerability enables you to speak up and suggest an idea for people to respond to, build on, or discard.

When you run experiments, vulnerability ensures that you accurately record and report the data, even if the results aren’t what you hoped.

Most importantly, as a leader, vulnerability inspires trust, motivates your team, engages your stakeholders, and creates the environment and culture required to explore, learn, and innovate continuously.

n + 1 is the answer

Just as you do for every job in your company, recruit the people with the skills required to do the work and the mindset and personality to succeed in your business’ context and culture.

Once you find them, make sure they’re willing to be vulnerable and support and celebrate others’ vulnerability. Then, and only then, will you be the innovators your company needs.

Here’s the full list of characteristics:

Action-oriented, gets the job done
Adaptable
Ambitious
Analytical, high information capacity, digs through facts
Associative Thinker, makes uncommon connections
Breaks Boundaries, disruptive
Business minded
Collaborative
Compelling Leader
Competitive
Consistent
Continuously reflects (x3)
Courageous
Creative (x3)
Curious (x4), asks questions, inquisitive, investigates
Delivers results, seeks tangible outcomes
Disciplined
Divergent Thinker
Driven (x3)
Energetic
Experiments (x2)
Financially oriented
Flexible, fluid
Formally educated and trained
Futuristic
Giving, works to benefit others, wants to make the world better
Goal-oriented
Has a Growth mindset
Highly confident
Honest
Imaginative (x2)
Influential, lots of social capital
Instinctual
Intense
Iterating between abstract and concrete thinking
Learns through experiences
Likes originality, seeks novelty
Loyal
Motivated by change, open to new experiences
Networks, relates well to others
Observes
Opportunistic mindset, recognizes opportunities
Opportunity focused
Passionate (x2)
Patient
Persistent (x4)
Persuasive
Playful
Pragmatic
Proactive
Prudent
Rapidly recognizes patterns
Resilient
Resourceful
Respects other innovators
Seeks understanding
Self-confident
Socially intelligent
Stamina
Takes initiative
Takes risks
Team-oriented
Thinks big picture
Thrives in uncertainty
Tough
Tweaks solutions constantly
Unattached exploration
Visionary
Wants to get things right
Willing to Destroy

And the sources:

Image Credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Importance of Measuring Your Organization’s Innovation Maturity

1 Reply

Importance of Measuring Your Organization’s Innovation Maturity

by Braden Kelley

Is our organization a productive place for creating innovation? How does our organization’s innovation capability compare to that of other organizations?

Almost every organization wants to know the answers to these two questions.

The only way to get better at innovation, is to first define what innovation means. Your organization must have a common language of innovation before you can measure a baseline of innovation maturity and begin elevating both your innovation capacity and capabilities.

My first book Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire, was created to help organizations create a common language of innovation and to understand how to overcome the barriers to innovation.

The Innovation Maturity Assessment

One of the free tools I created for purchasers of Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire, and for the global innovation community, was an innovation maturity assessment with available instant scoring at http://innovation.help.

My 50 question innovation audit measures each individual’s view of the organization’s innovation maturity across a number of different areas, including: culture, process, funding, collaboration, communications, etc.

When multiple individuals at the same organization complete the questionnaire, it is then possible to form an organizational view of the organization’s level of innovation maturity.

Each of the 50 questions is scored from 0-4 using this scale of question agreement:

0 – None
1 – A Little
2 – Partially
3 – Often
4 – Fully

To generate an innovation maturity score that is translated to the innovation maturity model as follows:

000-100 = Level 1 – Reactive
101-130 = Level 2 – Structured
131-150 = Level 3 – In Control
151-180 = Level 4 – Internalized
181-200 = Level 5 – Continuously Improving

Innovation Maturity Model

Image adapted from the book Innovation Tournaments by Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich

Innovation Maturity is Organization-Specific

The best way to understand the innovation maturity of your organization is to have a cross-functional group of individuals across your organization fill out the assessment and then collate and analyze the submissions. This allows us to make sense of the responses and to make recommendations of how the organization could evolve itself for the better. I do offer this as a service at http://innovation.help.

What Do the Numbers Say About the Average Level of Innovation Maturity?

To date, the innovation maturity assessment web application at http://innovation.help has gathered about 400 seemingly valid responses across a range of industries, geographies, organizations and job roles.

The average innovation maturity score to date is 102.91.

This places the current mean innovation maturity score at the border between Level 1 (Reactive) and Level 2 (Structured). This is not surprising.
Looking across the fifty (50) questions, the five HIGHEST scoring questions/statements are:

We are constantly looking to improve as an organization (3.12)
I know how to submit an innovation idea (2.83)
Innovation is part of my job (2.81)
It is okay to fail once in a while (2.74)
Innovation is one of our core values (2.71)

The scores indicate that the typical level of agreement with the statements is “often” but not “always.”

Looking across the fifty (50) questions, the five LOWEST scoring questions/statements are:

Six sigma is well understood and widely distributed in our organization (1.74)
We have a web site for submitting innovation ideas (1.77)
There is more than one funding source available for innovation ideas (1.79)
We have a process for killing innovation projects (1.82)
We are considered the partner of first resort for innovation ideas (1.83)

The scores indicate that the typical level of agreement with the statements is “partially.”

What does this tell us about the state of innovation maturity in the average organization?

The numbers gathered so far indicate that the state of innovation maturity in the average organization is low, nearly falling into the lowest level. This means that on average, our organizations are focused on growth, but often innovate defensively, in response to external shocks. Many organizations rely on individual, heroic action, lacking formal processes and coordinated approaches to innovation. But, organizations are trending towards greater prioritization of innovation by senior management, an introduction of dedicated resources and a more formal approach.

The highest scoring questions tell us that our organizations are still in the process of embedding a continuous improvement mindset. We also see signs that many people view innovation as a part of their job, regardless of whether they fill an innovation role. Often, people know how to submit an innovation idea. And, we can infer that an increasing number of organizations are becoming more comfortable with the notion of productive failure, and communicating the importance of innovation across the organization.

Finally, the lowest scoring questions show us that process improvement methodologies like six sigma haven’t penetrated as many organizations as one might think. This means that many organizations lack the experience of having already spread a shared improvement methodology across the organization, making the spread of an innovation language and methodologies a little more difficult. We also see an interesting disconnect around idea submission in the high and low scoring questions that seems to indicate that many organizations are using off-line idea submission. Zombie projects appear to be a problem for the average organization, along with getting innovation ideas funded as they emerge. And, many organizations struggle to engage partners across their value and supply chains in their innovation efforts.

Conclusion

While it is interesting to look at how your organization might compare to a broader average, it is often less actionable than creating that deeper understanding and analysis of the situation within your unique organization.

But no matter where your organization might lie now on the continuum of innovation maturity, it is important to see how many variables must be managed and influenced to build enhanced innovation capabilities. It is also important to understand the areas where your organization faces unique challenges compared to others – even in comparing different sites and/or functions within the same organization.

Creating a baseline and taking periodic measurements is crucial if you are serious about making progress in your level of innovation maturity. Make your own measurement and learn how to measure your organization’s innovation maturity more deeply at http://innovation.help.

No matter what level of innovation maturity your organization possesses today, by building a common language of innovation and by consciously working to improve across your greatest areas of opportunity, you can always increase your ability to achieve your innovation vision, strategy and goals.

Keep innovating!

This article originally appeared on the Edison365 Blog

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

People Drive the World-Technology as a Co-Pilot via Center of Human Compassion

Leave a reply

People Drive the World-Technology as a Co-Pilot via Center of Human Compassion

GUEST POST from Teresa Spangler

People at the Center – Technology as a Co-Pilot

Are people at the center of your innovation and new product plans? Have we made people the center of all things digital? Are human’s and our environment the center of the new world entering the 4th Industrial Revolution? When innovation is during groundbreaking disruptive inventions or whether innovation is iterating into new products… what is placed at the center of your strategies? What are the reasons for these new inventions?

So much is at stake, as the world turns to being driven by AI, humanoids, rockets’ red glare searching for new lands to inhabit, games and more games feeding our brains with virtual excitement and stimulation, devices galore on our bodies, in our hands, in our homes helping us navigate our every move and in many ways directing us on how to think. The acceleration of digital permeating our lives is mind boggling. The news we are fed, seemingly unbiased, the product advertisements that sneak into our feeds, the connections via too many social and work-related networks that appear all too promising and friendly too is overwhelming. Technology is encompassing our lives!

The Power of Technology

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology for all the positive it contributes to the world. Technology is allowing individuals to create! To create and earn! To take control of their lives and build meaningful endeavors. The creation of TIME and SPACE to live how we to live has been a major outcome of

1. technology but also 2. the pandemic.

Let’s explore the creator economy which has experienced an explosion of late. As referenced in the Forbes article, The Biggest Trends For 2022 In Creator Economy And Web3, by Maren Thomas Bannon, Today, the total size of the creator economy is estimated to be over $100 billion and 50 million people worldwide consider themselves creators. Creators will continue to bulge out of the global fabric as individuals seek to augment their incomes or escape the confines or rigged corporate cultures. Technology is enabling creators no doubt!

Technology is also allowing forward acting organizations to scale growth at unprecedented speeds. Let’s look at a recent survey conducted by Accenture

Curious about the effects of the pandemic, we completed a second round of research in early 2021 and discovered the following:

Technology Leaders have moved even further ahead of the pack and have been growing at 5x the rate of Laggards on average in the past three years.
Among the “Others” there is a group of organizations—18% of the entire sample—that has been able to break previous performance barriers—the Leapfroggers.

Let’s look at a recent survey conducted by Accenture

Curious about the effects of the pandemic, we completed a second round of research in early 2021 and discovered the following:

Technology Leaders have moved even further ahead of the pack and have been growing at 5x the rate of Laggards on average in the past three years.
Among the “Others” there is a group of organizations—18% of the entire sample—that has been able to break previous performance barriers—the Leapfroggers.

Of course, so much technology is doing good things for the world. 3-D printing is emerging at the center of homelessness. As reported in the #NYTIMES, this tiny village in Mexico is housing homeless people. The homes were built using an oversized 3-D printer.

Another example positive outcomes of technology is the emergence of over-the-counter hearing devices. Fortune Business Insights estimates the global hearing aids market is projected to grow from $6.67 billion in 2021 to $11.02 billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 7.4% in forecast period, 2021-2028.

These devices, until this year, were regulated to being sold by medical professionals at, for the majority of population in need, very high prices $2000 to $5000+ per hearing aid. Yes typically you need two. But recent innovations in ear buds and bluetooth are allowing other technology companies into the game! Take Bose for example, the FDA recently approved Bose SoundControl Hearing Aids to be purchased on their website for $895/pair. No need for a hearing professional. This significantly changes the playing field and opens the doors for so many that have put off purchases (of these not covered by insurance by the way) devices.

Entertainment & leisure travel is going to a whole new level with the help of technology. It’s wonderful that anyone with connectivity and travel the world and explore via Virtual Reality. Here are 52 places you can explore in the comfort of your home shared by NY Times. Many of us attended conferences and events over the past two years virtually. We’ll see an exponential growth in virtual reality experiences in the coming year.

So why am I talking about creating a Center for Human Compassion if so much good is really coming out of technology? Because many of the outcomes are also unrealized and not anticipated or at least publicized to prepare people. It is essential for companies, technologists, and product teams to consider the consequences of new technologies. Not as an afterthought but at the forethought, from inception of ideas we must ask what are the downsides? How will people be affected? What could happen?

The quote below is taken from the World Economic Forum report, Positive AI Economic Futures

machines will be able to do most tasks better than humans. Given these sorts of predictions, it is important to think about the possible consequences of AI for the future of work and to prepare for different scenarios. Continued progress in these technologies could have disruptive effects: from further exacerbating recent trends in inequality to denying more and more people their sense of purpose and fulfillment in life, given that work is much more than just a source of income.

WeForum brings 150 thought leaders together to share thoughts on how we create an AI world we want. For all of AI’s good, there are potentials for negative outcomes.

Let’s take the military’s fight again hobbyists and drones. In the recent article from WSJ, The Military’s New Challenge: Defeating Cheap Hobbyist Drones, how much energy was placed on Human Compassion if drone technologies, IoT and AI got in the wrong hands?

The U.S. is racing to combat an ostensibly modest foe: hobbyist drones that cost a few hundred dollars and can be rigged with explosives. @WSJ

I feel certain there was some consideration but not enough to draw out possible negative impacts and how to mitigate them before they could even start. Did we really put people at the center of what is possible with drone technologies? What do you think?

This is no easy task. We know what is good for us can turn to bad for us when in the wrong hands, or if it’s not moderated to healthy limits. How do we help facilitate a more compassionate relationship with technology and put people at the center?

Here are four strategies to ensure you are keeping people at the center of your innovation, new products and technology development efforts.

Create a Center of Human Compassion, or People Centered Technology Consortium, or what ever you wish to brand your initiative. Select trusted advisors from external (customers, partners…) and a select group of internal stake holders to join your collaborative to gather input, feedback and push back!
Discuss with your trusted group very early on. Gamify initiatives around gathering what ifs! Anticipating the worst you will plan better for the best! (leaving the hope out)
Build a continuous feedback loop. It is important that insights and scenarios are revisited and rehashed over and over again.
Join other consortiums and get involved with AI and tech for good initiatives. If you can’t find ones you feel are of value to you and your company, start one!

Mantra for the year: #lucky2022 but not without work and placing people front and center of plans will good fortune and luck come for the masses.

As always, reach out if you have ideas you’d like to share or questions you’d like to discuss!

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Engaging Distributed Teams in Remote Work

Leave a reply

Engaging Distributed Teams in Remote Work

GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

The shift to remote work, accelerated by global events, has fundamentally reshaped how organizations operate. While offering unparalleled flexibility and access to a global talent pool, it presents unique challenges, particularly in maintaining engagement and fostering innovation within distributed teams. As a human-centered change and innovation thought leader, I’ve observed that simply providing tools isn’t enough; true engagement stems from intentional design and continuous effort centered around the human experience.

The goal isn’t just to make remote work work; it’s to make it thrive. We must move beyond replicating office norms online and instead embrace new paradigms that leverage the distinct advantages of a distributed model. This means focusing on clear communication, psychological safety, shared purpose, and opportunities for both individual growth and collective impact.

The Core Challenge: Bridging the Distance Gap

The primary hurdle in engaging distributed teams is overcoming the inherent distance gap – not just geographical, but also psychological and emotional. When team members aren’t sharing the same physical space, casual interactions that build rapport and understanding are diminished. This can lead to feelings of isolation, reduced collaboration, and a decline in spontaneous innovation. Without careful attention, distributed teams risk becoming transactional rather than relational.

To bridge this gap, organizations must proactively cultivate a culture of connection. This involves establishing clear channels for both formal and informal communication, investing in technologies that facilitate rich interaction, and, most importantly, empowering team leaders to act as facilitators of connection rather than just task managers.

Strategies for Enhanced Engagement

1. Foster Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is the bedrock of any high-performing team, and it’s even more critical in a remote setting. Team members need to feel safe to express ideas, ask questions, admit mistakes, and even challenge the status quo without fear of negative repercussions. In a distributed environment, where non-verbal cues are limited, leaders must explicitly create this safe space.

Be Accessible and Transparent: Leaders should make themselves visible and approachable. Regular “ask me anything” sessions, open office hours, and transparent communication about company performance can build trust.
Encourage Vulnerability: Leaders can model vulnerability by sharing their own challenges or lessons learned, making it easier for others to do the same.
Celebrate Learning from Failure: Shift the narrative from “failure is bad” to “failure is a learning opportunity.” When mistakes happen, focus on the insights gained and how to improve.

2. Prioritize Intentional Communication

Communication in distributed teams cannot be left to chance. It requires a deliberate strategy that accounts for different time zones, communication styles, and the nuances of digital interaction.

Establish Communication Norms: Define when and how different communication channels (e.g., Slack for quick questions, email for formal announcements, video calls for discussions) should be used.
Regular Synchronous Touchpoints: While flexibility is key, scheduled video meetings for team syncs, project updates, and social check-ins are crucial for maintaining cohesion. Make sure these meetings have clear agendas and defined outcomes.
Asynchronous Collaboration Tools: Leverage tools like shared documents, project management software, and asynchronous video messages (e.g., Loom) to allow team members to contribute on their own schedules. This is especially vital for global teams.

3. Cultivate a Shared Purpose and Vision

When working remotely, it’s easy for individuals to lose sight of the bigger picture. Regularly reiterating the team’s mission, vision, and how individual contributions align with organizational goals helps maintain motivation and a sense of collective purpose.

Communicate Impact: Regularly share success stories and the positive impact of the team’s work on customers or the organization.
Co-create Goals: Involve the team in setting goals and objectives. When individuals have a say in what they’re working towards, they’re more invested.

4. Invest in Technology and Training

The right tools are enablers, not solutions in themselves. Organizations must invest in robust, user-friendly platforms that support seamless collaboration and communication. Equally important is providing training on how to effectively use these tools and best practices for remote work.

Collaboration Platforms: Tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and Google Workspace are essential.
Project Management Software: Asana, Trello, Jira, or Monday.com can help keep projects organized and transparent.
Virtual Whiteboards: Miro or Mural can facilitate brainstorming and creative problem-solving sessions.

Case Studies

Case Study 1: “Agile All-Stars” at a Global Tech Company

A large, global tech company struggled with disengagement among its distributed agile development teams. While they had all the standard tools, team members felt disconnected and innovation was stagnating. Leadership’s approach focused on re-humanizing the remote experience.

Implemented “Virtual Coffee Breaks”: Teams were encouraged to schedule 15-minute informal video calls twice a week with no agenda, just for casual chat.
Introduced “Innovation Sprints”: Instead of continuous, siloed work, teams dedicated one day a month to cross-functional “innovation sprints” using virtual whiteboards, focusing on solving challenging problems unrelated to their immediate backlog. This fostered cross-pollination of ideas and built stronger inter-team relationships.
Leadership Training on Empathy: Team leads received specific training on active listening, recognizing signs of disengagement remotely, and initiating empathetic conversations.

Results:

Within six months, employee engagement scores for these teams increased by 15%. The innovation sprints led to two significant product enhancements that were subsequently adopted company-wide, demonstrating the power of focused, collaborative efforts in a distributed setting.

Case Study 2: “The Creative Collective” at a Marketing Agency

A mid-sized marketing agency, traditionally office-centric, faced a steep learning curve with remote work. Their creative teams, used to spontaneous brainstorming in person, found virtual collaboration stifling. Leadership’s intervention centered on structured creativity and celebrating small wins.

Designed “Virtual Brainstorming Playbooks”: The agency developed clear guidelines and templates for virtual brainstorming sessions, utilizing tools like Mural for visual collaboration. These playbooks included warm-up exercises and structured ideation techniques.
Implemented “Show & Tell” Sessions”: Every Friday, teams held a “Show & Tell” where individuals could share a personal project, a new skill learned, or simply something that inspired them outside of work. This built personal connections and shared interests.
Created a “Kudos” Channel: A dedicated Slack channel was set up for public recognition of achievements, big or small. This fostered a culture of appreciation and acknowledged contributions that might otherwise go unnoticed in a remote setting.

Results:

The agency saw a noticeable improvement in the quality and quantity of creative ideas generated remotely. Team cohesion strengthened, evidenced by a 20% reduction in voluntary turnover among creative staff in the first year of the new initiatives. The “Kudos” channel became one of the most active communication streams, demonstrating the positive impact of public recognition.

The Future of Remote Engagement

Engaging distributed teams in remote work isn’t a one-time fix; it’s an ongoing journey of adaptation and improvement. Organizations must remain agile, continuously solicit feedback from their employees, and be willing to experiment with new approaches. The key is to remember that behind every screen is a human being with unique needs, aspirations, and challenges. By prioritizing human-centered design in our remote work strategies, we can unlock the full potential of distributed teams, fostering environments where innovation thrives, and individuals feel connected, valued, and empowered to do their best work, no matter where they are. 🌍💡

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.

Why Good Job Interviews Don’t Lead to Good Job Performance

1 Reply

Why Good Job Interviews Don't Lead to Good Job Performance

GUEST POST from Arlen Meyers, M.D.

Many hiring managers, professional school and residency interviewers and search executives know there is not a single correlation that links how someone interviews with their on-the-job performance.

“In 30 years of executive search, over 1000 search projects, and interviews with over 250,000 candidates, we cannot find a single correlation that links how someone interviews with their on-the-job performance – as interviews are traditionally conducted by the vast majority of hiring managers.” — Barry Deutsch

Yet interview theater constantly appears at a location near you.

Why?

By it’s very nature, there is a power imbalance so the interviewer almost always has the upper hand
Telling truth to authority can be a non-starter
The process is flawed
Interviewers and interviewees are not trained to interview
There is an inadequate or non-existent job preview
It is almost impossible to understand the culture of a potential organization without acually experiencing it for a while
Interviewers look for personality, not performance, fits
There is bias and the inability to accept cognitive, demographic and psychographic diversity
Here is how not to answer 10 medical school and residency interview questions
The process for selecting those who are interviewed in flawed.
It is impossible to pick your parents or pick your boss
You can’t always trust people to do what they said they would do if you work for them.

How we are filling the sickcare worker pipeline is not working. Interview theater has had it’s run. It’s time for Medical School Powerball.

While you are at it, get rid of exit interviews and annual performance reviews too.

Image credit: Pixabay

Sign up here to get Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to your inbox every week.