Masterclass with Charles Leadbeater

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Masterclass with Charles Leadbeater Creating the
Workplace of the Future Innovate, Transform,
Change NCPP, Dublin September 2005
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Which are you?
Leading Innovation
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The innovation dilemma

• Innovation is more vital
• It sounds exciting
• But it can be very painful and prone to failure
• You know you need to do it but hate it

Leading Innovation
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The innovation dilemma

• Are you a cake maker? Efficient, reliable, low
  cost, high quality
• Are you a recipe maker? Inventive, experimental,
  adaptive
• Can you be both?
• Explore and exploit, learn new tricks while
  perfecting what you do

Leading Innovation
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Three Imperatives
Coordinate
Leading Innovation
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Three Imperatives
Innovate
Leading Innovation
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Three Imperatives
Motivate
Leading Innovation
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Three Imperatives
Coordinate
Motivate
Innovate
Motivate
Leading Innovation
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Innovation always misunderstood

• Myth Reality
• Flash of insight Comes from immersion
• Brilliant idea Fail early but often
• Individualistic Collaborative
• New knowledge Admitting ignorance
• Invention Mostly development
• Originality Borrowing
• Look to the future Look sideways and backwards
• Internal R D Networked, open innovation
• Product pipeline Consumers as innovators
• All about learning But unlearning just as vital

Leading Innovation
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Innovate, coordinate, motivate

• US Army complex situations, simple rules

Leading Innovation
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Innovate, coordinate, motivate

• Telenor make work a pleasure, flexible but
  conversational

Leading Innovation
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Innovate, coordinate, motivate

• Arup try something new everytime

Leading Innovation
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Innovate, coordinate, motivate

• Ideo creative conversation, get out and look

Leading Innovation
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Innovate, coordinate, motivate

• Nokia the network is all

Leading Innovation
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Innovate, coordinate, motivate

• How would you run Heathrow Airport?

Leading Innovation
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Innovators support the future

• But big companies like to reinforce past success
• So find ways to set aside some investment in
  future

Leading Innovation
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Leading for innovation

• Get started, act-and-respond

Leading Innovation
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Unlearn to create space for the new

• But senior managers identity comes from the past
• Institute unlearning Room 101
• Get people from outside to account for your
  history

Leading Innovation
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Constructive, open challenge

• But being a manager is being in charge, distant,
  authoritative
• Appointing people who disagree with you
• People who do not necessarily buy into everything
  you are doing
• Find useful deviants
• Make challenge routine and unthreatening

Leading Innovation
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Innovation starts with admitting ignorance

• But being a manager means knowing the answer
• Be prepared to look stupid
• Ask outsiders
• People fresh into the business
• Dont immerse people too fast

Leading Innovation
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Innovation requires spare capacity

• But managers want organisations to be aligned, no
  waste
• Innovation takes some time, freedom and
  permission
• Encouraging people to follow their noses

Leading Innovation
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Innovation requires borrowing and humility

• But managers hate admitting someone else is
  better
• Swap jobs
• Peer reviews/mentoring
• Shared corporate objectives and targets

Leading Innovation
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Innovation happens in border zones

• But managers stay in their offices
• Dont get trapped your desk is a dangerous place
  to be
• Get on the ground sometimes

Leading Innovation
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Innovation is co-creation with customers

• That happens at the edge of the organisation, in
  real time
• Segment your customers who do you most learn
  from?
• Who are your lead user innovators?
• Can you give users tools to innovate with you/for
  you?
• Radical and disruptive innovation starts with
  users in small markets

Leading Innovation
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Innovators have stories to tell

• Managers have plans, numbers, market shares
• Ideas come from imagination
• Imagination gets sparked by metaphor

Leading Innovation
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Innovation thrives on rules of attraction

• But managers think they are in the propulsion
  business
• Are you throwing rocks or herding flocks?

Leading Innovation
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Innovation Masterclass NCCP, Dublin Septmeber
2005
Charles Leadbeater