The Culture of Innovation and People Dimension: #IHRChat

Yesterday, I managed to get back to favorite social learning platform – #IHRChat to learn and contribute my insights on the all important topic of building a culture of innovation and the people dimension.

The guest on the chat was Steve Shapiro who is a leading keynote speaker, author and innovation advisor. Here are some of the key lessons from the tweet chat. (Read the storified version of the chat here).

Q1: How do you define innovation ?

Innovation is not always about new, but about value addition in meaningful manner – Dr. Tanvi Gautam

Two definitions. 1) adaptability. 2) value – Stephen Shapiro

To truly innovate, you must look at problems with a different lens. BREAK the #StatusQuo – Steven Z. Ehrlich

To innovate is to ensure survival in an uncertain world – Dr. Tanvi Gautam

Innovation is about acknowledging new frontiers. Kodak knew that digital will disrupt, but never acknowledged. – Tanmay Vora

Change that unsettles us and helps us look at the world and its problems differently – Nidhi Sand

And it is an end-to-end process that starts with an opportunity/problem and ends with the creation of value – Stephen Shapiro

Q2: What is the difference between innovation and creativity?

Creativity is about ideas. Innovation is about the creation of value. – Stephen Shapiro

Asking for ideas…is a bad idea. Focus on solutions to well-framed challenges. Stephen Shapiro

Creativity is the seed. Innovation is the fruit. – Gurprriet Siingh

Innovation is NOT about thinking outside the box!!! You want to find a better box. – Stephen Shapiro

Creativity is the fuel that fires the rocket of innovation into orbit! No fuel, no innovation. – Rajesh Kamath

Innovation leads to value creation for customers, partners, corporations and people. Creativity may create value. – Vivek Paranjpe

You can be creative without being innovative but not vice versa. – Dr. Tanvi Gautam

Q3: What drives innovation in a company?

Create a culture of experimentation. You don’t want to fail…you want to learn through small scalable experiments. – Stephen Shapiro

More often than not, it is the human desire to make a difference that drives innovation anywhere. – Gurprriet Siingh

Largescale innovations need Leadership of cross functional teams based on competence need of the time not based on hierarchy. – Vivek Paranjpe

Vision is one the principle drivers of innovation. Culture and Leadership are the others – Vipul Agarwal

Org has to be very clear about what is the difference between incremental change and innovation. – Jaya Narayan

Know where to innovate. Innovate where you differentiate. This is CRITICAL! Don’t innovate everywhere. – Stephen Shapiro

Leadership and strong cultural to ‘be the change’ fosters innovation – Mayanka Batra

“If you put fences around people, you get sheep. Give people the room they need.” William McKnight #Culture – Tanmay Vora

Q4: What are the competencies and mental models of an innovator ?

3M is masterful at taking a solution from adhesives and applying to reflective or abrasives. Cross-pollination is helpful. – Stephen Shapiro

Another competency: don’t get attached to your own ideas. Confirmation bias will kill innovation. – Stephen Shapiro

When the latest innovation is being lapped up by the  market, the innovator asks ‘what’s next’? – Rajesh Kamath

Very high on perseverance, influencing ability, keen observation, experiential quick learning & ownership – Sneha Khasgiwale

Tolerance for ambiguity. Patience with Failure. Impatience with good enough. – Dr. Tanvi Gautam

Take risk, Learn from failure, Do better than before and Explore new frontiers – Shishir Misra

When most people tend to ask why, innovators tend to ask why not! – Dr. Tanvi Gautam

The ability to connect the dots. Bring solutions form one domain to another. – Stephen Shapiro

Innovators are Problem finders. Risk Takers. Persistent. Adaptable. – Tanmay Vora

Q5: Where do organizations go wrong when it comes to innovation ?

Mistake: attempting to innovate everywhere. Only innovate where you differentiate! Work with partners for the rest. – Stephen Shapiro

Incremental ideas tend to get flushed as innovation. – Kaushik Srinivasan

Innovation requires time, space, flexibility, freedom. Not allowing these could be disastrous. – Keerthi Kariappa

Overly focusing on ‘old school’ ways like bell curves, KRA’s, narrow metrics, command&control while still expecting innovation. – Tanmay Vora

Thinking that this Innovation will last a decade. – Rajesh Kamath

Expecting everyone to innovate. In all areas. Carpet-bombing versus targeted innovation. – Gurprriet Siingh

Delegating innovation to someone else basis hierarchy and process. – Tanvi Mishra

Organizations put the ‘ideas’ guys on pedestal but don’t celebrate the ‘execution’ folks enough! – Eklavya Sinha

Q6: How do you deal with people out to kill innovation ?

You need to create “pain” for others if they are to change. So if someone is killing innovation, you need to create a pain. – Stephen Shapiro

Stop trying to win over them; start trying to win them over! – Rajesh Kamath

If all else fails, walk away and find a more supportive environment. Be pragmatic and realistic about what won’t work. – Gurprriet Siingh

Often its easier to “flip” the opinion of opponents by problem solving their concerns. Ambivalent people are toughest. – Greg Githens

They are not detractors, they just haven’t been converted yet. Leveraging innovative ways of evangelising is key. – Michael Carty

Communicate relentlessly. Elevate your game. Raise the bar. Focus on “Why” before “How” – Tanmay Vora

Show them their benefit, create strong networks so they believe in you and show them ‘what’s in it for them’ – Mayanka Batra

Best way is to start with small experiments that prove your ideas. – Stephen Shapiro

Q7: How can we measure innovation?

How much it changed the lives of people along with not impacting the environment adversely; while creating material value! – Rajesh Kamath

Value creation is the ultimate measurement – Shishir Misra

Measure innovation not just by ROI but the investment in the future – Dr. Tanvi Gautam

the end game is of course value creation. But that is a lagging indicator. – Stephen Shapiro

Setting up metrics before innovating will kill innovation. After innovating, the only metric is value generated. – Tanmay Vora

With over 1.5K tweets in less than one hour, it was almost like boarding the super-fast learning train on innovation. While the chat was progressing, the hashtag #IHRChat was trending at #1 in India on Twitter – simply amazing!

Thanks to the #IHRChat community for their generosity and to Dr. Tanvi Gautam for building up this wonderful community of learners and teachers.

P.S: Thanks to Georgia Tech for mention of my article “Indispensible Traits of A Collaborative Leader” in their Leadership Education and Development section.