Managers and, especially, “leaders” are under a lot of pressure to be innovators, today. Either add that characteristic to the list, or as a facet of “vision.”
Or, you could drop it and all other personal “leadership” characteristics altogether, and focus on managing. Leadership is an organizational characteristic, and just one of those assets you will manage. Moreover, innovation will more often arise from deep within - and even without - the organization than from its top management. The latter’s job is to encourage, recognize, and support it - not to produce it.
Consider this item from The Economist. It is a leader offering some lessons on how Apple has been so successful in recent years. In particular, view the four paragraphs under the heading: “Not invented here, and very welcome.”
We are often led to believe that Apple’s recovery of its innovative lead arises directly from the return of a singular visionary, feeding inspiration and innovation into the firm. While he no doubt has been a powerful force in Apple’s turnaround, it is primarily by certain managerial skills. Of most recent import in this area has been his fostering of what is referred to as “network innovation.”
This is the casting of a wide net for ideas and technologies, and then drawing them in for integration with corporate strengths, talent and focus. Did you know, for example, that the iPod was not conceived by Apple’s boss, nor even by an Apple employee? It was thought up by an outside contractor. What’s more, it wasn’t even a new idea - what was new was building it around the needs and desires of the consumer, rather than the possibilities of the technology.
Seems pretty much like basic, no nonsense, effective management, when you look at this phenomenal product’s history more closely. And, actually, that’s what it was.
Management of innovation. There are numerous other companies who are well-known for this. Can you think of any? (By the way, I’ll bet you can’t think of the names of most of their bosses - no cheating!)
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Technorati Tags: vision, leadership, innovation, The Economist, Apple, network innovation, iPod, leadership characteristics
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[...] For one thing, it uses “open innovation,” which means that it will steal any good idea and make it into a winner for its customers and its businesses (see here for more on this). It began using this approach 5 years ago, and now half of its inventions come from outside its own ranks. [...]
[...] recently seen how a company known for innovation manages it. Consider also the example of an electric utility, [...]
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