To Innovate or Not: That is the Question

Innovation:  To Encourage it or Discourage It?

When interviewing CEOs about creativity and innovation in their organizations they say they want it.  When interviewing managers in the same organizations I often hear that they are afraid of “loose cannons.”

CEOs tell me that their managers stifle creativity and innovation.  Managers tell me that they are caught in the middle of a sandwich.  They have orders from above to deliver deliverables in a timely and efficient manner – so they cannot afford to let their employees “play around with new ideas”  (that’s their words, not mine!) 

So what’s the resolution?

How do we allow people the freedom to experiment and try new ideas – perhaps more efficient ways to work – or even up to and including new product/service ideas?  If we allow them this freedom, will they fail to get their daily work done?  Will they go off willy-nilly and spoil existing processes?

BUT – we really do want to encourage new ideas, more efficient processes, reduction of waste and increase in productiveity….

So, what’s the conclusion?   ASK ME!

"Tweaking" Small but powerful changes

Tweaking

Are you tired of hiring consultants who spend dozens of hours and thousands of your dollars analyzing a problem and offering grandiose and impossible to achieve solutions?

That’s the complaint I hear frequently from prospective clients.  Apparently, their hard earned money goes towards detailed, comprehensive reports that really don’t offer much practical help.

My consulting is different.  I work directly with your staff to “tweak” processes that could be simplified and could save time and money.  Together we problem-solve – they know what they know and I get to add my knowledge and experience to the mix.  Change – or should I say many changes – occur in short order that is useful and time and cost saving. 

Interested?

Just one example:  When I was consulting to the City of San Carlos the hundred minor changes we made took them from conflict with their citizens to rewards for being customer service focused.  They won many awards as a result of the problem-solving workshops we conducted.

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Call me and I can give you examples of what we accomplished.  The small tweaks that made major changes.

New Ways to Do Old Stuff

What do you do to encourage new and creative ideas in your workplace?

• Are your policies and procedures so tightly wound (a nicer phrase than rigid) that there is no room for improvement?
• Do you have managers who stifle good ideas because they think a different idea will make them look bad?
• Do you hope that the good ideas will “bubble up” or do you have a process in place that enables them to come up the chain of command seamlessly?

Whether you call it continuous improvement, thinking outside the box, shifting the paradigm, creativity, innovation, or even working more efficiently and effectively, there needs to be a way to make this possible in your organization.

When we do workshops with clients, we create opportunities for people to freely talk about their ideas:

• First by developing relationship, then trust, then opportunity.
• Ideas are captured, evaluated, and given to the correct decision makers for approval or change.
• Experimental – trial – pilot projects – are created when necessary and tools for measurement are developed.

The most effective and reasonable tools from “quality” and “six sigma” are utilized to measure and accept the best of the best new ideas.

New Ways to Do Old Stuff

What do you do to encourage new and creative ideas in your workplace?

• Are your policies and procedures so tightly wound (a nicer phrase than rigid) that there is no room for improvement?
• Do you have managers who stifle good ideas because they think a different idea will make them look bad?
• Do you hope that the good ideas will “bubble up” or do you have a process in place that enables them to come up the chain of command seamlessly?

Whether you call it continuous improvement, thinking outside the box, shifting the paradigm, creativity, innovation, or even working more efficiently and effectively, there needs to be a way to make this possible in your organization.

When we do workshops with clients, we create opportunities for people to freely talk about their ideas:

• First by developing relationship, then trust, then opportunity.
• Ideas are captured, evaluated, and given to the correct decision makers for approval or change.
• Experimental – trial – pilot projects – are created when necessary and tools for measurement are developed.

The most effective and reasonable tools from “quality” and “six sigma” are utilized to measure and accept the best of the best new ideas.

Saving Money While Increasing Productivity

When I look over the shoulders (metaphorically speaking) of the employees of my clients, I often see them doing unnecessary work and making things harder for themselves.

They hire someone to do a series of tasks, assuming that person will find the most effective and efficient manner in which to complete these tasks. All too often the process used is far too cumbersome for the task at hand.

In part it is because no one taught them the simplest most effective system to do their tasks – instead in the misuse of the concept of empowerment they were told to figure it out themselves. In my opinion that is management abrogating responsibility.

Another reason is because people invent these elaborate systems to prevent embezzlement or fraud – often the solution is far more costly than the real risk involved. Yes, we need checks and balances – but sometimes we go way too far. It’s a challenge for me to help these people realize that some of what they are doing isn’t worthwhile.

Work Smarter

Many of us in both our public and private lives are looking for ways to save money. For some, it means cutting out spending on things we want. These people talk about “tightening the belt.” But I find that people waste money doing work or using things that are unnecessary. By just working smarter they can save lots of money.

In some cases processes are redundant and time and money are wasted. Ask yourself these questions: 

• Are you double tracking simple tasks that are already tracked in business applications?
• Are you spending too many dollars to protect against the possibility of a one in a thousand problem?
• Do you have more than one department working on the same tasks, not knowing what the other is doing?
• Are you making it difficult for people to communicate with each other when they need to check in with each other frequently?
• Are you providing your staff with bits and pieces of the information they need rather than giving them the whole information?
• Do you have endless unnecessary meetings? Could some of these be eliminated? Shortened? Less people needed to attend?

We Don’t All Know All the Answers

Sometimes getting outside expertise to work WITH your team enables everyone to look at things differently and to find more effective and less-costly solutions to solving problems.

I don’t do my own taxes – because to do so would require extensive new learning annually for just me. It doesn’t pay. On the other hand, my accountant learns all the new laws because he or she is applying them to hundreds of cases.

I don’t service my own car. I don’t know how. I don’t want to know how. I use people I trust who are reliable and ethical.  They do a far better job than I ever could, even if I learned how.

Broken Windows Theory - Applied to the Workplace

When Rudy Giuliani was Mayor of New York City he applied this criminal law theory to the neighborhoods in New York City and cleaned up graffiti, garbage thrown around, broken windows and anything that would in any way diminish the neighborhoods. He cleaned up the neighborhoods on the theory that by paying attention to the small details, there would be a change in attitude - and crime would be reduced as pride was restored.

The theory was first introduced in 1982 in an article in the Atlantic Monthly by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. The Wikipedia article quotes the Atlantic Monthly article as follows:

Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.

Or consider a pavement. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates.  Eventually, people even start leaving bags of refuse from take-out restaurants there or even break into cars.

Why, you might be asking is she talking about criminal theory in a business and professional newsletter?  How does this apply to the workplace?

So, my answer is that small things add up to big things. When I go into a company I often notice how small things are causing big - unnecessary expenses.

Let me offer you a few examples:

When asked to come in and investigate an allegation of sexual harassment in one of our biggest local High Tech companies, the contract was for $5,000.00. Yet, the contract department of this organization submitted a ten page contract for me to show to my attorney and get his authorization before I signed and returned it. Most of what was in the contract was completely unrelated to the work I was hired to complete.

Another similar example - I recently signed a contract with a government agency to do some Executive Coaching. The original contract they sent me was the same as one they would have used for contractors building a building, or a freeway overpass. It took three iterations back and forth over close to a month before we finalized a contract that made sense for the type of work I was being asked to do.

An example I've used before was when I helped a major transportation agency create a simple refund system for when people complained that the ticket machine wasn't working properly. Prior to my intervention, when someone was asking for a refund of $5.00 or less the process was to investigate to make sure the machine was really malfunctioning, plus putting an accounts payable chit into the major Oracle Relational Database system - which meant about three or four people handled it before the check was cut. It probably cost them about $1,000.00 to process a $5.00 check.  

My intervention was to give the accountant in charge a dedicated checking account, a QuickBooks system and got permission that allowed him to refund anything up to and including $10.00 without investigation. He had the full accountability - actually easier and quicker - because he could sort by name, by address (where the check was to be sent) and/or by machine. So, it now cost a few pennies to make these small refunds and created a great deal more goodwill.

There are so many examples of people of goodwill - working hard - doing far too much than they need to do to effectively and efficiently solve a problem or complete the necessary task. 

So, when I say, "if I were that piece of paper - where would I go" or "what would I need to do" I am trying to work with my client to look at things from a new angle so that they can simplify their processes - save themselves time - and save their company lots of money.

Broken Window Theory!

Here’s another way of looking at it:

"Happy Employees Make Happy Customers." We've all heard that or similar phrases many times. The opposite is also true: If you are rude, condescending, or disrespectful to your employees they will not give their jobs their all. They will do just enough to get by.

If you assume they can figure out the best way to do a job - you might be right, but you might also be abrogating responsibility and asking too much of someone who isn't trained to create the most parsimonious system - and you will get something far less effective than if you helped in the process.

If as union supervisor, you set the example of quitting work fifteen minutes before quitting time you are telling others it is OK to fudge and to give your employer less time than s/he deserves. I saw that happening repeatedly when I was conducting a weekly workshop from 3- 5 PM in a government agency. At 4:45 PM each week of the workshop, the union supervisor, would close her workbook, take out her compact and lipstick and re-apply her lipstick, put them in her purse, and sit with her purse on the table and her hands folded above it, waiting for the clock to turn to 5 PM.

Any one of these examples is just an example of something small and seemingly insignificant - but just like the broken windows - they set a pattern - they develop an attitude - and a corporate culture of doing things less than excellently.

The Tipping Point - in the right direction - is when time is given to real process improvement using a consultant (plug) who works collaboratively with workplace teams to see what could be improved. 

Symbolically, fixing the broken windows, removing the graffiti, making things work easier and better, setting good examples - all tip the scale and create employees that are highly motivated and feel good about what they do - and the company in which they work.

Process Improvement – Quality – Streamlining

When working with many clients, both private and public, I find myself offering many suggestions for process improvement.  You might remember that in my early business career, I streamlined and re-engineered systems and was what in those days was called “an efficiency expert.”  (No, I never did time and motion studies!)

I was a member of the streamlining council for Joint Venture Silicon Valley and in this capacity went into cities to streamline their permit processing.  This led to some interesting contracts during which my contract included going into many areas of these agencies to improve processes, reduce redundancies, and get rid of unnecessary rules and regulations. 

My clients included cities, transportation agencies, accounting offices, law offices, and High Tech companies.

Now, in addition to the other courses I teach, I apply that experience to:  Quality and Performance Excellence, in the Keller Graduate School MBA Program.

Reducing unnecessary processes and regulations – with the help of the employees involved themselves – helps relationships with the communities/people being served, reduces costs – therefore allowing for less taxes if you are a government agency  – and increases the bottom line.

Cutting Waste and Saving Money

Many of us in both our public and private lives are looking for ways to save money.  For some, it means cutting out spending on things we want. These people talk about “tightening the belt.”  But I find that people waste money doing work or using things that are unnecessary.   By just working smarter they can save lots of money. I can think of lots of examples in our private lives – but since this is primarily a business/professional newsletter, I want to focus on what happens at work.

In some cases processes are redundant and time and money are wasted.  For example, in accounts receivable are you still taking an adding machine tape when your computer is adding things up for you?   Are you spending too many dollars to protect against the possibility of a one in a thousand problem?   Do you have more than one department working on the same tasks, not knowing what the other is doing?  Are you making it difficult for people to communicate with each other when they need to check in with each other frequently?  Are you providing your staff with bits and pieces of the information they need rather than giving them the whole information?  

Do you have endless unnecessary meetings?  Could some of these be eliminated?  Shortened? Less people needed to attend?

I ask you these questions because these are just some of the few things I learn when working to do process improvement – and make my clients more effective.

Not only my government clients, but some of my corporate clients also make the same mistakes. 

Another common mistake:  They hire someone to do a series of tasks, assuming that person will find the most effective and efficient manner in which to complete these tasks.  All too often the process used is far too cumbersome for the task at hand.

As I listen to the politicians blame each other and predict Armageddon if the government is forced to cut what the Wall St. Journal reported will be only 2.2% of the debt, I keep thinking, they ought to hire me and working with their staff, I could find ways to cut waste and probably save them over 10% of what their current costs are – without losing any service in the process.

I know this because I’ve made lots of positive changes to reduce waste with both corporate and government clients.

Cutting Waste and Saving Money: Streamlining Systems

Cutting Waste and Saving Money

Many of us in both our public and private lives are looking for ways to save money.  For some, it means cutting out spending on things we want. These people talk about “tightening the belt.”  But I find that people waste money doing work or using things that are unnecessary.   By just working smarter they can save lots of money. I can think of lots of examples in our private lives – but since this is primarily a business/professional newsletter, I want to focus on what happens at work.

In some cases processes are redundant and time and money are wasted.  For example, in accounts receivable are you still taking an adding machine tape when your computer is adding things up for you?   Are you spending too many dollars to protect against the possibility of a one in a thousand problem?   Do you have more than one department working on the same tasks, not knowing what the other is doing?  Are you making it difficult for people to communicate with each other when they need to check in with each other frequently?  Are you providing your staff with bits and pieces of the information they need rather than giving them the whole information?  

Do you have endless unnecessary meetings?  Could some of these be eliminated?  Shortened? Less people needed to attend?

I ask you these questions because these are just some of the few things I learn when working to do process improvement – and make my clients more effective.

Not only my government clients, but some of my corporate clients also make the same mistakes. 

Another common mistake:  They hire someone to do a series of tasks, assuming that person will find the most effective and efficient manner in which to complete these tasks.  All too often the process used is far too cumbersome for the task at hand.

As I listen to the politicians blame each other and predict Armageddon if the government is forced to cut what the Wall St. Journal reported will be only 2.2% of the debt, I keep thinking, they ought to hire me and working with their staff, I could find ways to cut waste and probably save them over 10% of what their current costs are – without losing any service in the process.

I know this because I’ve made lots of positive changes to reduce waste with both corporate and government clients.