Innovation should be a way of life

Innovation should be a way of life

'I will either find a way, or make one," is the famous quotation attributed to one of history's great strategists, Hannibal of Carthage. Back in 218 BC, he conquered Rome by bringing his army across the Alps. That was difficult enough, but Hannibal's army also included African elephants, an extraordinary innovation and a military breakthrough.

In today's world of rapid change, every organisation dreams of an innovative breakthrough that could set it apart from the pack. But true innovators are a rare breed. As the Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw once observed: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Shaw's view underlines the importance of curiosity in the search for different ways to handle a situation. The leader has to encourage the practice of innovation as a way of life. Otherwise, followers may happily live with the status quo and forget, to their peril, that nothing stands still.

To manage an organisation effectively while conditions keep changing, leaders sometimes need the courage to act like children who wonder how things work around them. From my observations of successful executives, I have found some interesting perspectives on innovation:

Innovation helps leaders to look at things differently from the status quo, step out of their comfort zone, and create a new and challenging agenda for the organisation.

Outstanding leaders always think outside the box to create products and services that also define new business opportunities and allow the business to grow in the short and long term.

Leaders with an open-minded attitude will be truly outstanding because they will be open to accepting new ideas from various sources.

Leaders who are highly innovative usually practise positive thinking as well.

Role of abstract reasoning: "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower," said the late Steve Jobs, who was considered second to none for his ability to conceive and create innovative products. I see him as the model of the modern innovative business leader, someone who prefers -- and enjoys -- bringing new products and/or services into the world. These leaders typically have exceptionally high abstract reasoning ability, which allows them to deal with complexity and understand patterns or forms that they've never seen before.

Abstract reasoning is a solid foundation for successful leaders since many who possess it have an enhanced ability to anticipate or predict what will happen in the future. It is a cognitive ability that is the result of right-brain functioning. But besides demonstrating a preference for innovation, top executives should have a clear ability to innovate as well.

There is another kind of leader who employs innovation but not to develop new products and services, but is innovative in terms of managing other people and/or organisations. Such leaders make good use of innovative management tools such as Six Sigma, BCG portfolio analysis, or Michael Porter's Five Forces analysis, to name a few, to help them get the most out of people, teams and organisations.

Innovation and entrepreneurship: The difference between these two types of leaders is their area of focus. Innovative business leaders mainly drive their teams to create new products and services but are less concerned about the people involved in the process. At times they may be a bit too direct to get the job done. On the other hand, innovative managerial leaders tend to make the people equation an important part of their managerial decisions.

Both types of leaders require high abstract reasoning ability; otherwise they would not be able to see through complex issues. In addition, they need above-average verbal reasoning, which is a result of left-brain functioning. This cognitive ability refers to the ability to understand the logic and reasoning contained in written material. Executives with a high degree of abstract and verbal reasoning will be able to understand and explain complex issues more effectively.

The management guru Peter Drucker once said: "Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. It is the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth. Innovation, indeed, creates a resource." Leaders who take Drucker's words to heart and focus on innovation demonstrate one of the components of great leadership, or the 6 C's: Clear vision, Communication, Conscientiousness (integrity), Constancy (emotional stability), Courage and Curiosity (Innovation).

Many successful organisations embed innovation in their corporate culture, so that it becomes a way of life for the people who work there. Executives who have a capability for innovation can also create a platform for talent in the organisation in order to ensure business success and build capable executives at the same time.


Sorayuth Vathanavisuth is the principal and executive coach at the Center for Southeast Asia Leadership and lectures at Mahidol University's College of Management. His areas of interest are corporate strategy, executive coaching and leadership development. He can be reached at sorayuth@sealeadership.com

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