Innovation Revolution: DON'T VEGETATE INNOVATE - Brief Article

Parks & Recreation, Jan, 2000 by Barbara Heller

Employees today look for work environments that perpetuate a learning culture, one in which they can develop their skills and enjoy independence in their work.

Good things happen to innovative and creative-thinking organizations. Organizations that operate creatively show superior long-term financial performance. Additionally, innovation continues to be more and more critical in our high-speed society. The need for innovation in parks and recreation is extremely vital to our future success as an industry.

Customers demand innovation. New technologies continue to enable innovation. Think about how customers registered for programs a decade ago. Can you imagine offices without fax machines or e-mail? Private sector companies commonly design their organization around innovative techniques. Government organizations have a tendency to move much slower. What used to work no longer works. Yet we somehow remain wedded to the status quo.

Employees today look for work environments that perpetuate a learning culture, one in which they can develop their skills and enjoy independence in their work. Employees want involvement and the ability to participate in their future. Innovation only results when all employees are encouraged to use their minds.

Many times, employees suggest that they are simply not creative. According to innovation and creativity research at Harvard University, this is a "cop-out." Creativity and innovation skills can be developed through practice. One of the main challenges for leaders who desire greater levels of creativity is the establishment of a risk-taking climate. Employees must feel safe in trying new ideas and concepts. If not, staff will feel hesitant to take a bold chance on something new.

Few organization leaders have received training in the art of innovation. Today managers pay attention to problem-solving, communication skills, leadership, team enhancement, and project management. In most cases, innovation exists nowhere on the list of important skills. Its importance is regarded as a "soft skill." Yet innovative organizations can boast better bottom-line performance.

Truly innovative organizations have the value of innovation deeply imbedded at their core. Relying upon specific strategies that support creative thought and action, the spirit of innovation , spreads throughout an organization. Together, employees create the spirit of innovation.

Common Themes

Author Rosabeth Moss Kanter, in her book Innovation, mentions similarities among innovative organizations. The companies she notes -- 3M, Dupont, General Electric, Pfizer, and Rubbermaid -- share very similar operating strategies, which include:

* Innovation is a core value of the organization. Hiring includes an applicant's track record in developing innovative approaches. Orientation programs and employee training reinforce the importance of innovation. Organizational innovation does not "just happen"; it becomes part of the organization only through demonstrated commitment to the value of innovation. Additionally, reinforcement of the value needs to occur every day by what the leaders of the organization say and do. People inherently adopt and perpetuate the status quo. The accomplishment of innovation throughout all levels of the organization requires substantive effort. It becomes a strategy of eliminating the status quo.

* A well-defined leadership system that espouses employee involvement and participation in decision-making. An environment of command and control leadership paralyzes employees. Employees usually know their jobs; they do not need someone telling them what to do or how to do it. Managers in these organizations have accountability for innovation.

* Cross-functional openness that transcends throughout all departments and functions of the organization, The organization focuses on the "greater good" rather than the sum of the parts. In the parks and recreation world, this is analogous to maintenance and recreation staff working together rather than as separate players with opposing goals. General Electric's Jack Welch coined the term "boundarylessness" to describe his organization. GE relentlessly seeks to reduce artificial boundaries and turf between departments and vertical boundaries of bureaucracy.

* Continuous efforts in the establishment of teams to accomplish work. Employees from different departments form cross-functional teams. Employees affected by the change in a process are involved in the discussions. These companies recognize that good decisions result from a collection of diverse minds and perspectives. These teams have a fair amount of autonomy to accomplish their goals. There is an absence of inspection and checking by the boss, the boss's boss, and the boss's boss's boss.

* Flat organizational structures that support speed and employee empowerment. Span of control for management personnel is large. Levels of the organization have flattened to improve response time and reduce the amount of management inspection.