I thought I’d pass along this interesting experience from this week. I’m a natural at my real job and have to say I enjoy the tar out of it. I help groups within EMC think out side of the box and lead the charge in crossing new boundaries. This is helped by never really knowing I was in a box to begin with. I joke when asked how I came up with this or that over the years that 'I was too clueless to know I couldn't do that'. Recently EMC has been preparing for their next internal Innovation contests. Normally I would be a good corporate citizen and read the nice posts and ask myself ‘you know I should enter’. This year is slightly different, for better or worse myself and two others won the contest last year. Now at a minimum this was ‘COOL’ and the internal exposure is always good for someone in my line of work. Where this takes a bit of a twist is I was asked to give my thoughts on the general topic of Innovation. This forced me to actually think about what I do for a living rather then just doing it.
This is what I came up with:
Innovation is easy from the outside and hard on the inside
I hear a lot from folks when I meet them for the 1st time ‘Man your job is really cool’. In truth I think it is but its not all glamour and late night Innovation parties. Its a lot of hard work mixed in with lots of failures. There is the classic 1 in 10 rule I live by for every 1 break thru, you have 10 failures littering the floor at your feet. This combined with once you think up the new whacky thing, It dawns on you this was the easy part. Things gets really interesting when you start expressing what it is you've done. A good Innovator must be able to translate the ‘what, how and why’ into many different forms and dialects. What does his idea mean to the business, schedule, products, market as well as the industry. How does this change the product, business and industry. Why is this better then just continuing down the beaten path.
Innovation Requires the Patience of a Therapist
A position most Innovators find themselves in once they have had the ‘break thru’ is they now need to convince others that this really is a good idea. I think of this time as technical therapy sessions I often find myself in the meetings at all kinds of levels having to adjust the pitch depending on the audience. This simply boils down to change is hard for most people. In a corporate setting it also tends to fly in the face of steady predictable incremental progress for the bottom line. I have been lucky for the most part over the years that I tend to pick bleeding edge style companies that see the long term advantages of ‘disruptive thinking and ideas’. Still I do have lots conversations to calm fears, show benefits, and convert the unenlightened.
Innovators Begat Innovators
This line as misleading as it may be is one of the truest statements. My 1st experience with innovation was in a high school history class of all places. As a testament to the effect a pair of very innovative teachers had in my life to this date. I'm still a avid history buff, I've been known to hijack the TV to watch the history channel much to my families chagrin. These teachers managed to talk the school administrator’s into letting them teach a military history course by having the students play war games. Now as a bright strapping young lad looking for an easy grade this was very appealing. I went and signed up thinking, I get to play games and get a grade, what could be better. Turned out not only did we play but we had to do 2 very in-depth reports on the actual battle as well as how our results differed from the actual and why. I personally came out of the class with an in-depth understanding of all the battles, but more importantly the realizations that the old ways aren't always the best and its ok to take a chance.
I try to pass this mindset along to all those I meet. Remembering while having one of those therapy sessions that I never know who the next best innovator might be in the room. I'm never more flattered than when one on of the members of a team I'm working with begins to run away with a piece of technology I’ve introduced making it their own and taking it in direction I’ve never considered.
Innovation is a Social Process
Being alone in the dark is great for growing fungus but not a very good for the production of great ideas. All along the process of creating I force myself out, in part due to the need of human contact and air not tainted with the smell of dry erase markers. More importantly is the need to share and proof the direction of my current thinking. Close friends and associates often hear me coming and generally my line is ‘ok you need to tell me if I'm crazy or not’. To a tee folks seem to say: well that's a ‘Yes’ but what are you thinking about today. Rarely do I leave those conversations with less then I arrived with. Better yet I have confirmed, shared and in most cases gain support in one form or other for the idea.
My finial rule is Innovation is a Life Choice and you have to want it. Picture yourself as the salmon going the wrong way at spawning time. The good news is you have the knowledge that some one built a damn up ahead the other direction. Change is hard no matter what company you work for no matter how willing they are to allow it. When Innovation works the rewards have been known to spawn industries and world changing events. Human potential is a direct result of innovation. This potential has been the driving force throughout the ages, fueled by those of us swimming the wrong way in a one way stream if for nothing else but to prove it can be done.
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