employee led innovation
TRANSCRIPT
Employee Led Innovation
A Discussion
Many Sources of Innovation
• R&D Driven Innovation• User Led Innovation • Open Innovation• Social Innovation• Employee Led Innovation
Employee Led Innovation – What do I mean
Employee-Led Innovation• Not just “R&D” employees or Management driven• Bottom up• Systematic, cultural not ad-hoc• Driven by Engaged Employees• Creating continuously, renewing organisations
Employee-Led InnovationDoing something that goes beyond your job description.
Takes you away from your paid day-job (or from your free time), in order to try something new that offers uncertain pay-offs, at some future time to your employer.
Why renew?
Creativity
Employee Led InnovationKnowledge/ Information
Research Knowledge
User/Customer Knowledge
ProcessKnowledge
Absorbed/Filtered/Re-imagined by employees to create new knowledge
Employeecreativity
New Process
New Product
Let employees have access to knowledge, encourage wide diverse knowledge sets, joint problem solving
Employee led innovation is built on good Knowledge Management !
Knowledge Management – Make Knowledge Productive
Data
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Wisdom
Which ingredients can be substituted to meet Customer tastes and preferences
Information
Flour (100g)
Baking Soda (1tsp)
Salt (pinch)
Sugar (100g)
Butter (50g)
Brown Sugar(50g)
Eggs (2)
Vanilla(1tsp)
Chocolate Chips
Knowledge
Preheat oven to 375°F. Stir flour with baking soda set aside … … tablespoon of dough per cookie … … Bake at 375°F for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.
Know How Know Why
Knowledge Management is about making knowledge productive. Can you act on the knowledge you possess?
!
Employee Led Innovation
1. Built on Good Knowledge Management2. What other characteristics should
Organisations and Employees possess?
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Organisation Characteristics
• Leadership – Leaders at all levels must open gates and encourage learning, skill sharing and knowledge creation. Create a passion for cutting edge knowledge
• Encourage Iteration in Activities – activities are never perfected, they need constant attention, like garden. How can we do this better?
• Tight coupling between complimentary skills – create interfaces between specialist groups to allow information flow without eroding deep reservoirs of knowledge that create capabilities.
Employee Characteristics• Enthusiasm for Knowledge - curious
employees seek information and create knowledge.
• Drive to stay ahead in Knowledge - want to access latest and best technology wherever it originates
• Higher Order Learning – Understand “Why” not just how of activities
Enthusiastic and engaged employees work longer and tend to be more creative.!
Employee Led Innovation
1. Build on Good Knowledge Management2. Employee & Organisational Characteristics3. How to cultivate/Enable Employee led
Innovation?
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Key Enablers of Employee Led Innovation
• Time Out — to give employees the space in their working day for creative thought, reflection & the opportunity to create new Knowledge
• Expansive Roles — to help employees move beyond the confines of their assigned job
• Competitions — to stimulate action and to get the creative juices flowing
• Open Forums — to give employees a sense of direction and to foster collaboration.
Birkenshaw 2013• Create a climate of Experimentation & Shared Problem Solving
• Support Intelligent Failure – recognise that failure builds knowledge
Leonard-Barton 2005
• Set parameters without stifling creativity • Get employees to contribute - Motivations• Idea Overload • Idea Quality • Evaluating Ideas – Published Criteria• Selecting ideas – Fair & Transparent
Challenges to Overcome
How to Manage Employee Led Innovation
• You need a process/a system– Methodology to bring an idea through feasibility
to implementation• Should be scientific (evidence based)• Should quickly and cheaply validate ideas
• Adapted to your Innovation strategy• Proposer answers focused questions
Try Lean Canvas/Business Canvas
Try the Lean Startup Methodology
You need to let the employee have ownership of the idea !
!
!
Document title 14
Examples - Competitions• In July Sony launched First Flight, a
crowdfunding website selling ideas its staff generated.
• Concepts range from e-paper watches to adaptive remote controls https://first-flight.sony.com/
00 Month 2014
Examples – Time Out• Adobe Kickbox – “If somebody is excited enough to do it, we want
to fund it”– … more cost effective to let all workers pursue
their ideas and then see which ideas pan out.set of instructions to "beat" the box,a Bic pen, two sets of Post-it notes, a timer, a Staples mini notebook for "Bad Ideas," a slightly larger spiral notebook, a World Market caramel and sea salt chocolate bar,a $10 Starbucks gift card.
$1000 pre-paid Citi Bank Card
Examples – Expansive Roles
• Chaparal Steel – employees experimentation with a new rolling mill it’s vendor believed was limited to 8-inch slabs is producing 14-inch slabs
• Vendor wanted to buy back the design• Culture of learning, shared problem solving.• Decisions pushed down to lowest possible
supervisory level – “where the knowledge is”• Constant formal & informal experimentation
Examples - Enablers• Met Office
– Employee led, spare-time alliance to research innovation in business
– Now embedded in HR• Idea Street – On-line forum share/collaborate/comment• Innovative Workspaces – relaxed, adaptive space for teams,
encouraging creativity• Creative facilitation – Trained facilitators encourage creativity and
innovation on projects • ThinkUP Academy – One day creativity training courses• Outreach – University Partnerships• Hack days – Shared problem solving
Resources
• Lean Startup – Eric Ries• Lean Business Canvas – Ash Maurya• Deep Smarts – Dorothy Leonard & Walter
Swap• Wellsprings of Knowledge – Dorothy Leonard• www.createtomorrow.co.uk