Grass Roots Innovation

If you tend to read the usual management articles and books on airplanes like I do, you probably realize that the whole subject of innovation is a very hot topic. 

As well it should be.

I see it as analagous to Darwinian evolution -- unless there are some good mechanisms in place to adapt and thrive in a changing ecosystem, the outlook for your species is very poor indeed.

Much of the discussion I've read about is around "organizing for innovation", which sounds interesting at the outset, but I find it difficult to reconcile with how I think people and organizations work.

Simply put, I think that "organizing for innovation" will require -- ahem -- innovative approaches.  And I think that each of us -- regardless of role -- can become innovators without waiting for organizational mandates.

Yes, even in IT.

The Rationale For Innovation

It's pretty hard to have a modern biology discussion without considering the evolutionary process. 

Creationist debates aside, there's a certain logic behind continual differentiation (through mutation or genetic drift) coupled with natural selection as a driving engine behind successful species.

Those who evolve, thrive.  Those who don't, die.  Harsh, but very effective.

But note that there's no command and control for the either differentiation or natural selection.  No central executive committe.  No annual budget and funding exercise.  No CEO mandate.

Just millions and millions of small experiments.  Some work, some don't.  Sounds like small stuff, but the results are dramatic

EMC Has To Innovate ...

Changing back to the corporate world, it's not all that much different.

EMC, as a product and service company, has to innovate across multiple dimensions: technology, service delivery, core business processes, partnerships and alliances, and so on.  Innovating in one or two areas isn't going to be enough.  We've got to innovate across the board, and do it continually, otherwise there are other great companies out there just waiting to eat our lunch.

And we're not particularly shy as to where where we get our ideas from.  We've done some of this organically. We've bought innovative technologies and brought people from different perspectives into the company.  We've partnered for other components. 

We watch and learn and try to glean insight from what other companies are doing, including our competitors. 

Andy Grove offered that "only the paranoid survive". 

I'd wish someone would add to that "... and only the innovative thrive".

And, with IT playing an increasingly important role in corporate strategy, it's hard to escape the conclusion that innovation is part of the new IT agenda as well.

... And So Does IT

Back to biology and evolution, for a moment.

Imagine a big climactic shift.  Conditions for species survival are now very different.  The mandate is to evolve quickly, or suffer the consequences.

If you're in charge of species strategy, you want to accelerate two key functions: differentiation and natural selection. 

I can paint the picture that IT is undergoing a massive climactic shift. 

All of the sudden, information is becoming the single most important asset in the world.  And with every day, there's a new potential for this information stuff to make you money, save you money, or get you in a whole lot of trouble.

And IT is finding itself in the new role of being the "CFO of information" ... now chartered with new governance and infrastructure duties that look at the information portfolio as a whole, rather than isolated applications.

It logically follows that -- going back to the evolutionary model -- differentiation and natural selection should become very, very important to IT organizations in the next few years.

Differentiation in IT

When I talk to most IT organization, doing anything new or different faces seeminlgy unsurmountable obstacles.  Evaluating a new idea or a new approach seems to be very painful (and political!) for most organizations.

So much human and organizational behavior kicks in that reinforces business-as-usual that sometimes I think it's amazing that we're not all still using punch cards and teletypes.

But I have seen a few IT organizations crack the code in interesting ways.

They run contests to come up with new project ideas, and -- whether or not the project gets approved -- they reward and recognize people for taking the time to propose a new idea.

They have a willingness (and a slush fund!) to try a few new pilot projects -- with the full awareness that some (or most) of them won't pan out.

They realize that big projects can sometimes start as little, itty-bitty projects that get heads nodding and people excited, so they make sure that there's enough slack in the organization to get some of this done.

They make sure that everyone participates as much as possible -- it's not just a small team that gets to work on new projects, most of the rank and file play some role as well.

I'm sure there's more that can be done as far as encouraging genetic variety in IT, but I think you get the idea.  Anyone have some good ideas they want to share?

From a different angle, I've mentioned before that I spend a lot of time with customers.  And I can usually tell within the first 15-20 minutes whether they're the type of organization that thinks this aspect of managing IT is important, or not. 

You can see it in people's faces and body language. 

You can see it in the kind of questions they ask. 

Their enthusiasm to try something new (albeit on a very limited scale) is almost infectuous.

And, yes, not every pilot project or skunk works effort pays off -- lots of them fail, or produce inconclusive results -- but they learned something in the process.  They're OK with failure, because they don't see it as such.

And, once in a while, they'll find something that has a really big impact.

Natural Selection in IT

In evolution, this is the process of figuring out which variants will offer the best chance for species survival.  It's a gradual process that usually plays out over thousands and thousands of years.

In the corporate world, we don't have the luxury of such long timeframes, so how does one accelerate natural selection?

Again, no easy answer here, but I've seen a few innovative approaches at a few IT shops.

Some have set up an informal governance board to look at new pilot initiatives -- not to inspect them from a project management perspective -- but to figure out if there are synergies outside of the initial context, and nurture promising ideas with the next bit of funding, or executive support.

Others have created lightweight online communities to share experiences across different projects, and foster lateral communication between different teams.

Rather than using formal IT management processes, they've harnessed the power of their own people to debate and vet what makes sense to carry forward to the next level, and what doesn't.

I don't think the authoratative book has been written about how to do this best, and I'm sure that every IT shop will think about the problem differently -- which is good.  More differentiation, no?

Evolve Or Perish?

Sorry to be so draconian, but the lessons from biological history are pretty clear: those species that react quickly to ecosystem change thrive and flourish.  Those that don't suffer at the hands that do.

And, depending where you sit, you either agree or disagree with the premise that we're in the midst of rapid ecosystem shift within IT.

I'm sure that many IT organizations recognize the need for innovation, but are wrestling with how to foster it across the organization in a useful and sustainable way.

But I think the most successful answers will come with centralized investments that foster grass-roots innovation by everyone invovled: specific activities that cause

- more ideas to bubble up,

- more of them to be tried out in a limited fashion,

- more of them to be cross-pollinated across wider domains,

- and more of them to be put into practice to gain competitive advantage.

So, what's your innovation agenda?

Comments

[Anil Gupta]

Chuck,

Next time you are on airplane, check out Dealing with Darwin by Geoffrey Moore. If The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen was for people starting companies, this book is for corporate types in established companies.

Anil

[Chuck Hollis]

Hi Anil

I've ended up reading all of Geoffrey Moore's other books, so I guess I'll add this one to the list!

One of my yet-to-be-done ideas is to post a list of all the business books I've read, and maybe start some discussions around the core ideas.

Thanks for the comment!