Fear, Trust and The Bottom Line
By Pollyanna Pixton, President, Evolutionary Systems
“No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers acting and reasons as fear.”
--- Edmund Burke, 1756
Innovation is critical to success, and yet it's hard to define and measure, so how can you ensure your organization is fostering the innovation you need? How responsive is your organization to the new ideas that will improve operations, product lines, and services? The explosion of technology and the realities of the global marketplace have fundamentally changed the way we work. It's no longer enough for an organization to respond to change—organizations must lead change or be left behind.
To achieve more flexible dynamics, organizations must be innovative and creative at their very core. In the McKinsey Quarterly, Fourth Quarter, 2003, Akella, Roberts and Manyika state that to improve productivity, innovation is not only needed in products and services but in operations as well.
The breakthroughs your organization needs in order to succeed are very likely to be found within your organization. So how do you free the thinking of your team in ways that increase productivity and profit? Those on the front lines know best how to lead change with subtle product improvements, bold new directions, and improved services that strengthen the connection with customers and raise morale within your organization.
If members of your organization choose not to speak up, or if they are afraid to bring their best ideas to the table, you're losing potential you didn't even know you had.
Is your team concerned about job security or loss of their current position and power if they express their ideas freely? Do they fear they will be humiliated or treated unfairly if they express part of an idea or just the beginning of an idea? Do they believe no one is really listening to them, so why bother to speak up at all? Leaders can work to mitigate this fear, break out of a pattern of withholding, and stimulate true innovation and creativity. But it takes a certain confidence and self-assured belief in the process of innovation for a leader to create an open environment where ideas can be freely expressed and heard by decision makers, and it takes a culture without fear.
To develop and sustain innovation there must be a collaborative culture that fosters innovation and trust, encourages creative solutions and expects and rewards value-based participation in all areas of responsibility.
Here's how you can begin:
Trust First! From the moment people become a member of your team, trust them and demonstrate your trust. Set the example of trustworthiness by admitting mistakes, apologizing when needed and operating with integrity. Your team will respond in kind. If you cannot trust the employees in your organization why did you hire them? Hire the very best and then trust them.
Provide Only Positive Feedback. In an environment of change, people fear losing their identity, their intellectual mastery and their individualism. To reduce this fear, provide positive feedback that is as specific as possible, based on actual results, and authentic and honest. And although this may seem counter-intuitive at first, avoid negative feedback and even "constructive" criticism. In negative environments, people use a high proportion of their energies to protect their self-esteem. When leaders positively reinforce and demonstrate how much they value the specific contributions of team members there is no need to protect self-worth, and so contributions are made with greater confidence.
Engage in Deep Listening. In order for you to receive the best work of your employees they must know they are free to question, to analyze, and to investigate. A company must be flexible enough to listen to the range of possible answers. These are the habits that are the key to longevity, growth and profit, explains Ricardo Semler in his book The Seven-Day Weekend.
Leaders who are able to truly listen discover the real messages in the conversation, ask open-ended questions to stimulate ideas and suggestions, and understand how the concepts they hear can improve the organization’s productivity and success.
The W. L. Gore company, makers of Gore-Tex®, now also makes guitar strings because an employee who is a classical guitarist was disturbed about the problem of squeaking strings and experimented with the same concepts his company uses to develop clothing that repels water. Gore leaders listened carefully and now enjoy a new $10 million division of the company.
A Process to Capture Ideas. How do innovative ideas that emerge within your organization reach decision makers and receive funding for implementation? 3M employees spend 20% of their time working on projects they choose. With help from their financial department, they develop business plans and prototypes that are presented to the CxO team. It is through this innovative process that Post-it® notes were invented, a product we didn't know we needed until we saw the beautiful logic of it.
Use Influence Not Authority. Where do you place your emphasis, on "control" or on "results?" Whenever teams are formed you have the opportunity to identify the common purpose for working together, and the ways to collectively achieve great results through innovation. Brainstorm all the tasks needed to reach team goals and ask the team who specifically wants to implement the tasks and in what time frame. There is no need to force the process. With this type of supportive influence team members will "own" their responsibilities and will meet their commitments in ways that exceed your expectations.
Talented people don't like to be given orders, they prefer to make a commitment and keep it, and they enjoy making meaningful contributions not just of what you already know they know, but what they can offer in terms of new ideas.
To change leadership styles is not an easy process and it doesn't happen overnight. As you explore making a change in the way you support innovation and creativity, keep these two concepts in mind:
- Ensure everyone in your organization has everything they need to succeed.
- Create an environment that is so stimulating and rewarding that people would want to work with you, even if you did not pay them.
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Pollyanna Pixton is the President of Evolutionary Systems, www.evolutionarysystems.net, a business consulting firm, and is a co-founder of the Institute for Collaborative Leadership, www.icollaborativeleadership.com. She can be reached at ppixton@evolutionarysystems.net.
