Friday, January 8th, 2010
This week YURU is guest blogging on Blogging Innovation, a leading innovation and marketing blog from Braden Kelley of Business Strategy Innovation. We are honored to be a guest blogger as this is one of the best places on the web to find latest discussions on business innovation.
Click here to read Realistic Impossibilities
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Was it really the amount of risk taken in the past few years that triggered the financial crisis, or might it be the type of risks taken that are the real culprits? Perhaps, a simple case of too many eggs in one basket for too long? Yes, banks kept piling on debt securities from residential and commercial mortgages based on a model that had value increasing in perpetuity. Yes, hypermarkets such as CDX/CDS were created without anyone taking the initiative to add them all up and see if the insurance sold was actually more than the companies were worth. Yes, Investment Banks were allowed to leverage up to levels that had never before been implemented. But to me, that says that we took too much of those particular kinds of risks for too long and did not scrutinize the underlying assumptions nearly enough.
At the same time, we were under-funding, intellectually and financially, innovation in new technologies and revolutionary products. We cracked the code to the human genome a decade ago, and yet the average person sees little evidence of it in their daily lives. We seem to be lacking in our abilities to bring new discoveries and breakthroughs into marketable territory. Was it just a myth that we were in an era of great innovation, because we said out loud enough times that we actually believed it? Were the best and brightest young minds being shuffled to Wall Street because they are better salesmen? What can we teach and what can we do to promote and support entrepreneurs? Perhaps some of those investment dollars (many coming from overseas) could have been better invested funding innovation instead of financial securities. Funding innovation may seem like a much riskier bet, but I can promise the underlying assumptions would be a lot more realistic than the bets that were made in slam-dunk securities the last few years.
What I’m trying to say is that, as a nation, we seemed to have taken the easy way out (at least that is what we thought) and bet against what we knew was an inevitable cycle in hopes of piling on a bit more cash. Where is the innovative and courageous American spirit that this country was founded upon? Where is the spirit of the people who came together 2 short decades ago and created the impossible . . . a nation built solely on the promise of freedom? We have become complacent as we pretend to be a happy lug of androids that go to work, do what we are told, and go home. Now that we know it won’t work in the future, we have a chance to make some game-changing moves.
We need to harness those adventuresome spirits that lead droves of people across the entire country in wagons with no real idea of what lay ahead. Those are real risks, laced with dreams, passion, and courage. Many of us have become our own silos. We lack connections, challenges, and most of all the passion required to create real success.
The point is, if we are going to take risks, which we know is a part of life and business, we should take risks that are worth taking. Let’s not take the same old risks over, and over, and over again until we look a bit daft for not recalling that economies run in cycles. If we take risks in areas we are passionate about, and stop living up to the herd mentality, then we can make great strides in the growth necessary to push this next cycle. It’s clear that the same-old thing is going to work this time. Whatever we do must be different, inspiring, and creative. Most every industry is being forced to reinvent itself in one way or another, which is an open invitation to do better.
Broaden your lens, stand on your head for a new perspective. . . do something, anything, to ensure that you are taking a new kind of risk that has some passion and guts behind it.
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Until now, my business trips have taken me to London, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Seoul, Frankfurt, Munich, and Paris, the glitzy global seats of corporate power. Last week I found myself driving to rural Greenville, Mississippi to meet a group of folks from the Delta Citizens Alliance. On the 9-hour drive, when I was wondering what in the world I was doing, I reminded myself that this is the time for me to give back. It’s time for me to apply what I have learned in my 20 years in business and lend a hand. What I found is that I had a lot to learn from the most courageous group of people I ever had the fortune of meeting. More powerful than any group of business leaders I have ever met, simply because they know they can make a difference in the world.
This was a group of very busy people. They run non-profit organizations that target the youth, they are consultants to non-profits writing grants and getting through the red tape, sociology professors, and community activists. These are the movers and shakers of the Mississippi Delta. Some had high school diplomas and others had PhD’s. We were white, black, and brown. We were all the same, in our hearts, and we were all there to ask a hard question that few are willing to ask.
No one was afraid to ask the question, and everyone was ready to receive the answer, no matter where it pointed. No one squirmed in their seat or tried to deflect. No one was trying to be a victim and point the finger elsewhere. Everyone was ready to take full responsibility, even when the answer pointed back at all of us.
The question we were there to explore was, “Why, after all the money spent and all the programs implemented, is the Mississippi Delta still so void of hope and prosperity?” It takes a lot of courage sometimes just to ask the right question. This group was also determined to find the right answer and get on with doing something about it.
They all share the dream of seeing the Delta turnaround, and become an shining example of what can be achieved when people are willing to love and care for themselves and others. They can visualize their hometowns full of healthy, beautiful and happy kids playing on the streets without drug dealers on the corners. They can see the houses and yards cared for and manicured and neighbors greeting each other on the sidewalks. They can see the old abandoned school down the road revitalized and brimming with squirming, learning children once again. They can see young adults in local colleges and new shops and businesses opening up every year. They have a tremendous dream!
We asked why the community colleges weren’t full when scholarships and transportation were readily available. We asked if towns were really ready to work on race relations when turf wars prevented people from getting in the room together to just start a discussion. What was amazing, and a real testament to the validity of the concepts we were discussing, was how quickly everyone came to the same answer. They may have said it in a slightly different way, but the answers were all the same, and we all knew without a doubt that they were true.
The Center for Sustainable Change, an organization out of Northern California that has had tremendous success facilitating the turnaround of some of the most hopeless communities in the US, was there to share the 3 Principles of Psychology and how they promote positive change. Three simple principles that help individuals form an understanding of how we create our own realities (good or bad) through our own thoughts. External circumstances are simply challenges to address and “things” in life to deal with, but they do not create our mental reality. We create our reality in our own heads, one thought at a time. Once you give yourself permission to question your thoughts and choose to dismiss the ones that are not helpful to achieving your goals, the possibilities become endless.
Our collective answer to the hard questions was this: programs unfurled and money spent weren’t working because (1) the people they were designed to help had little or no say in what they truly needed, so community residents had no investment in the outcome, and (2) until we take time to focus on the innate well-being and wisdom that exists in all of us, it will remain difficult for people to see a different reality and work together for change in the Delta. These are simple truths, but according to this group of warriors, they hold the key to success in the Delta.
The Delta Citizens Alliance in conjunction with the Center for Sustainable Change have established a steering committee (of which I am honored to be a member) to start conversations with the communities of the Mississippi Delta about innate mental health and the 3 principles. With a renewed sense of hope, positivity, creativity and well-being, these communities will no-doubt create their own successes.
If you belong to a business organization that is jumping onto the band-wagon of corporate social responsibility, I would encourage you to consider supporting the work that is happening in the Delta. Communities and businesses can accomplish twice as much if they work together. And when the status-quo “thought box” is opened and “out of the box” thinking jumps out, the possibilities for win-win collaborations are boundless.
Friday, July 10th, 2009
What Promotes Collaboration Inside Organizations?
Without the proper culture and structure, collaboration and all of its benefits will elude even the most determined company. Stakeholders, organizational structure, leadership style, culture, and mission must all be properly aligned in order to create a model that promotes collaboration and success. Like creativity, collaboration cannot be forced; it must be cultivated. It’s a process, and like all worthwhile endeavors, it takes time.
Two of the strongest promoters of collaboration are informality and trust. Informal settings are much more relaxing. When people are relaxed they are able to let their minds wander a bit, perhaps even over into someone else’s domain. There you are able to discuss, ponder, create relationships, and perhaps solve a joint challenge or two. On-the-fly decision-making takes far less time than chain-of-control decision-making. Ad-hoc interaction takes far less time than scheduled encounters. All of this leads to greater efficiency and increased productivity. When employees are a part of the process and fully engaged they feel as though they are adding value, which translates into taking responsibility.
Trust is one of the biggest factors in promoting a collaborative culture. A trusting relationship is one where the other person’s thoughts and opinions are valued. When you value the opinions of others and they value yours, then you can discuss anything without judgment and evaluation. From that point, there isn’t any challenge that can’t be tackled. Trusting yourself is also a big component of collaboration. Unless you trust your own creativity and ideas you aren’t likely to share them.
There are no magic bullets. It is simply good old virtues like informality, trust, a united vision, common goals, and the use of agreements as opposed to expectations. Expectations smack of controlling and invite an air of arrogance that is simply not necessary. Most people will honor their agreements but few care much about someone else’s expectations that they can’t control. These are simple concepts that bring powerful changes.
The WSJ recently published an article (REPLICATING CLEVELAND CLINIC’S SUCCESS POSES MAJOR CHALLENGES) that clearly states the overriding quality of cost effective super stars in healthcare like the Cleveland and Mayo Clinics is a culture of collaboration. As opposed to the independent, ‘every doc for himself’ model that is operated in most hospitals in the US. It is actually one of the few useful bits of information I’ve seen regarding what can be done to contain health care costs while maintaining the drive for new and innovative treatments. The article also points out that Medicare aligns better with the ‘every doc for himself’ model than it does the integrated, collaborative approach to caring for patients. What a brilliant opportunity for change.
People are finding ways to become more connected every day. You can be a part of it, or watch it pass you and your business by. The good news is, that if done authentically, creating a culture of collaboration inside your firm and with your customers will actually be a lot of fun and very rewarding.
Friday, July 10th, 2009
As I sit here in late July 2009 writing about Collaboration, two very distinct examples are dominating the media. One is an astounding feat of collaboration and courage that sucked an entire nation into its drive for success. The other, an embarrassment to that same nation 40 years later as a group of intelligent and caring individuals who hold the honor of leading a nation seem to have lost their way. Yes, I am speaking of Apollo 11 and Healthcare Reform, which through a random historical timeline, are sharing the spotlight. Life wasn’t peachy in the 1960’s either, but at least there was one thing that could unite a young country with a bigger heart and a bigger drive for innovation than any other in history.
What is Collaboration?
According to Wikipedia Collaboration is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together in an intersection of common goals by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus. Collaboration does not require leadership and can sometimes bring better results through decentralization and egalitarianism. In particular, teams that work collaboratively can obtain greater resources, recognition and reward when facing competition for finite resources.
Collaboration is not about finding a group of people that think similarly so that it is easy to agree upon the next course of action or the right solution. To the contrary, collaboration works best with a group of diverse thinkers that tend to come at a problem from slightly different angles and who commit to work without judgment and evaluation.
Why Is Collaboration Important?
We learned from Dr. C (Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi), recounted in my post on Creativity, that creativity requires a domain, or an area of interest in which people have knowledge to which creative thinking can be applied. Dr. C also concluded that the best ideas actually live at the overlapping intersection of adjacent domains (think “you got your chocolate in my peanut butter”, and “you got your peanut butter in my chocolate”). He explains that creativity tends to exist where different cultures, beliefs, and knowledge can mingle allowing individuals to put together new combinations of ideas and see different contexts and points of view. Creativity in cultures that are more rigid and rule-based require far greater effort, and thus will yield a more disappointing result. Thus, it only makes sense that through Collaboration we can turn up the intensity on any creative process being cultivated inside of any organization.
The bottom line is that your company can either be setup with a structure that promotes internal competition and silos or one that promotes collaboration as a means for growth and success. The large mega banks are generally structured for internal competition. Companies like Best Buy, Patagonia, Zappos, Cleveland Clinic, and Google are generally structured for collaboration.
“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.” ~ F. D. Roosevelt
There are two primary elements that are fueling the demand for richer and more productive interactions within the workplace. First is the economic reality dictating an increase in productivity as the only path to business sustainability in what is now truly a global business forum. Without question, collaboration increases productivity and efficiency within organizations, especially technology continues to allow us to work in virtual worlds. Second, is the desire for more meaning in our lives and our work. We feel much more satisfied as human beings if we are connected to something creative, challenging and bigger than ourselves. Now, more than anytime in the past, success is predicated on a company’s ability to create a culture of collaboration.
Just look at what is happening with social media. It is one giant collaboration fest. Anyone can join in on any conversation at any time. Companies are actually listening to their customers and collaborating with them on new ideas. This should be a big signal to everyone that creating connections is a trend that is here to stay. You can either belly-up and figure out how to make it work for your company, or you can continue to try and pretend like it doesn’t exist. Your choice.
Trends are beginning to emerge that support the emergence of business models that are completely opposite from those used for decades. Practices such as open source technology and lead user innovation are gaining substantial ground and finding great success. We are moving away from closed, IP-protected, manufacturing-centered innovation to open innovation often developed by users and free from legal claims. A clear movement from hording and secrecy to collaboration and connection.
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