Connecting Dots 55 ◎⁃◎ Innovation Leadership - 5y Insights

Blackcomb Glacier, 4 February, 2024

Connecting Dots is the monthly newsletter for global professionals leading innovation.

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Innovation Leadership - 5y Insights

Five years ago I started this newsletter. An exploratory journey, that crossed many streams (hence the lead image). Initially, it was a way to develop my perspective and answer my questions on the mysteries of innovation leadership. I’ve also discovered many readers share the interest. 

Today, I see this newsletter was a springboard to the creation of a leadership development practice for global executives with innovation responsibilities. Central to this work has been the Innovation Leadership Map, a framework and leadership development process I created in 2021 based on a decade of research. The methods have since been road-tested on over 500 professionals with a 100% renewal or referral rate. 

It seems I’m on the right track. Therefore, I thought now was an opportunity to capture a few front-line lessons gained along the way.

“The Innovation Leadership Map has pushed the boundaries of leadership.”

~ Global Head of R&D Director at FTSE 30 Company

You’re Not Alone

Unexpectedly, it was the high performers who have the most questions and fewest answers as to why innovation is so damn hard. Despite being accomplished and even famous executives, their frustration can run deep. Sometimes at heavy professional and personal costs. Notably, they are the most motivated to seek out better answers and methods to succeed.

Today, I can confidently say that while innovation leaders often feel alone, their experiences are shared by other innovators. Curiously, this is particularly true in organizations revered for innovation. In our work together, when they see labels describing how one navigates aspects of innovation work, such as risk or empowerment, it often brings great relief to individuals and teams to learn they are not alone—physical laughter or cry-out-loud relief. 

Loneliness is partly explained by a common revelation that the culture of how innovation is understood is quite primitive. I’d suggest this is a symptom of too many theories competing to explain the same thing. It’s confusing. What missing is a tangible, evidence-based and practical approach to developing one's leadership practice. 

Innovation is Emotional

More specifically, what’s missing is a leadership practice that is not techno-centric and is instead behaviour-centric. A practice based on the reality that every situation is different, emotions are always influential and how they show up varies over time. Innovation leadership can be a practice that any professional can apply if they choose or are called upon—not just an elite cadre of heroic innovators with special jargon. 

As one participant remarked, “I want to innovate, not be an innovator”.

Logically, I've also found that most of us want to deny that innovation is highly uncertain. We want to believe that it can be neatly codified or indefinitely repeated. However, that wish is an illusion. Most innovation processes or theories are rarely successfully repeated in a different context or situation. To paraphrase Heraclitus, you never step into the same river twice. 

Your Practice Can Develop

The most exciting finding over the past few years is that we can in fact develop a practice of innovation leadership. We can integrate new and existing tools, frameworks and theories to empower innovators to face and navigate challenging behavioural dynamics in real-time. The results are exceptional, at a time we need more professionals rising to the call of innovation.

My sense and the data I receive tell me that we need leaders to elevate their knowledge and practices for working with the hidden behavioural dynamics of innovation and change resistance. It’s evident to many that 20 years of techno-optimism has turned to techno-anxiety. Innovation was already challenging in the euphoric years and arguably will be even harder going forward. 

Yet again, the good news is that leaders can tangibly develop their practices and capabilities to successfully navigate the organizational dark matter disturbed by innovation. You may be asking how. Well, that’s more than a single article. 

You Want More

At the moment I’m writing a research paper explaining my methods and findings to deepen the body of evidence for how to develop more impactful, resilient and satisfied innovation leaders. A key aspect of this paper is not to present a single new theory but rather to integrate many theories and methods into a single accessible practice. 

The main paper likely won't be published until 2025. If you want a preview or an in-depth practice case please get in touch.

Before then, I can still offer you some helpful material to advance your practice today. I’m very drawn to integrated evidence, theory and practice that stands the test of time over fashion. That is why I want to share recent reissues or extensions of research from three exceptional academics who also do real work on the inside of organizations. Thanks to Henning at INSEAD who ran a series of intimate seminars with the authors coinciding with publishing dates.

xTEAMS

• As an executive overseeing a portfolio of innovation, what are the outward-looking drivers that enable you to realize your goals?

• https://www.xlead.co/xteams

Right Kind of Wrong, the Science of Failing Well

• As a manager working through the idealization and demonization of experiment results, how do you learn without losing resilience?

• https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Right-Kind-of-Wrong

The Friction Project

• As an expert in a team trying to improve a process, service or product how can you help people do more of what’s in their interest by adding or removing friction?

• https://www.bobsutton.net/book/the-friction-project/

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Learn more about Brett’s leadership development practice for global executives with innovation responsibilities.

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Connecting Dots 54 ◎⁃◎ Innovation Politics

Ai Weiwei, @ The Design Museum, UK, June 2023

Connecting Dots is the monthly newsletter for global professionals leading innovation.

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Innovation Politics

Politics? No thanks!

Years ago, when I first led innovation, I noticed a disdain or dismissal of political dynamics. Over time, I learned it is often a defence against threats to self-image or denial of organizational reality. The wish to avoid innovation politics is understandable but not practical or effective. Thus, how can you better understand and constructively engage with innovation politics?

Why acknowledge innovation politics?

All organizations are political because organizations are human systems. Every organization has goals, as does each employee. Including yourself. Rarely, if ever, do the goals emerge in harmony. Most of the time, the work of leadership is to create a good enough harmony of varying and even competing goals to enable progress.

To deliver organizational change, one must work with the political system. Especially when the change comes in the form of innovation because it almost always shifts who has power, resources and rewards—tangibly or perceptively. 

Organizational politics are the self-serving behaviours that employees use to achieve positive results. In a healthy organization, there is harmony where the individual, the organization and society achieve positive outcomes in parallel.

Some people are naturally good political operators. Many learn through experience how to become effective political operators. Others stay political passengers, consumed by the agendas of others, often unknowingly or unwillingly.

How to constructively work with innovation politics?

A tactic I often used when leading or guiding innovation teams was to declare that 'we are above politics.' A statement you may instinctively interpret as über-political. You are not wrong. 

The point was to empower the team to chart its own political course. So that we might engage intentionally and thoughtfully with the people and political dynamics present in all organizations at all times.  

Many interpreted the statement of being above politics as a purity pledge to only live the mission of the desired end outcome. That was also not wrong as it provided an openly defensible way of explaining our work. However, embedded in that pledge is the prioritization of the organization’s highest political order.

Focusing on engaging with the highest order is a practical balance of long-term vision and pragmatic progress in the eyes of primary stakeholders week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter and year to year. Your top-tier stakeholders are customers, top executives or owners/investors and sometimes regulators. 

The goal of focusing at this level was to protect my teams from being ground down by mid-level politics. This is the cut and thrust of day-to-day organizational life primarily concerned with near-term outcomes and personal gain.

That is not to ignore mid-level politics, as they can easily undermine your work. The point is to know whose top-level 'yes' enables progress and mitigate against mid-level 'no' that can derail you. 

Three ways to practically work with innovation politics

Here are some practical ways to visualize and work with high and low political dynamics for the year ahead.

Support Map - Where to invest effort?

• On cards or Post-Its name all your top stakeholders (whether you have direct contact or not)

• Post them on a wall or whiteboard

• Separate into three groups based on who has demonstrated support (green), neutrality (amber) and opposition (red)

• If you don’t know, assume red until you see green or amber actions

• If green isn’t your largest group decide if you focus on amber or red

• If green is your largest group, focus efforts there to maintain momentum unless there are individuals in amber or red that can over-rule the green coalition 

Authority Matrix - How to get to yes? 

• Rarely is there a singular decision-maker

• Never do you want to go into a decisive meeting without high certainty of the outcome

• If support or negotiating points are unclear do an authority matrix of stakeholders

• List stakeholders and label them as:

• Responsible for the outcome

• Accountable for doing the work to get to the outcome

• Support to provide an objective voice of reassurance or caution

• Consulted to provide technical input or key enabling resources

• Informed to anticipate or coordinate other activities post-decision

• Whether formal or informal authority, what is the minimum requirement for each to say yes?

• As a leader, your task is to do the work to find out what they need and to either provide it, reframe it, educate it or renegotiate it

Mitigation Plan - How to anticipate and overcome obstacles?

• Organizations are optimized for current results so your innovation will destabilize the status quo 

• The key is to be sensitive to those who have the most to lose

• If you have a powerful stakeholder identified in your authority matrix, you need to work with them so their destabilization doesn't become destructive

• Engage early, so even if the outcome isn’t in their interest they may accept it for having been heard

• Engage frequently, so you have multiple opportunities for each party to learn from the other

• Engage collaboratively, respect their right to have an opposing view or needs and find ways to reconcile without compromising the integrity of either party

• Engage compassionately, try to understand their position at a human level and empathetically what it’s like for them to build mutual trust and understanding

• Engage magnanimously, if they come on side be humble as they can always withdraw support if they feel manipulated

As you think ahead to next year, make a note for yourself to surface and engage your innovation politics early on. It's the best path to success for all.

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Learn more about Brett’s leadership development practice for global executives with innovation responsibilities.

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Connecting Dots 46 ◎⁃◎ Innovation Superheroes

Blue River / 2006

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Hello,

Welcome to Connecting Dots.

The goal of this newsletter is to help develop society’s most innovative leaders.

This month we head to high alpine mountains to understand the archetypes that make a great innovation team.

Onwards,

BM

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Innovation Leadership Archetypes

What is your self-image as a leader?

Many innovation leaders see themselves as a superhero. Someone unafraid to take on dangerous challenges with a worthy goal—a saviour whose full powers are hidden and typically come with inconvenient side effects. It’s a role and archetype that attracts idealization and demonization in equal measures when their superpowers become known.

Yet, unlike fighting crime and evil mutants as a heroic loner; innovation is a team task. Therefore, the singular superhero image is limited in its real-world applications.

A better self-image is as a member of a mountain climbing expedition—a team comprised of multiple archetypes. To tackle highly risky, technically difficult and emotionally demanding tasks you need a team made up of mutually supportive and diverse capabilities, behaviours and motivations. As well as different forms of authority, resources and responsibilities. These differences are united by a common goal and a willingness to venture out into the unknown.

My ideal expedition team features five innovation leadership archetypes:

The Optimist

A dreamer who is driven by novelty and disinterested in formal rules or regulations. They see opportunities others don’t and tell great stories. A cultural catalyst, they inspire you and activate your curiosity to explore. They build enthusiasm to get started but tend to lose interest in organizing and thinking through consequences.

The Realist

A natural organizer who brings people together towards a common goal. They take someone’s vision and can break down how to make it real. Always thinking two steps ahead, they continually evaluate options and map out the best route as conditions change. You gain reassurance from their presence. While they are excellent at orchestrating, they rely on specialists to progress through demanding terrain.

The Survivalist

A generalist who works well in ambiguity and maintains superhuman resilience in extreme conditions. They’ve seen the best and worst of what’s possible. One might say they’re grizzled or hardened, but they never lose their spark for adventure. Resourceful, unflappable and excellent at reading situations quickly. They are a bit stuck in the past but help you from repeating avoidable mistakes.

The Specialist

A helicopter expert who flies in for specialized operations and then flies out as you carry on your way. Highly skilled with specific technologies they are here for you in the here and now. They don’t get emotionally attached, it’s the work that motivates them. Always have their number at hand but only call when it’s really necessary as their time and attention are sought after and given to those who need it most.

The Strategist

Your eyes and ears calling in from basecamp. They can’t see what you see but they give you a wider perspective. So you can see what you can’t. They love thinking two steps ahead and devising new options for you, especially as conditions change. They can be abstract or overly intellectualized, and get touchy if their recommendations aren’t taken up, however, at their best they help those in the field make great decisions by combining strategy and reality.

Leadership Gym

In practice, you may neatly fit into one archetype or see yourself as a blend. You’ll notice each archetype has clear strengths and also some traits that might derail them if they are not self-aware or supported by people whose strengths are your weaknesses.

Archetypes are a form of self-image and a way to see how others in a team might respond to your role and contributions. It’s a helpful way to emphasize one’s strengths and visualize development areas. As well as a way to see you and your colleagues as a team of superheroes on a shared innovation mission.

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Learn more about how to develop more innovative leaders through psychodynamic leadership development.

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