*"But are CEOs and senior leaders really willing to make the transformational moves necessary to foster cultures of real creativity and innovation?"*
Jeez! Are you kidding? I've yet to see anything but perfect textbook examples of the Peter Principal occupying the CEO position, except for companies with just one or two people. The skill sets that take a person to that level of corporate management have nothing to do with intelligence, innovation, or any desire to meet anybody's needs except their own. --Doug On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 4:51 PM, Victoria Hughes <[email protected]>wrote: > article copied below > Six Secrets to Creating a Culture of Innovation - Tony Schwartz - The > Conversation - Harvard Business > Review<http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/08/six_invisible_secrets_to_a_cul.html> > Six Secrets to Creating a Culture of Innovation > > 10:26 AM Tuesday August 10, 2010 > by Tony Schwartz | Comments > (5)<http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/08/six_invisible_secrets_to_a_cul.html#comments> > > - Email > - Tweet This > - Post to > Facebook<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=harvardbusiness&source=tbx-250&lng=en-us&s=facebook&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.hbr.org%2Fcs%2F2010%2F08%2Fsix_invisible_secrets_to_a_cul.html&title=Six%20Secrets%20to%20Creating%20a%20Culture%20of%20Innovation%20-%20Tony%20Schwartz%20-%20The%20Conversation%20-%20Harvard%20Business%20Review&ate=AT-harvardbusiness/-/-/4c61d75493d9f52d/1&CXNID=2000001.5215456080540439074NXC&tt=0> > - Share on > LinkedIn<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&winname=addthis&pub=harvardbusiness&source=tbx-250&lng=en-us&s=linkedin&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.hbr.org%2Fcs%2F2010%2F08%2Fsix_invisible_secrets_to_a_cul.html&title=Six%20Secrets%20to%20Creating%20a%20Culture%20of%20Innovation%20-%20Tony%20Schwartz%20-%20The%20Conversation%20-%20Harvard%20Business%20Review&ate=AT-harvardbusiness/-/-/4c61d75493d9f52d/2&CXNID=2000001.5215456080540439074NXC&tt=0> > - Print > > FEATURED PRODUCTS > > - [image: Related Product > 1]<http://hbr.org/product/guide-to-persuasive-presentations/an/12795-PDF-ENG?referral=00270&cm_sp=endeca-_-related-_-link> > Guide to Persuasive > Presentations<http://hbr.org/product/guide-to-persuasive-presentations/an/12795-PDF-ENG?referral=00270&cm_sp=endeca-_-related-_-link> > Does public speaking make your heart race? 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Don't be one of them. > Buy it now > »<http://hbr.org/product/guide-to-better-business-writing/an/1002-PDF-ENG?referral=00270&cm_sp=endeca-_-related-_-link> > - [image: Related Product > 3]<http://hbr.org/product/guide-to-getting-a-job/an/12917-PDF-ENG?referral=00270&cm_sp=endeca-_-related-_-link>Guide > to Getting a > Job<http://hbr.org/product/guide-to-getting-a-job/an/12917-PDF-ENG?referral=00270&cm_sp=endeca-_-related-_-link> > Whether you're a new college graduate, were laid off, or are seeking a > job change, this guide will help ensure that your next move is the right > one. > Buy it now > »<http://hbr.org/product/guide-to-getting-a-job/an/12917-PDF-ENG?referral=00270&cm_sp=endeca-_-related-_-link> > > When IBM recently polled 1500 CEOs > <http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-2010-global-ceo-study-creativity-selected-as-most-crucial-factor-for-future-success-94028284.html>across > 60 countries, they rated creativity as the most important leadership > competency. > > Eighty percent of the CEOs said the business environment is growing so > complex that it literally demands new ways of thinking. Less than 50 percent > said they believed their organizations were equipped to deal effectively > with this rising complexity. > > But are CEOs and senior leaders really willing to make the transformational > moves necessary to foster cultures of real creativity and innovation? > > Here are the six fundamental moves we believe they must make. In all my > travels, I've not yet come across a single company that systematically does > even the majority of them, much less every one. > > 1. *Meet People's Needs*. Recognize that questioning orthodoxy and > convention — the key to creativity — begins with questioning the way people > are expected to work. How well are their core needs — physical, emotional, > mental, and spiritual — being met in the workplace? The more people are > preoccupied by unmet needs, the less energy and engagement they bring to > their work. Begin by asking employees, one at a time, what they need to > perform at their best. Next, define what success looks like and hold people > accountable to specific metrics, but as much as possible, let them design > their days as they see fit to achieve those outcomes. > 2. *Teach Creativity Systematically*. It isn't magical and it can be > developed. There are five well-defined, widely accepted stages of > creative > thinking<http://theunjob.com/2008/08/05/the-pursuit-of-creativity-in-five-stages/>: > first insight, saturation, incubation, illumination, and verification. They > don't always unfold predictably, but they do provide a roadmap for > enlisting > the whole brain, moving back and forth between analytic, deductive left > hemisphere thinking, and more pattern-seeking, big-picture, right > hemisphere > thinking. The best description of the stages I've come across is in Betty > Edward's book *Drawing on the Artist > Within*<http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Artist-Within-Inspirational-Increasing/dp/067163514X>. > The best understanding of the role of the right hemisphere, and how to > cultivate it, is in Edwards' first book, *Drawing on the Right Side of > the Brain* <http://www.drawright.com/>. > 3. *Nurture Passion*. The quickest way to kill creativity is to put > people in roles that don't excite their imagination. This begins at an > early > age. Kids who are encouraged to follow their passion develop better > discipline, deeper knowledge, and are more persevering and more resilient > in > the face of setbacks. Look for small ways to give employees, at every > level, > the opportunity and encouragement to follow their interests and express > their unique talents. > 4. *Make the Work Matter*. Human beings are meaning-making animals. > Money pays the bills but it's a thin source of meaning. We feel better > about > ourselves when we we're making a positive contribution to something beyond > ourselves. To feel truly motivated, we have to believe what we're doing > really matters. When leaders can define a compelling mission that > transcends > each individual's self-interest, it's a source of fuel not just for higher > performance, but also for thinking more creatively about how to overcome > obstacles and generate new solutions. > 5. *Provide the Time*. Creative thinking requires relatively > open-ended, uninterrupted time, free of pressure for immediate answers and > instant solutions. Time is a scarce, overburdened commodity in > organizations > that live by the ethic of "more, bigger, faster." Ironically, the best way > to insure that innovation gets attention is to schedule sacrosanct time for > it, on a regular basis. > 6. *Value Renewal*. Human beings are not meant to operate continuously > the way computers do. We're designed to expend energy for relatively short > periods of time — no more than 90 minutes — and then recover. The third > stage of the creative process, incubation, occurs when we step away from a > problem we're trying to solve and let our unconscious work on it. It's > effective to go on a walk, or listen to music, or quiet the mind by > meditating, or even take a drive. Movement — especially exercise that > raises > the heart rate — is another powerful way to induce the sort of shift in > consciousness in which creative breakthroughs spontaneously arise. > > These activities are only possible in a workplace that doesn't overvalue > face time and undervalue the power of renewal. > > *Tony Schwartz > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Schwartz_(The_Energy_Project)>is > president and CEO of The Energy Project <http://www.theenergyproject.com/>. > He is the author of the June, 2010 HBR article, "The Productivity Paradox: > How Sony Pictures Gets More Out of People by Demanding > Less<http://hbr.org/2010/06/the-productivity-paradox-how-sony-pictures-gets-more-out-of-people-by-demanding-less/ar/1>," > and coauthor, with Catherine McCarthy, of the 2007 HBR article, "Manage > Your Energy, Not Your > Time<http://hbr.org/product/manage-your-energy-not-your-time/an/R0710B-PDF-ENG>." > Tony is also the author of the new book "The Way We're Working Isn't > Working: The Four Forgotten Needs that Energize Great > Performance<http://www.amazon.com/Way-Were-Working-Isnt-Performance/dp/1439127662>" > (Free Press, 2010). > * >
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