A clip from a talk I did at the massive IMTS manufacturing show. How manufacturing is really reinventing itself.
Innovators Ask the Tough Questions No One Dares to Address!
Not only are innovative people unafraid to ask questions, they are prepared to go even further.
They aren’t afraid to:
- ask the tough questions that no one else will dare address
- act on the answers to those tough questions!
- ask questions that make people uncomfortable
- challenge others to ask tough questions
- ask why it has become acceptable to not ask questions!
- ask questions that challenge fundamental assumptions
- ask questions that show their complete lack of knowledge about something — which is ok
- ask questions that might make their boss unhappy
- indicate that while they don’t know the answer to the tough questions, they’re prepared to find out
- suggest that maybe there have now been too many questions, and now something simply must be done in order to move forward
What’s the key to this line of thinking?
Organizations can become too comfortable with routine, and unless this is challenged on a regular basis, complacency becomes a killer.
By constantly putting a whole bunch of tough questions on the table, innovators can ensure that innovation paralysis does not set in.
Organizations fail, because they have failure ingrained in their corporate culture!
Do you?
It can be difficult to try to be innovative in many organizations. Many people with an innovation-oriented mindset often find their enthusiasm destroyed when they approach senior management with an initiative. And when their effort is turned back, it can extremely frustrating!
What happens is that a series of excuses are made as to why we don’t need to focus on the future right now:
- we don’t understand it, so we don’t think we need to do it!
- maybe we shouldn’t confront the tough issues right now
- we are too busy fighting fires – there’s no time for anything else!
- we don’t have the skill sets to deal with this!
- we haven’t thought about this in our strategic planning process
- we don’t have time to think about it…
- we don’t have a budget
- what we’ve been doing all along is perfectly ok, isn’t it?
- there’s so much going on, and we don’t know where it might fit in terms of priorities!
- and the worst? it’s too far ahead of its time!
Of course, it’s easy to take this wall of negativity and step back from the project and curb your enthusiasm — and give up! Here’s a clip from my keynote in Zurich in which I talk about the challenges you might face.
But real innovators don’t give up! They work to address organizational sclerosis that might be in place. What you should do is confront these excuses head-on: there are a variety of different reactions depending on the different excuses that are used:
- if they don’t understand it, educate them! This might involve building a better business case for the initiative; bringing them up to date on the key business drivers and trends that require some bold steps and dramatic change.
- help them that those who tackle the tough issues usually win. This is a good time to put into perspective the concept of accelerating change. You need to make sure that the leadership team understands that everything around us today is changing faster than ever before, and will continue to do so: business models, methods of customer interaction, new forms of competition. Business today is all about continually confronting a flood of tough issues; we should be bulking up our capabilities to deal with a world of incessant change.
- if the organization is always in fire-fighting mode, change the agenda. Maybe they won’t be fighting as many fires over the long term if they have a clear view of the future, and have a strategy that aligns to that future. So rather than asking, “whoah, where’d that come from,” they’re asking “ok, what comes next, and what do we need to do about it?“
- skillsets don’t give us the capability: That’s a weak excuse: if there are shortfalls in certain key skills to deal with current business realities, deal with it and fix it fast.
- if it’s not part of the strategic planning process, make it part of it. Every organization has multiple processes in which issues and activities rise to the top because they’ve been identified as fitting within the overall strategic plan. If yours isn’t part of the plan, work to get it there.
- get people thinking about what comes next: Does the organization have a regular series of forward-looking leadership meetings? Does it take the time to assess the trends which might impact it on a 1, 2, 5, and 10-year basis? Is it busy looking at we have really spent a lot of time thinking about what comes next
- we don’t have a budget for that! Following the process of getting the initiative into the strategic plan will help to lead to the next step: getting the project properly approved and funded within the overall budget process for the organization.
- make it clear that it isn’t ok to keep doing the same thing that has been done in the past. You’ve got to clearly articulate the new threats the organization faces and the opportunities that it can pursue as a result of ongoing change.
- there’s so much going on, and we don’t know where it might fit in terms of priorities! This is a tricky one, because in this type of situation, it’s pretty well certain that there is some weak management in place who doesn’t know how to set a clear action plan that the team must follow. Best bet is to address the other issues on the list, and work to put in place a clear business and strategic plan for your initiative, with sound business reasoning as to why it needs to be done.
- it’s too far ahead of its time! Frame the future to the organization this way: do we want to always be fast followers, or do we truly want to be market leaders?
In Zurich, I noted on stage that “we develop corporate cultures that stifle — that kill our ability to try to do anything new…..”
That’s what you’ve got to work to avoid — it’s not easy to do — but absolutely necessary!
New Keynote Topic: “The Masters in Business Imagination: Motivational Guidance for the Era of Fast”
This is fun!
A post a few days ago of my Masters in Business Imagination Manifesto caught the attention of a client who knows they need to move fast — and who thought that would be a great topic for their event. They moved fast – and booked me because they know that they require some bold thing and big motivational insight.
And so this morning, I wrote up a keynote description for their internal promo copy — which you’ll find below.
I’ve done this topic a few times on stage over the years — including for Fairmont/Raffles Hotels International, as one example — but never thought of it as a core keynote topic. But now it is!
New Keynote Topic: “The Masters in Business Imagination: Motivational Guidance for the Era of Fast”
We will see more change in the next 5 years than we have seen in the last 100. People and organizations are scrambling to align themselves for a new, topsy-turvey world. Jim Carroll comes to the rescue with his keynote, The Masters in Business Imagination — and will inspire your team to adopt relentless creativity and innovation as core virtues. Once you ‘graduate’ from his MBI class, you’ll possess the skills common to this critical degree of the 21st century economy. MBI’s see things differently – they don’t look at things like most people. MBI’s spur creativity in other people – they inspire others to develop similar levels of imaginative hinking. They focus on opportunity – not threat: and realize that action, not inaction, is the driving force for the future. They refused to accept the status quo and are prepared to eliminate habit . MBI’s bring big ideas to life – and paint pictures of where the organization is going to go, rather than focusing on where it has been in the past. They learn and unlearn, forgoing the dangerous assumption that what they know today will carry them into tomorrow. Most important of all, they refuse to say the word CAN’T – they know that barriers, perceived or otherwise, are simply temporary roadblocks that they can get around with fresh insight, imaginative analysis, and creative thinking! Fire up your enthusiasm, energy and innovation spirt with a unique motivational keynote by Futurist Jim Carroll, as he inspires your team to align themselves to the only degree they will need for the future – The Masters in Business Imagination!
Want a sample? Here’s a clip!
Are You Suffering From Organizational Sclerosis? Try this test!
Does your organization have a culture that has it perfectly aligned for failure?
Probably! I see it all the time, and I can tell you exactly the mindset that your organization has, with a simple little list of questions…. read them below.
The fact is, I spend a LOT of time doing talks at corporate meetings; often, a CEO or CxO leadership event for Fortune 1000 companies as well as associations and smaller organizations.
These involve highly customized talks that focus on future trends that might impact the organization, and outline some opportunities for innovation.
What fascinates me is the number of organizations that, given fast-paced change, seem like a deer in the headlights, stuck and unable to move, staring at the future with fear. For them, innovation remains a concept that is somehow totally foreign.
Is this you? Ask yourself these questions: is this YOUR organization today?
- everybody knows something needs to be done
- there are an awful lot of ideas as to what to do
- no one knows where to start
- no one dares to make the first step
- and in fact, no one has been charged with the responsibility to take over and take that first step
- there is a rampant fear that if something is done, it won’t end up going well!
- everyone remembers the other time that somebody tried to do something new, and they ended up being blamed when it didn’t go well
- and so no one is prepared to try anything
- the result is that some other company – most likely a competitor — will end up doing exactly what should have been done
World-class innovators don’t fall into this trap.
They just do what needs to be done!
Get out of your innovation rut.
Embrace the future, innovate and change!
Is Your CEO An Innovation Wimp?
I spend my time providing guidance on future trends & innovation to some of the most fascinating companies and organizations in the world, such as Disney, NASA, BASF, and IBM.
Often these are in the form of offsite senior executive leadership meetings …. where a team gets together to examine the deep, substantive changes that must be made in order to move forward. I lend my insight in terms of highly customized talks that focus on future trends affecting the industry in the room, and deep insight into innovative ideas and methodologies that move us forward.
It’s a proven model that has a track record of 20+ years — and I can see many organizations where I’ve made a meaningful impact…
Over those 20 years, I’ve noticed that at times, companies tend to go into an innovation funk. They defer decisions; they lose their focus on the future; they drop their innovation spark. It usually happens during economic downturns and recessions. Fair enough – they’ve got other things to worry about!
But today, we aren’t in a recession. The global economy, although uncertain, is doing ok. And yet this seems to be one of those times. I’m seeing the resurrection of aggressive indecision (That’s a phrase that I coined years ago; see below for articles and video on the topic…) — yet this it seems to be driven by a culture of inaction at the top! The CEO has, it appears, go into a state of inaction!
Example: I’ve had a number of situations where I’ve had extensive exploratory calls with clients about coming in for such a session. They’ve expressed to me that they need to deal with business model disruption; the impact of technology on their industry; the rapid emergence of new competitors; or other countless challenging issues.
And then it has gone to the CEO for approval, and word comes down — “it’s not the right time to do this.”
Really?
Why is this happening? I think that it relates to the current uncertainty with the upcoming US election – and the uncertainty that has brought to many an organization.
Which makes me wonder — if now is not the right time to focus on the future, and what you need to do as an organization to align yourself to fast-paced trends, when is the right time?
History bears out the lesson that those who focus on big ideas and big opportunities during times of uncertainty are those who win in the long run. The head of innovation at GE did a study year that looked at the history of innovation in times of concern — particularly, during previous economic downturns. He found that real innovation breakthroughs came from those who stayed relentlessly focused on ideas and the future, despite that uncertainty. I often tell this story on stage to spur people into action.
The fact is, there are countless examples where history has shown us that it is those organizations who focused on ensuring that they were still actively pursuing innovation — whether through product development, the exploration of new business models, external partnerships, the pursuit of new markets and customer groups — were those who managed to achieve the greatest success in the long run.
The fact is, in today’s fast-moving world, the greatest mistake any organization can make right now is to do nothing.” If you don’t do something today, you can be sure that others in your industry are!
So what do companies need to do to make the most of this period of election-driven uncertainty? First, accept reality and uncertainty, but make a determined effort to move along. Those unable to move past shock, denial, and anger through to acceptance will be innovation laggards a. Unfortunately, that may be too late.
Be prepared to keep your idea factories running (perhaps not at full tilt, but running nevertheless) in the face of uncertainty. Know that there is still a place for innovative thinking despite what is really a bizarre state of affairs.
Inertia — real or implied — establishes a culture of inaction, and that can lead to another slippery slope.
Today, innovation isn’t simply an option — it’s critical because it is the best way to gain traction.
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