Innovation as a Way of Life
- Anat Kosiyak
- Jul 1, 2006
- 3 min read
Written in collaboration with Dr. Moriah Levy
Knowledge management deals with two complementary topics:
EXPLOITATION - Utilizing existing knowledge and sharing it within the organization.
EXPLORATION - Developing new organizational knowledge.
(By the way - it's interesting to read the insights of Nonaka and Takeuchi in their book "The Knowledge-Creating Company" about exploitation and development as knowledge management tools).
The development of new knowledge can stem directly from sharing organizational knowledge (in the sense of 1+1=3), but it can also emerge from three additional activity channels:
Nurturing experts
Learning lessons
Innovation
Most of us associate innovation with fun. This is not the case. Innovation is a combination of much order within disorder; innovation is a combination of structured work according to rules and work that bypasses rules; innovation needs to be learned, built, and managed; we cannot wait for it to arrive. As knowledge managers, we have a role:
To learn and understand the methodologies
To be partners in places where innovation is already taking place
To lead the organization where there is a lack
Fundamental assumptions in proper innovation activity according to the ROM approach:
Create tools for continuous innovation, not just one-time innovation, however creative it may be.
Innovation is a developing, gradual process. This must be understood, and results should be expected accordingly.
It is not right to innovate in all dimensions. It is recommended to incorporate anchors and innovate in one dimension at a time (see the article on the Who-What-How channels in Issue 2, March 2004).
As the opportunity increases, so does the risk (of failure). The organization must be prepared for this in advance.
Channels proposed for continuous innovation activity in the organization:
Initiative channel: An innovation team aimed at generating ideas for new products/services.
Response channel: A channel that allows ideas emerging from the field to be examined and absorbed as innovative solutions.
Alongside these two channels, it is necessary to ensure:
A budget enables the development of innovative ideas, as these are usually not part of the routine work plan.
The existence of organizational openness, especially managerial openness to thinking outside the box. A senior manager at 3M, the company that implements, perhaps more than any other company in the world, the response channel, expressed it well: "One of the most important qualities of managers with us," he said, "is knowing how to bite their tongue" (when an employee tries to develop an idea that seems unnecessary/unsuccessful to us). The burden of proof is on the manager who wants to cancel innovation activity, not on the employee who maintains it. And the proof of refutation is not simple at all, which greatly encourages the channel's existence.
Readiness for failures. As already stated above, as the opportunity increases, so does the risk. Sometimes, it will take more time than we expected, sometimes more money, and sometimes, we will end up with nothing. If an organization is not mature for this, it should not enter the innovation adventure in the first place. Therefore, patience and tolerance are the central infrastructure on which organizational support for the activity relies.
The key to creating new initiated ideas is inventive thinking.
This consists of:
Developing imagination.
A collection of tactics that help all of us, at any existing level of imagination, to utilize imagination to develop ideas.
As a knowledge management company, ROM emphasizes learning these tactics, but developing imagination is also a parallel channel that should be developed gradually. In future articles, we will review some of these tactics. In one of the upcoming issues, we will also review Nonaka and Takeuchi's famous book - "The Knowledge-Creating Company," which deals with what was not described below, namely the next stage: how do we take the successful idea and turn it into a successful product/service?
Have patience, or read the book. Recommended!
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