Posts

Showing posts from October, 2009

WHAT KIND OF INNOVATOR ARE YOU?

In the book ‘Old Masters and Young Geniuses’ by David Galenson there are two types of innovators researched. His analysis of the life cycles of creativity has considered painters, sculptors, poets, novelists and movie directors. It appears that creativity is not the exclusive domain of either theorists or empirists, nor are major innovations made exclusively by the young or old. Conceptual innovators   work deductively. They are most often the young geniuses, who revolutionize their disciplines early in their careers. Conceptual innovators state their ideas or emotions, often summarily and without hesitation. The central elements of conceptual innovators’ major contributions often arrive in brief moments of inspiration, and they can often be recorded and communicated quickly. A fundamental characteristic of conceptual innovators is certainty; most have great confidence in the validity and significance of their contributions, and this allows them to put forward dramatic new wor

HOW TO CLOSE THE CORPORATE GAP? BRIDGE BUILDERS NEEDED!

It looks like the gap, the divide is getting bigger instead of getting smaller. Which gap? Well, between on one hand the Corporate leaders and managers who are not open to change, who continue to do business as they have done for many years now and on the other hand mostly the consultants, bloggers and entrepreneurs who know that the 21 st century requires a new way of doing business. So, what is needed are bridge builders. People who can bridge the gap and thus connect the merits of both approaches. What is needed to be a great bridge builder? -        Focus on the strengths of both ways of doing business -        Communicate in a simple and clear way -        Explain the respective benefits -        Listen open minded -        Speak both ‘languages’ -        Look for the commonalities instead of for the differences -        Help to build new cultures and behaviors -        Be the examples Bridge builders are not a nice to have, they are urgently needed to close the

HIRING FOR AWESOMENESS OR FOR AVERAGENESS

Most recruiting companies list in their job requirements exactly what experience the candidate should bring. They prefer to hire someone who has done exactly the same job in another company, but in the same industry. They think that they play it safe in this way. When there is a fit, they think that there is hardly any risk, as the person has done that particular job before. However, this practice stimulates conformity and averageness. Once the new hire understands the way of working in his or her new company, they will quickly become complacent, risk avoiding and bored. There is no trigger to learn and develop new skills and knowledge. Also that person will not initiate complete new points of view. So, there is no professional as well as personal growth, both for the individual and for the company. This very competitive market requires another attitude. You need to differentiate your company to get and maintain customers. There is already too much averageness in the world, so

MARKET SAVVINESS IS CRUCIAL FOR A LEARNING ORGANIZATION

 On one hand it is clear that changes are speeding up, in business, technology, the market, legislation, demographics and so on. It is a challenge to keep up to date with all these new developments. On the other hand there is an increased focus on the inner workings of an organization. Most of the attention is directed towards restructuring, lay-offs and financial survival. This paradox creates even more challenges and thus tension. The more you focus internally, the more you miss threats as well as opportunities in the marketplace. Your internal, operational focus widens the gap with the frontrunners in your industry. If you want to be a frontrunner yourself, you have to make sure that your organization learns continuously from these external trends. And then you have to adapt yourself to these new learnings and conditions. Therefore it is crucial to build a team of explorers, who continuously monitor the market and propose changes for the internal way of working. It is like