Innovation for Survival

A study of past recessions has shown that companies who focused on R&D and innovation came out of the recession stronger than before. While this may sound like daunting, it is easier than you may think.

There are few companies in the global economy in 2009 that haven't seen some diminishing of their business. Further, fewer investments look as attractive as they once did and there is nothing wrong with having a ready pile of cash. Cheap? No. 100% Free. Trade stocks for free on Zecco.com. The Free Trading Community. www.zecco.com

So how does a manager convince a company to spend its hard-earned capital on a program of innovation or increased R&D? Nobody said it would be easy and the answer to more capital will likely be "no!" Lest it seem hopeless, consider the alternatives to increased capital spending. Try RingCentral Fax FREE for 30 days

Innovation doesn't necessarily mean coming up with the new "killer app." It can mean simply considering the environment for the creation, production, distribution, and sales of the company's products and improving them incrementally. Can your company improve how a product is manufactured? Can your company improve how it processes receivables? Have Sales and Marketing considered a YouTube channel? Executives & Professionals: Changing Jobs?

While these potential areas for invention seem very droll and boring, consider how the Post-it note from 3M. Here's the story:

Dr. Spencer Silver, a 3M scientist, discovered the formula... in 1968. But it was Silver's colleague, Art Fry, who came up with a practical use for it. The idea for repositionable notes struck Fry while singing in the church choir. His bookmark kept falling out of his hymnal, causing him to lose his page. So, taking advantage of a 3M's "bootlegging" policy, Fry used a portion of his working hours to develop a solution to his problem. Now the world is singing the praises of his pet project: Post-it® Notes.

The lesson for managers is that recessions free up some valuable thinking time. Allow your employees to explore past projects, reconsider failed experiments, and apply new purposes to existing products. While most of these trials will fail, it only takes one winner to make the difference.

I Disagree with Jack Welch

Jack and Suzy Welch wrote an interesting response to the question of "What kind of person is a change agent?" in 09 October issue of "Business Week."

While no one can deny Jack's success at GE, or he and Suzy's success since then, I take exception to one of the statements they make. Find $100K+ Jobs

From the article:

"...Most questions we receive about change are from individuals deep within their organizations, .... They hunger to be change agents, but worry they can't be. They're right (emphasis added). Sure, a transformative idea can percolate from below. And yes, gains are being made with employee engagement, ...By and large, however, change is still made by people with some sort of authority."

Wow, talk about a "give up now" moment. What are those who are not in a position of authority supposed to do, just be automatons and hope they get credit for good ideas? While I don't disagree with the points of the article in general, such as change agents must be leaders, I think the Welch's miss the boat for the rest of the working populace. Change agents have to be cultivated and trained, they don't just show up as managers, directors, or CEOs.

If we consider the writings of Stephen Covey, in particular the concept of a "sphere of influence," this is where individual contributors can be change agents. Often, I have been approached by an employee, whether in the Army or in the civilian world, where they have an idea of how to do things better. I may have been able to implement it on a small scale, though it may not happen on a greater scale. Either way, that person made for change and succeeded. Find Premium Finance Jobs on Doostang. Start Now! www.Doostang.com

Further, some of the greatest change initiatives have started out as minor suggestions or incremental improvements. Change, and its second cousin innovation, take time and are often done in small steps. If you are a manager, you should encourage this among all of your employees. Promote your staff to think critically and challenge the status quo. There may be a better way to do it, but you may never know unless you ask. You may be cultivating that agent of change and not even know it.