Food For Thought

Here's another assignment from my MBA program.

Prompt:
Creativity and innovation often come from "thinking outside the box," but too much divergent thinking can result in chaos. A well-run business requires order and routine to function effectively. Therefore, managers must learn to balance the need for stability with the need to create an environment that encourages new ideas.

What corporate competencies and environmental strategies can managers and organizations cultivate and employ in order to foster creativity, innovation, and success? How would you as a manager go about implementing and measuring these strategies?

Response:
One thing that quickly comes to a researcher’s attention is the plethora of conference synopses that contain the words “manage people innovation”. Business updates, briefings, and a variety of other corporately-sourced documents all include these buzzwords with the same frequency a nouveu riche drops names at a dinner party. When I starting poking around for information to build this discussion post on, there were pages of them in the Business Source database.

Helen Walters, a writer for BusinessWeek, agrees that the term ‘innovation’ is grossly overused in today’s business world. Quoted from her article “Voices of Innovation 2008”, Walters states:

“As executives have bandied the word about to describe everything from new product introductions to layoffs, it has become increasingly difficult to discern genuine innovation from wishful thinking or marketing spin.” (1)

Her article goes on to briefly describe the “Voices of Innovation” article that will be forthcoming shortly. In the meantime, her statement that “genuine innovation balances quick hits with long plays” resonated with me enough to continue to explore this idea of balance in innovation. (1)

After reflection on what would be the underpinnings of a successful manager who creates a fertile environment for forward thinking, and balancing responsibilities with the risks that are inherent with any change. Further searching on the web brought me to another concept that I believe has an enormous amount of influence on a manager’s ability to foster and incorporate innovation into their business world. That concept is Emotional Intelligence.

In an article written by Rachel Tonn of the Colorado Springs Business Journal, Nick Tasler (director of research and development for TalentSmart) is quoted as saying, “If we don’t teach them how to manage themselves, is it reasonable to expect them to lead us toward a prosperous future?”. Tasler’s approach towards teaching ‘them’ (in this case Generation X and Yers who will soon be taking up the management mantle in the workplace) to manage themselves is training them in the four Emotional Competencies: (2)
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Management (3)

The Emotional Competencies model was presented by Daniel Goleman, and encompasses EI as an ‘array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance’. (3) I believe that these four qualities have enormous potential for aiding the up-and-coming management generations in acting as a midwife to the birth of enormous innovation and change. The first reason is because this emotional intelligence fosters communication and adaptability. These two traits are what I believe to be the most important parts of an innovation friendly personality or environment (work or otherwise). Second, these four traits are not necessarily inherent. They can be, but more importantly, they can be LEARNED.

These four steps towards a well-rounded, healthy emotional outlook are both essential to developing a positive work environment and can also be learned by any person willing. With this sort of double threat, emotional intelligence (as well as awareness and pursuit of it) can be the true key to unlocking hidden potential within companies across industry barriers.

Resources:
1. Walters, H. “Voices of Innovation 2008”. BusinessWeek. 10.20.2008. Accessed 12.3.08. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/oct2008/id20081020_393399.htm
2. Tonn, R. “Improving Emotional Intelligence of a Younger Work Force”. Colorado Springs Business Journal. November 28, 2008. Retrieved from Business Source 12.3.08. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=L54436495CSBJ&site=bsi-live
3. Wikipedia. “Emotional intelligence”. Accessed 12.3.08. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence