Tweet

Leaders - You Can’t Schedule Innovation!

Guest post by: Roger Ingbretsen

Article Overview: If any organization is to be successful they need to be serious about providing an environment in which innovation can thrive. The talented people need game time, time to think and time to create.

Leaders - You Can’t Schedule Innovation!



Thinking abstractly and creatively requires blocks of time. As one engineer friend of mine put it, “you can’t schedule innovation; it comes from those special times when you get to play in the back room.” Like winning athletes, members of an innovative team of people need “game time” to develop their innovative talents. They know you can’t be creative sitting on the sidelines or fighting the bureaucratic time wasters such as endless formal meetings or generating reports that serve no useful purpose other than to inform those in control.

One way leaders can act as a catalyst for change and innovation is to provide access to back room game time and protection from organizational interference for their creative knowledge workers. This will go a long way toward providing the innovative person an increased sense of meaning in their work. When you reduce time for innovation and creativity, by scheduled interference, you increase discontentment, mediocrity and stagnation. When you allow for creative space and time, buy-in is encouraged and people begin the think outside the box.

During World War II, the War Department discovered that “skunk works” projects (as they became to be known) were very effective in developing radically new products in a very short time. During the 1950’s, the undeniable genius of Lockheed Aircraft Cooperation, “Kelly” Johnson, set what I believe to be “the” benchmark for project leadership, innovation and accomplishment. Johnson and his small, highly skilled team, isolated from the corporate R&D function, located in a secret desert location, began building a high altitude surveillance airframe in January of 1955. On august 1, 1955, Lockheed’s enduring Black Lady of the sky, the U-2, was launched on its maiden flight.

This incredible feat of developing a totally new aircraft in eight months will remain a legendary accomplishment in project management and innovation. Although modified, the U-2 design has stood the test of time remaining in continual operation for over five decades. The key to a successful skunk works type of project was and still is: a seemingly impossible goal, a visionary leader who can both create a clear picture of what needs to be created and develop a strategy to accomplish the goal and a group of very passionate, innovative and committed people, left to themselves, to focus on making the goal a reality.

I had the privilege of being a part of the U-2 reconnaissance program during my Air Force career. It was an experience that has forever influenced my life. Few aspects of military aviation are more intriguing and exciting than the secrecy, lure and myth of being associated with the “black birds” of intelligence gathering. Couple this with being a member of a highly dedicated team of people and the experience borders on intoxicating. To a person, the one thing that impressed me was that we were all caught in an innovative state of mind. We all shared a belief, a feeling, a pattern and language of behavior, which drove us to support something bigger than ourselves. There was never any doubt that the mission would be accomplished, often under very stressful and seemingly impossible conditions.

In a true Machiavellian spirit everyone resorted to use whatever innovative means and methods it took to get the job done. Bottom line…The mission would be accomplished. This experience was for me, a precursor of what most companies, organizations and project teams are trying to deal with in today’s ambiguous and unstable environment. It is this, capturing the essence of a vision, having a belief in that vision and quickly propelling the best people to be innovative and do whatever it takes to successfully accomplish the vision (mission). This to me is a challenge that must be answered if organizations are to experience innovation and success. If any organization is to be successful they need to be serious about providing an environment in which innovation can thrive. The talented people need game time, time to think and time to create.

Related Articles
  Operational Innovation
  The New Leadership Frontier
  “Twelve Essential Characteristics of MVP (Most Valuable Performing) Leaders”
  TIDE Innovation Series-Self Innovation
  100 Ways to Succeed #93
  Controlling Your Schedule
  4 Ways We Kill Innovation
  It's Not the Size that Counts
  The Tale of the Toothache
  Innovation and Entrepreneurship
  When to Develop Custom Software or Websites: Hire's Innovation test
  But We CAN'T
  BE A LEADER - MANAGER
  I Love Business
  CEO Speak Out
  Attracting Holding Good Trade Show Traffic
  Blogging
  Ten Characteristics of Leadership
  Innovation is simple!
  The Dos and Don’ts of Innovation

Article Tags: innovation, innovative environment, leadership and innovation, U2



Related Forum Posts
Re: March 21 Triple Crown Update - Congratulations to the first three Leaders in the Forum category. Keep it up.
Re: Forums Question - Ok guys - the This Month's Leaders should now be working - thank you for pointing this out!
Re: Forums Question - test post to check for This Month's Leaders - no need to reply
Re: Forums Question - test post to check for This Month's Leaders - no need to reply
Re: Forums Question - test post to check for This Month's Leaders - no need to reply


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Join Conversations Politely, Part 1

The new marketing question. Will they follow?

Email Marketing Made Easy #11 - Avoiding Spam

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.