Performance through Innovation - a model that works

– Dorian Haarhoff & Graham Williams

Two underlying principles When the word ‘innovation’ is mentioned we tend to think about major, disruptive innovations. Like the life-changing, world- shrinking technologies that happened around the mid-20th century: the Internet, personal computing, television, cell phones, the convergence of information and communication technologies. We also think about pioneering inventors such as Frank Whittle and his radically different concept of jet propulsion – an aero plane with no piston engine, no propeller! (Sucked-in air was used in order to produce thrust). But in fact innovation is, in the first place, less about individual ‘light bulb moments’, and more about group dynamics and co- intelligence. Secondly, innovation is also about ‘small’ incremental improvements or changes that make a big difference in the marketplace. Think about the evolution of soap for example – soap-on-a-rope, liquid soap, scented soap,

cleansing agent and beauty treatments. The message is: Everyone in an organisation can and should be involved in innovation. Here is an outline of a modern model

for corporate innovation that can help organisations to escape the trap of being ordinary, and instead to light up all aspects of how they work, become different and better, and how to keep ahead of the game. The key factors promoting creativity

Jumping out of the groove The Latin innovare means to bring about what is new, an idea put into practice. When we become ‘locked in’, and are unable to get out of a particular ‘groove’, we cannot imagine new possibilities, and therefore cannot generate or accept new ideas and innovations.

When Marco Polo returned from China and told of the use of paper money, that paradigm or mental concept was simply too foreign for his own people; only metal money could be real and have value – a mindset that endured well into the next century. Consider your PC keyboard. Read the first six letters from the left in the top row. QWERTY. Does this ring a bell? This layout was designed in 1873 to slow down typing, because early mechanisms jammed easily. More than 100 years later we use the same keyboard layout. Car indicator lights were only installed

by manufacturers long after flashing light technology was available. Bicycle chains only became a reality long after drive- chain technology was employed in the manufacturing of bicycles. At organisational and personal levels

too, we ‘lock in’ beliefs and perceptions about ourselves and others, that limit our development and growth.

38 Management Today | September 2011