IX TIP #7: Stop Frying Bacon In The Nude In 2002 I released a book with the title, “Never Fry Bacon In The Nude . . . And Other Lessons From The Quick & The Dead.” That work was primarily focused on helping leaders produce Better Results in Less Time – helping them understand the true definition of SPEED in the business arena (Results/Time), and sharing the 5 key disciplines of High Velocity Leaders.
The premise for the title was my observation after some 20 plus years hanging out with Execs, that far too many were attempting to lead without personally observing and embedding within their organizations just a handful of key disciplines that their top performing counterparts were exercising. As a result, they were (like anyone who might choose to fry bacon in the nude) extremely vulnerable to a variety of factors outside their direct control . . . factors that could leave them burned or even permanently “scarred.”
Now that I’m specifically focused on helping Execs and their teams re-wire their organizations to produce consistent ROI from their innovation efforts, I find myself sharing very similar advice. Stop Frying Bacon In The Nude . . .
You might be amazed (I certainly am) at the organizations that will invest in strengthening their creative capacity before – or even without – the infrastructure and governance to guide that creative effort toward achieving the business strategy and creating value.
There's no polite way to put it . . . This is a recipe for abject failure.
Of course in this venue, I don’t have the context and foreknowledge to speak to your situation specifically. If it’s a conversation you’d like to have -- let me know, and we’ll make it happen.
In the meantime . . . Here are just a few warning signs that your organization may be “frying bacon in the nude” with respect to innovation:
1. “Creativity” or “Ideation” classes, with no concrete expectation of actual idea output and / or no structured approach to processing and commercializing idea output
2. Continued investment in the latest innovation-related education and tools . . . without any appreciable ROI
3. Innovation Committees and Task Forces (Helpful Hint: Innovation isn’t a project.)
4. The word “Innovation” appearing in your mission statement and marketing materials, but not in your performance appraisals
5. No one in the demand or supply chain involved in generating and commercializing new ideas
6. Substantial increase or decrease in attention toward innovation in response to external factors (like “the economy”)
7. Innovation focused solely on product/service R&D vs. Processes (Helpful Hint #2: A Better Goose Yields Better Eggs – and the ROI continues to grow instead of diminish.)
If you’re experiencing any of these, your organization is going to get “burned’ by their innovation efforts if you haven’t already. You may not literally see your CEO jumping up and down sucking her finger, but make no mistake about it . . . she’ll be hurting, and everyone from the corner office to the smallest cubicle will receive their own version of the pain soon enough.
If you’re lucky, your leadership will simply start to withdraw resources and begin gearing up for the next cool fad . . . maybe “social media” or “going green.” More likely though, is that they will also want to know WHY all those hard earned dollars invested in innovation didn’t produce a meaningful return. At least now, you'll have an answer.*
* If you’re concerned that telling your leadership the truth might be a career-limiting move, I’ll be delighted to tell them for you.
Better Yet . . . Maybe there's still time to course-correct, and you can start helping your organization take a more disciplined strategy-driven approach toward innovation now, before it's too late?
Step One is elevating this conversation to the C-Suite. Just surfacing the questions (about infrastructure, governance, methodology, clear links to the business strategy, etc.) really can accomplish a great deal.
. . . And we'll try to keep helping you with Step Two and beyond here at "The Mix."
Previous 2009 IX Tips:
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