Far Wise in Knowledge Management

Obstacles to innovation

I just finished a Coursera (free online) course, titled "Leading Strategic Innovation in Organizations". A very interesting course that I can recommend! It uses an "innovation constraints" framework, which helps to identify potential contraints at all levels. Generating ideas is relatively easy, compared to implementing those ideas. That's why it's good to understand where barriers for implemention are (or can be).

Today's Dilbert is a good example of just one of those barriers: ideas trapped inside your head (or: not knowing how to communicate your idea).

Related to this course is an article I found through the KNOW Network / Library: Seven deadly sins of large company innovation (based on an article in Forbes with the same title). It takes a different approach to looking at innovation failures in large companies. Each of the deadly sins is accompanied by an alternative approach.

1. One and Done

2. Product Development over Customer Development

3. Death by Committee

4. Reliance on Lagging, not Leading Indicators

5. A Culture that Stiffles Entrepreneurship

6. Poorly Aligned Reward Systems

7. Custophobia

While most are on the level of the organization and its strategy, the sins will be recognized by many I think. Just take sin 5, the culture. A culture of entrepreneurship includes taking initiative and risk. How many companies allow for experimentation? 

Innovation is 'in' and companies realize that they need to be innovative to stay ahead (or become leader). Changing the company and its culture is hard. That's why I liked the approach in the Coursera course, which allows for making changes at all levels, starting at the individual.

Work from home ("Remote", by Jason Friedman)

In the Netherlands, working from home was quite common. I often did it when I wanted to finish a document or read some articles. The quietness of the house, no disruptions from other people or meetings, helped me to concentrate and get things done in a short time. Working from home was just part of the flexibility that the work offered, no big deal.

Also my first year in France, I finished projects from a distance. In the 5 hours that I worked during the day, I got just as much done as my remote colleagues (actually, I was the remote one), who worked 8 hours per day. I was focused, had no disruptions, just missed regular personal contact.

In Canada (I worked both in industry and government), working from home seemed not a real option. It was allowed, only if I had a good reason. Like, someone had to come in for a repair on the furnace. But working from home to get something done? Unheard. And don't try to make it a habit! At BlackBerry, I had all the facilities to work from home (laptop, VPN login), but it was seen as outside the working hours. During the day you were expected to be in the office. At OMAFRA, I didn't have the remote login option (it was a money issue, and I was a contractor).

An example was that I asked my manager at BlackBerry to work from home (another difference, I had to ask permission) because I needed concentration to rewrite video scripts. The scripts (voice over) had to be reduced to about 10% of the original scripts. I was just unable to do this, keeping the message and the fluency required in the text, on the busy cubicle floor at the office. I remember how much effort it took me to convince him! I basically ended up doing most of the work over the weekend...

I never understood this fear for remote work that I saw in Canada, having had good experiences in the Netherlands. It should actually be the opposite, since in Canada I worked in cubicle offices, while in the Netherlands I shared an office with one other colleague. Is it a matter of distrust by manager, lack of control over the employees, fear the 'unknown'?

Jason Friedman explains all the advantages of remote work and tackles the fears well in "Remote; Office not Required". I recognize a lot of what he describes and if his goal is to convince people about remote work, I'm not the right audience, since I'm already convinced of the benefits!

He, and co-author David Heinemeier Hanson, provide many examples and tools, as well as many references to the company of Friedman (37 Signals) that fully relies on remote workers. I think they aim at an audience that wants to know more about remote work or need to be convinced as the way of working of the future. If you're already working remotely (or like me, did in the past), there won't be much news in this book for you.

"Think like a freak" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Here is my review of Think Like a Freak, written by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, written for and posted on Managementboek.nl (in Dutch):

Have you received in the past an email coming from Nigeria? Someone with a lot of money (often a prince), who needs a reliable person who can help to transfer the money temporarily to another bank account. Most likely (and hopefully) you laughed about the silly and illogic text and clicked ‘delete’. Maybe you wondered who does react to such email. If so, you can read it in “Think like a freak” written by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.