Sustained focus on innovation is crucial for any workplace

A Rabindranath

India is well-known for its jugaad culture. Innovating on the fly, with meagre resources, has been a way of life for many Indians. The lack of adequate infrastructure (an aspect taken for granted in many societies), dealing with ambiguities, and an impatience to get on with life allows these jugaadu individuals to innovate as a necessity. In an organisational context, sustained focus on innovation becomes very important due to the need to constantly change - change systems, eliminate waste, ensure sustainability, constantly meet or exceed customer experiences. Most organisations are designed to follow processes with a large number of in-built checks and balances, but the challenge is in ensuring that sufficient 'space' is available for the constant change to happen. While inventions of new products is always more glamorous, some of the largest changes have come from small, yet continuous improvements. A cursory look at Toyota Camry of the 1980s when compared to the latest model will tell us the amount of change that can come about through such continuous focus. Incidentally, since 1966 when this model was launched, it has been through nine generations of upgrades, and with over 35 million cars sold, it is the bestselling car of all time in the US! My conversations with clients have helped to build five organisational practices that support innovation: 1. Enabling organisational agility: Agility helps to respond quicker to innovation opportunities and reduces institutional obstacles to new ideas. Commitment to agility starts at the top - organisations need to offer development programs on agility and evaluate the performance of leaders accordingly. At the same time, driving decision-making authority down the organisational structure helps! It enables frontline leaders to introduce innovations driven by local needs - an especially important advantage for global organisations, where headquarters may be half a world away. 2. Setting the stage for innovation: Hay Group's research found that the 'Best Companies for Leadership' (BCL) recognise that success in innovation is never a sure thing – so they are almost twice as likely as other companies to support unprofitable projects to try new things. Demonstrating the leaders' genuine commitment to supporting innovation will encourage employees to undertake the additional personal effort and career risks that innovation entails. 3. Broadening perspectives: Different ways of thinking are essential raw materials for innovation - so leaders need to provide structured opportunities for employees to come forward with new ideas, and allow the most promising one to bypass the chain of command without negative consequences. The senior leadership positions at the Best Companies (BCL) are filled with leaders of multiple nationalities, and they are more than three times as likely as other companies to help new parents return to the workplace. In addition, companies must try and use international opportunities to develop talent – instead of relying only on pay and bonus. 4. Focusing on collaboration: If multiple perspectives are the raw materials of innovation, collaboration is the alchemy that converts them from clashing viewpoints into valuable solutions. The best ways to do this are to evaluate leaders on their ability to build strong relations with their peers, and incorporate team-based measures in incentive plans. 5. Celebrating success and learning from setbacks: Innovation is a fragile process that results in failures more often than successes. Setback should be treated not as failures that deserve punishment, but as opportunities to learn. To take an example, the Tata Nano remains an achievement for the Tata Group, as it fulfils the need for safer transportation. The "one-lakh car" has been regarded a breakthrough innovation, making a functional vehicle available to India's masses at an extremely low cost. Innovation is certainly a necessity at all levels in all organisations and all the time. This could make all the difference between ability to continuously and sustainably achieve the targets you set for yourself or a single shot at achievement and being consigned to oblivion thereafter. Jugaad becomes innovation when it is able to sustain beyond the 'scotch tape fix' and become a permanent fixture - till the next successful jugaad comes along. A Rabindranath is the Director of Hay Group India Related Posts     Jugaad: more than just an an innovative quick-fix
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