Innovation Culture Roadmap in Pakistan

Ask the question, “What does a culture of innovation look and sound like?” and you’re likely to get a variety of answers. That’s not a bad thing. It’s probably slightly different – and articulated differently – in each organization.

If the person being asked can articulate a definition, that’s major success and a foundation to build from. You may just as likely get blank stares, and responses like, “I know it when I see it, but can’t put my finger on it” or “It’s when people are coming up with new ideas all the time.”

Of course, these are not measurable or meaningful … or manageable, for that matter. And many leaders see benefit in building a culture of innovation. So how can such a culture be defined, as an objective, such that it can be nurtured and cultivated?

Culture is an aggregate built from human dynamics, processes, and structures. The endlessly fascinating part is the people dimension. Do the people in the organization have the ability and willingness to be innovative?

Here are some interesting questions, organized under the construct of a competency (knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs), to help start thinking about ways to define a culture of innovation:

Knowledge: Do people know how to think creatively to solve problems or capture opportunities, individually and collectively? Do they understand the process to follow to translate a promising idea into tangible value, and how to divide roles/responsibilities to do so?

Attitudes: Is there a predisposition of collaboration and benevolence, or does everyone want to be the hero visionary or problem solver? Are opinions, diversity in thinking, and perspectives encouraged, tolerated, or discouraged?

Behavior: Are ideas shot down by the classic “devil’s advocate” argument (finding reasons why something won’t work instead of reasons it could or alternate approaches) or are they embraced as part of the process of progress?

Beliefs: Is there a widely held belief in community, the values/vision of the organization, and working to win together? Do employees believe that they are respected, valued and empowered to make improvements?

Taking a slightly different tack toward understanding the human dynamics of innovation, we can identify unwritten or formal rules or norms. These may be established and perpetuated by management’s handling of situations and by individual employees at all levels.

These rules might include, “Complaining is OK, but you must have an idea for resolution (be part of the solution, not part of the problem).” Or, “It’s acceptable and expected that individuals will take risks, within reason, but if their actions pan out negatively, they must learn from the experience and transfer their learning to others.” Or, “Individuals are expected as a condition of employment not just to perform their duties, but also to make improvements on a daily basis.”

What are the innovation competencies or norms that are thriving in your organization? Which ones are lacking? Taking the time to study and map the human dimension can lead to identifying opportunities to ignite change and develop a culture of innovation.

Worthless, Impossible and Stupid? Why Contrarian Business Ideas Make It Big

If everybody looks at you like you're crazy when you tell them your business idea, congratulations. You might be on your way to becoming a bona fide entrepreneur.

Just being young, innovative and your own boss does not make you an entrepreneur, says Daniel Isenberg, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. And if everyone thinks your startup idea is wise and logical, then you are almost certainly not one, he says.

"In order to create and capture extraordinary value, you almost always have to be contrarian," says Isenberg. "You enter the market when everyone else is leaving."

Ideas of truly successful entrepreneurs are often at first considered ridiculous by the majority of the public, Isenberg says in his new book Worthless, Impossible and Stupid: How Contrarian Entrepreneurs Create and Capture Extraordinary Value (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013).

Often, self-employed people call themselves entrepreneurs because they are not working for a boss, says Isenberg. But business ownership is not sufficient to define an entrepreneur. "They may just be sort of plodding along," he says about the interviews he conducted with entrepreneurs from Alabama to Islamabad.

And while Isenberg sees nothing wrong with being a small-business owner, he says only 1 to 5 percent of small-business owners are truly entrepreneurial. The word "entrepreneur" is often used to describe intentions, he says. For example, an "entrepreneurial thinker" is someone who identifies opportunities or approaches a task creatively.

But to be a true entrepreneur, you must not only think about ideas; you must act on them, according to Isenberg. "It is about actually generating results that are more than the market expects," he says.

Ironically, a contrarian entrepreneur can't be identified until after his or her idea has been absorbed or rejected by society, says Isenberg. "In a sense, it is the entrepreneur's job to surprise us, to surprise the market," he says. "There is a certain aspect of entrepreneurship that is unpredictable." That unpredictability makes it difficult to develop public policies to support entrepreneurship, adds Isenberg.

For entrepreneurs, Isenberg says the key takeaway of the book is to have confidence and get used to being an outlier. It's important to learn to cope with the adversity, resistance and derision of the market, says Isenberg. "This is a normal part of the entrepreneurship experience."

There are no resume requirements for who will make a successful entrepreneur, but there are a few similar traits of true entrepreneurs, says Isenberg. Namely, they tend to display a willingness to think independently, work hard and persevere, and seek excitement. Most of them held jobs when they were young, so learned the value of hard work early on.

While the common characteristics of entrepreneurs are noteworthy, they don't define every entrepreneur, says Isenberg. Entrepreneurs are born all over the world, come from different socio-economic backgrounds and start up in a variety of industries. "It's not about Steve Jobs and Silicon Valley. It's about the kind of entrepreneurship you can see anywhere, whether it is Slovenia or Brazil or China or Iceland," he says.

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