Steve Gladstone

October 23, 2012

Agenda Today, we’ll look at some seemingly disparate concepts, and draw them

together:

Innovation and motivation

Detour I…The “Innovator’s Dilemma”

Detour II…The “Fractal” mindset to drive innovation in the context of the organization

“The Godfather” as a model for driving innovation and change

Lessons learned at the frontline: Culture and situational awareness

Project, product, and solution companies

Bringing it all together through “joined-up” thinking

Finally, time-permitting, we’ll discuss fractals and artificial life as a potential model for organizations

Please feel free to ask questions as we go

So, You Want to Have an Impact?

Explore deeply and personally what “impact” means to you

Is it: Execute on established paths for change and innovation? Is it: Define & shape change and innovation? Is it: A seat of considered wisdom at the C-level table? If not, what does impact mean to you?

Surprises in motivation… Money? Yes…and no.

For creative tasks, higher rewards can lead to lower performance…

Impact Mastery Self-direction

Optionally: RSA Motivation Video

Intrapreneur Defined

In 1992, the American Heritage Dictionary acknowledged the popular use of a new word, intrapreneur, to mean:

“A person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation”

Source: Wikipedia

Detour I…The Innovator’s Dilemma (ID)

Ground-breaking book by Clayton M. Christensen:

How “good” companies can do everything “right” and still lose market leadership, or

disappear altogether!

Incremental vs. disruptive innovation: Incumbents tend to pursue incremental (“listen to customer”)

New entrants pursue disruptive

Low-end disruptions eventually gain market share: New entrant, inferior at first, crawls “up-market”

Later, incumbent loses market share, and often misses opportunity

Examples: 5.25” 3.5” Disks

Minicomputers PC’s

Desktop publishing

The Innovator’s Dilemma Visualized

$ (Cost, Price, etc.)

Fea

ture

s, V

alu

e, e

tc.

Incumbent

New Entrant 10% Growth = $100K

10% Growth = $10M

• Listens to the customer • Incremental innovation • Organization optimized for high price point

• Inferior product…at first • Mostly ignored by market and incumbent • Pursue low-end features • But, add more over time…

The Innovator’s Dilemma Visualized

$ (Cost, Price, etc.)

Fea

ture

s, V

alu

e, e

tc.

Incumbent

New Entrant

• Perceived as legitimate in mid-market • Converts some customers from

incumbent…others notice and may follow • Eventually begins to threaten incumbency

Another View of the ID End State

Typical Incumbent Strategy: - Sustain Market Share - Sustain Customer Satisfaction

ID Impact: - Lose Market Share - Decrease Customer Satisfaction - Struggle to Recover

Organizational Scale (Typically, Time)

Detour II…Fractals: Emergent Complexity from Recursive Simplicity The Koch Snowflake & Coastlines

“Self-similarity”

Fractal Examples In Nature

Fractal Examples In Practice

Social Networks

Cell Phone Antenna

Programming/Project Methodologies

Digital Image Compression

Fractal Behaviors of an Organization Drive Emergent Results and Culture

Elementary Behaviors

Organizational

Structure

Emergent Outcomes

Emergent project results (Good or Bad)

In retrospect, can observe small factors that compounded to the final result (Good or Bad)

Can observe self-similar behaviors at differing scales

Company “culture” is emergent

Executive Sponsorship vs. Sleepership

Information/Knowledge Silos

Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities and Authority

Commitment and Accountability

Performance Metrics

Etc.

Fractals: Not Always What You Might Expect

Fractal geometry will make you see everything differently. There is a danger in reading further. You risk the loss of your childhood vision of clouds, forests, flowers, galaxies, leaves, feathers, rocks, mountains, torrents of water, carpet, bricks, and much else besides. Never again will your interpretation of these things be quite the same. — Michael F. Barnsley Fractals Everywhere (2000)

OK, so you want to be an Agent of Change Regularly evidence deep understanding to Execs/C-levels

What it takes to execute an idea in a company/industry context

Know thy personal and company culture

Create a shared “sense of urgency” through communications

Gain awareness of “fractal” behaviors and weigh against desired project outcomes

Only “joined up” thinking makes it happen

Generate results…tangible and intangible

Projects, products, and solutions execute with highest success probability

Company and deliverables are crisply branded

Build resilient trust with Execs/C-levels

Executive sponsorship vs. “sleepership”

“The Godfather” consigliere as a model

Execution and Communication in Context Understand

Industry trends and causal relationships Competitive, revenue, profitability, and growth impacts

Get into stakeholder’s heads

The CEO’s The customer’s Others (internal and external)

Navigate any dual/mixed C-level roles CIO reports to CFO Dual CTO/CEO role

Who really drives change/innovation? Engineering vs. product management (projects vs. products)

Be forward thinking, but balance tactics and strategy If you only listen to customers, then you will only be as smart as them For disruptive innovation, paradigm shifts must be “on the table”

Alignment is essential in any organization

Clear definitions of roles and responsibilities

Project administrators vs. project managers

Useful process vs. worship of process

“Centers of excellence” delivery and metrics

Commensurate responsibilities and authority

Misalignment can lead to overly political environments

Join commitment and accountability

The union builds on what we know about motivation

Is it a Project, Product, or Solution based company? Core to understanding what/how change and innovation can/will occur

Know Thy Personal and Company Culture

Organizational Maturity Model: Projects, Products, or Solutions?

Recognize that everyone says they want a solution

Projects Customer says “Jump!”, and company says “How high?” Company brand centered in capability to execute

Products Company willing to gently say “no” to customers Typically “market” driven

Solutions Company says, “We are all things to all people.” Bring together People, Process, Technology Professional services consumes/customizes company products Typically viewed as “end-to-end” by customer

So, which type is your personal sweet-spot? Is it aligned with the company’s?

Note: Projects and products do not play well together if they share execution resources.

Project, Product, Solution Visualized

Typical Incumbent Strategy: - Sustain Market Share - Sustain Customer Satisfaction

ID Impact: - Lose Market Share - Decrease Customer Satisfaction - Struggle to Recover

“Project”

“Product”

“Solution”

• Build whatever customer specifies • “Recreate the wheel” several times • Eventually, claim a “product” • Suffer code fragmentation • How do we contend with NRE-based business scaling issues?

• Build what the “market” wants • OK. We need a “platform” and API gate-keeper • Truly, have a “product” • Still, can we service mass customization?

• Core engineering builds product • Professional services handles customization • Business scales in products and services

Leadership Changes Typically Required

Organizational Scale (Typically, Time)

Bringing it All Together – “Joined Up” Thinking

Understand current company projects, products, and solutions

Leverage knowledge of present “organizational maturity” In company cultural context, is the change/innovation realistic? Is it worth the professional risk?

Truly “partner” with people/teams/organizations to bring it about Think like a developer, project manager, CEO, etc.

Politics of change: Create buy-in

No buy-in = No change Assert with passion and create excitement Be proactive, not reactive Take reasonable risks, but mitigate Change is hard: Empathize, but don’t fully sympathize Appeal to the “arrogance” of others (by making it their idea!) Ultimately, “Developers own the code”

Projects

Products Solutions

Communications: Create a “Shared Sense of Urgency”

Facilitate joined up organizational thinking/execution

Partner with Marketing for communications

Internal communications

Be crisp and clear about why it is urgent (“an offer they can’t refuse…”)

Does everyone share the vision, or just versions of it?

Authorized internal communications can serve as a lock-in

Care and feed the messaging, don’t abandon it

External communications

Media and trade shows must reflect the change/innovation

Align or revise branding strategy, as required

Finally, Claim Your Seat at the Table

Significant change/innovation rollouts typically have material impact on company

The stakes can be high

Successful change agent championing is usually career-making

Failure to execute (for any reason) can create a stigma for those that championed

While execution of an idea is almost everything, its not the only thing

Don’t burn too many bridges, as you will need them to come along next time

And, contrary to “The Godfather”, a carefully placed horse head won’t quite do it…

Today, We Covered… Some seemingly disparate concepts, and drew them together:

Innovation and motivation

The “Innovator’s Dilemma”

The “Fractal” Mindset to drive innovation in the context of the organization

“The Godfather” as a potential model for driving innovation and change

Lessons learned at the frontline: Culture and situational awareness

Project, product, and solution companies

Bringing it all together through “joined-up” thinking

Thank You for Participating Today

Questions & Answers

Steve Gladstone, spglad@hotmail.com

Your comments & suggestions are welcomed