Hot Spots: Why Some Companies Buzz with Energy and Innovation - And Others Don't [Hardcover]

At some stage in our careers we will have worked for managers and organisations that stifle your energy and motivation, and your main focus then becomes updating your CV and moving on.

This raises the question how do avoid these situations and revitalise organisations and move from intertia to action?
Lynda Gratton provides an approach that is both thought provoking and provides a five step process that takes you through the key points you need to consider, this is outlined in chapter 8 of her book - "Designing for hot spots." The five steps are:

* Locating Hot spots.
* Mapping the system.
* linking to business goals.
* Identifying potential leverage points.
* Taking action.

The book takes a while to get into the substance of the subject, it is well researched and provides a lot of insights you can relate to on a personal basis.The case studies are focussed more on larger companies eg BP and Nokia and the lack of emphasis on smaller/ and medium sized companies is a weakness that needs addressing.

This is essentially a book about organisation design to produce results. Yet there are no references to any books/material under this heading in the index.It is an omission that could have provided a fuller understanding for the reader had it been dealt with more in more depth.If you are looking for more on the subject of organisation design, see "Designing your organisation" by Amy Kates and Jay Galbraith, published in 2007.

Finally appendix A, sets out very useful guidance for the reader on how to get things moving.

Stan Felstead - Interchange Resources UK.

In this volume, Lynda Gratton explains how and why "boundaryless cooperation fuels innovation...why some teams, workplaces, and organizations buzz with energy - and others don't." The business model she recommends is an "open" one. In fact, it is precisely what Henry Chesbrough brilliantly explains in Open Innovation and in his more recent book, Open Business Models. What is a "boundaryless" organization? GE is probably the most prominent example. (Curiously, there are no references in Hot Spots to Chesbrough, GE or its former CEO, Jack Welch.) According to Gratton, a "boundaryless organization" is one within which people are engaged in "purposeful conversation"; there are no barriers to communication, cooperation, and collaboration; and the organization has an ever-widening "net of involvement."

Those whom Gratton calls "boundary spanners" are very important because they break down the "walls" between in-groups and out-groups. They have a network of relationships that form a natural bridge between the two groups. (Chesbrough calls them "innovation intermediaries.") In a boundaryless organization, people feel energized and vibrantly alive. Their brains buzz with ideas as they share with others the joy and excitement of "exploiting and applying knowledge that is already known and genuinely exploring what was previously unknown." Relationships between and among those involved create a Hot Spot.

"One of the most profound insights about Hot Spots is that their innovative capacity arises from the intelligence, insights, and wisdom of people working together. The energy contained in a Hot Spot is essentially a combination of their individual energy with the addition of the relational energy generated between them." Hence the importance of (a) having a "cooperative mindset,"(b) "boundary spanners," (c) "igniting purpose," and (d) sustaining sufficient "productive capacity." Gratton acknowledges that there is much of substantial value to be learned by examining best practices in exemplary companies (e.g. BP, PgilvyOne, Nokia, and Linux)but also other types of practices, notably what she characterizes as "signature processes" which embody a given organization's character. They arise from passions and interests within the organization. Whereas best practices "bring the outside in," signature processes "bring the inside out."

To Gratton's great credit, after identifying the "what" in the Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2, she focuses most of her attention on "how" and "why" in the remaining six chapters. I also appreciate the provision of information in three appendices, especially in the first ("Resources for Creating Hot Spots"). And I especially appreciate Gratton's decision to want until the final chapter before explaining how to design (or re-design) an organization in which Hot Spots "emerge." The process consists of five phases best revealed within Gratton's narrative (i.e. in context) but I do presume to suggest that Hot Spots are inevitable and can exist anywhere, both physically and electronically. The challenge is to encourage and support them without institutionalizing ("housebreaking") them. That is a very real danger, one which Bob Taylor obviously recognized when he insisted that the Xerox Corporation allow him to establish - with unlimited funding -- the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) which those at Xerox's corporate headquarters (in Connecticut) viewed as a "renegade" think tank. In fact, Taylor and his associates conceptualized the very notion of the desktop computer, long before IBM launched its PC, and it laid the foundation for Microsoft Windows with a prototype graphical user interface of icons and layered screens. Even the technology that makes it possible for these words to appear on the screen can trace its roots to Xerox's eccentric band of innovators. It is possible but highly unlikely that any of this could have been achieved, had the research center been absorbed within the Xerox corporate culture in the 1970s.

Guided and informed by Gratton's observations and recommendations, senior-level executives will be well-prepared to provide the leadership needed to avoid or overcome barriers to innovation within their organizations by nurturing a cooperative mindset, encouraging and supporting those who are "boundary spanners," igniting purpose at all levels and in all areas throughout the given enterprise, and - as a result -- sustain sufficient "productive capacity."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out two of Gratton's earlier works, Living Strategy: Putting People at the Heart of Corporate Purpose and The Democratic Enterprise: Liberating Your Business with Freedom, Flexibility, and Commitment. Also When Sparks Fly: Harnessing the Power of Group Creativity by Dorothy Leonard-Barton and Walter C. Swap, Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration by Warren G. Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, and Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors by Evan I. Schwartz .

If you are contemplating to make your unit, your organisation and your environment more innovative, exciting and stimulating then "Hot Spots" is a must read.

The author, Lynda Gratton, a professor at the London Business School and a renowned authority on HR Strategy presents a concise yet compelling framework for promoting greater levels of cooperation towards the creation of positive energy, more productivity and innovation in the workplace.

The core of the book is most effectively presented in chapters 3 to 6 which dwell upon the four elements, the essentials to create a "Hot Spot" as under:

The first element towards the creation of a "Hot Spot" is towards "developing a cooperative mindset (where trust and a helpful attitude are a must).

The second element relates to the concept of "boundary spanning" (people working in and across groups, functions and business units for the sharing of knowledge through close/familiar colleagues/friends as well as acquaintances/associates).

The third element relates to an "igniting purpose" (working for an ambitious and overreaching goal/task - here the role of the leader, be it the CEO, the unit head and the team leader to inspire and motivate through asking difficult and purposeful questions is a crucial element and is further explored in Chapter 7).

Productive Capacity i.e. the fourth and final element is really about managing these groups and teams in terms of appreciating talents, about making and keeping commitments and in managing conflict and time.

The book also contains an excellently worded appendix that acts as a resource guide complete with diagnostic surveys for the creation of "Hot Spots." This section is in essence a mini workshop on "Hot Spots" and is a must read to be used by teams and colleagues alike.

The book's underlying message is crisp and most relevant yet seemingly difficulty to apply in the real world of organisational life i.e. "for organisations to flourish and create value, processes need to be created and fostered towards the building of partnerships and alliances; an essential prerequisite being an collaborative mindset existing amongst it's people."

Professor Gratton's treatise on "Hot Spots" makes for a very interesting read and is quite inspirational backed by a decade of research on some of the top-performing organisations the world over (BP, Goldman Sachs, Nokia, Ogilvy One to name a few).

Readers are also urged to read and consult on two of her earlier excellent and inspirational works - Living Strategy (2001) and The Democratic Enterprise (2004) which complete this trilogy (wherein Hot Spots is the third).

A highly recommended read for all in the corporate fraternity.

*******