The Innovation Equation: Building Creativity and Risk Taking in Your Organization (Practicing Organization Development Series) [Paperback]

 

 

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Title: The Innovation Equation: Building Creativity and Risk Taking in your organisation
Author: Jacqueline Byrd & Paul Lockwood Brown
Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer
ISBN: 0-7879-6250-3
Reviewer: Mike Morrison
The Innovation Equation is a book aimed at explaining some of the principles and hard-won secrets behind successful innovation. It aims to clarify the characteristics of cultures and people that lead new products, processes and services to existence. It seeks to identify what innovation is and most importantly of all how to develop the innovative capacity of individuals, teams & organisations.
The Authors start by defining what innovation is and start by using a dictionary definition: "Innovation is the act of introducing something new" and explain that they consider that "the act of introducing" is akin to taking a risk & "new" is about creativity. This leads on to what the authors call the innovation equation:

Innovation = Creativity x Risk Taking

And clearly state that innovation may be small or large and that what is innovative in one industry may have been done somewhere else before (or not as the case may be) This leads the reader to believe that innovation is available to all of us and not an elite few within organisations.
Once the scene has been set the authors go on to explore the Innovation Equation in some detail outlining some of the strengths of individuals and teams based upon their current capacity of Creativity and Risk Taking. They identify eight orientations to innovation and label them:
Innovator, Challenger, Dreamer, Sustainer, Modifier, Practicalizer, Synthesizer and Planner
These orientations are then explored in terms of their value and limitations to the organisation and how the coach/ consultant can work with them to begin building the organisations innovative capacity. The orientations on the graphic are called the Creatrix model. Included here is a short questionnaire to help the reader identify their current preference and orientation on the Creatrix.

Then taking the model to another level the authors identify a number of drivers for creativity & risk taking. These drivers are shown to be important in helping individuals and teams to change their current performance.

The drivers for Creativity have been identified as: ambiguity, independence, inner directed, uniqueness
The drivers for risk taking have been identified as: authenticity, resilience, self acceptance

These drivers are then explained in context with case studies and examples of how the authors have worked with individuals to change and grow.
The authors have included a chapter which addresses the barriers to change and have included case studies which are accessible and valuable to the reader. The authors call these barriers "stop signs".
Putting it together and introducing change, the authors introduce a simple model to aid the read and change agent in implementing some of the ideas contained in the book. They call this the 4A's model - Aim Assess, Activate, Apply and go on to give practical guidance as to what type of activities could be done when for effective change.

The last section of the book is called "the innovative consultant" and aims to give the reader a competitive advantage in working with clients using some of the concepts in the book on a personal level.
Throughout the book case studies, academic references, examples and graphics are use to communicate key ideas, to help understanding and support the reader doing something with the content of this publication.

Follow-up
Having followed up on the book and the ideas, the original model was developed in the 70's and has been used as a tool with 1000's of individuals over the years. This book marks the re-birth of the model and its re-invention for modern business. This is not just a marketing "re-brand" but a complete academic re-visit to the material and its fit for today's rapidly changing world. It is a shame that the authors do not fully explain this pedigree within the book as at first sight the model appears to be lacking academic credibility.
In summary
This is a practical book with plenty of ideas and concepts for the manager, developer or coach to take away and use. Throughout the authors have included small sections containing "ideas for the consultant" which provide valuable ideas thoughts and actions which any reader can use in their day to day work.

Chapter Titles:
Perspectives on Innovation
Assessing Innovative Capacity
Drivers of Creativity & Risk Taking
Two tales of Innovation
Stop signs to Innovation
The Innovation Equation in Action
The Innovative Leader
The Innovative Consultant


Overall
It proved to be an interesting and motivating read. It aims to clarify the characteristics of cultures and people that lead new products and services to market and what you can do to improve your competitive advantage.
How might it benefit you? More and more organisations list "innovation" as a value or competence, and too many leave it there. This book would be of value if you:
o run development programmes that incorporate innovation or change, buy a copy and use some of the workshop ideas on your own programmes.
o are confused by what "innovation" actually means in the real word.
o Are a coach who works with individuals or teams that are interested in developing their innovative capacity
o are a clear-sighted senior manager and want to re-engage your people to become more innovative or adapt to change quicker.

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