A
couple of months ago we received a letter from Carol Chase, the principal of
our daughter’s school. The entire letter
was devoted to some sound advice this principal had received from her mother
about raising children. She gave it a
fresh title: “Five Strategies for Raising
Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World,” but the wisdom in it was
aged to perfection. Here are the five
strategies:
1.
Say “No”: “When your child,
whether four or fourteen, is demanding something more…your child needs
you. Your child needs you to say
“no.” Children of all ages need clearly
defined boundaries, limits and expectations in order to develop self-reliance
and personal responsibility.” Could a
more pertinent principle be spoken for nascent innovations? Like children these innovation efforts to
hear “no” so as to focus and concentrate their energies where development is
needed. Without the “no’s,” innovations
lose focus and discipline and can easily squander resources.
2.
Hold, Hug and Talk: “When your child is having
a meltdown, your child needs you to give him or her a quiet space in which to
calm down. Then it is essential to
problem-solve with your child. This is
the beginning of teaching your child self-discipline. It is best to start with a hold and a hug, and
then begin the talk for problem-solving.”
MOMs (or mentors of mavericks) are an often ignored but necessary role
frequently missing in established companies seeking to innovate. Without a competent and present MOM (not to
be confused with a sponsor, who is also necessary), innovations don’t receive
the insulation from the “adult” (and performance metrics-oriented) world of the
established revenue stream. MOMs and
innovation midwives enable this “holding, hugging and talking” that allows for
a set-based concurrent engineering” so effectively used by Toyota’s
knowledge-based product development philosophy (see Michael N. Kennedy’s book, Product Development for the Lean
Enterprise).
3.
Teach Money: “Living in a society
that is consumer rich in material goods requires that children learn financial
responsibility at an early age,” says Chase about raising children. Hasn’t a similar point been made about managing innovation by Clayton
Christiansen when he admonishes us to be “patient for growth, but impatient for
profit.”? (See his book, The Innovator’s Solution.) As a friend of mine recently said, reflecting
on teaching his own kids about money: “When you have earned it, you treat it
differently.”
4.
Teach Manners: “Your child needs you to
teach social responsibility [which] begins by learning respectful
communication, behavior, participation and contribution within the first
community unit for a child—the family.”
In our 2003 five-company study of innovation practices, we found one of
the major tasks in which “innovation midwives” or MOMs need to be diligent is
in “honoring the core.” If managers of
established revenue streams feel in any way a competitive threat (for resources)
coming from within the organization, they will consciously—and often
unconsciously—work against the innovation.
5.
Live Your Values: “Your child needs you to
teach core values. The clearer you are
about your core values, the more solid the base for your child. This requires ongoing introspection on the
part of the parent and an outgoing manifestation of living the values. Children are watching their parents
always. They will do what they see
parents do, not what parents say.” If
the established business is oriented to the purpose of serving the needs of its
customers—even needs customers may not yet recognize—then it will not only
talk the talk of innovation, but also will walk the walk.
Our
innovation efforts not only need effective parenting, they also need effective
parents—mavericks, project managers, technology gatekeepers, MOMs and
“midwives.” Would we not be more successful at our innovation efforts if we
took the time, effort, care and love children require of their parents?
This article by Lanny Vincent originally appeared in Innovating Perspectives in May 2004. For other issues of our newsletter,
please go to www.innovationsthatwork.com or call (415) 387-1270.
© 2013 Vincent & Associates, Ltd.
© 2013 Vincent & Associates, Ltd.
