Leading the unpredictable - a new way of working | Erik Hoekstra, Krauthammer

The way we currently organise ourselves is increasingly out of step with our fast-evolving environment. What if organisations were to become a societal movement, whose passionate members had the drive to make a difference? People are dynamic and innovative – organisations aren’t. Yet flextime and connecting via social media are not enough. Let’s envision a new form of management, people engagement and leadership – a world where organisations would adapt to their employees, rather than vice versa. In short, an integrated approach to the oft-cited ‘New Way of Working’ (NWW).

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Cultivating organizational creativity in an age of complexity - the IBM Institute of Business Value Report 2011

"Why are some organizations consistently good at innovating and adapting while others seem to be blindsided by change? Is it because of their disciplined innovation process or the knowledge and skills of their people? Or is it their determination to build a culture where challenging assumptions is not only encouraged, but expected? Our IBM Creative Leadership Study found that leaders who embrace the dynamic tension between creative disruption and operational efficiency can create new models of extraordinary value."

To download and read the full report click here

Another View of Idea Management - Gregg Fraley

If you are a corporate innovation manager, no matter your level or official title, I have one question for you: Are you doing Idea Management? It’s not a trick question. If you are, you’re doing your job. If you aren’t, then I would say your job is in danger. Maybe not today in winter 2008 as I write this, you may be safe for a time, but someday someone will ask why an idea management system was not put in place. Your excuse will need to be a better answer than “they were unproven” or “it wasn’t cost effective.” My wish for you on that fateful day is a good severance package -- because both of those concerns are frightfully lame. Really you deserve the corporate equivalent of a tar and feathering because you’ve let down your organization. Sorry for being a bit harsh there.

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Preparing your organization for growth - McKinsey Quarterly

Companies that address their organizational weaknesses as they implement growth strategies give themselves an advantage.

Most senior managers pay close attention to the strategic side of growth—the “wheres,” “whens,” and
“hows.” Yet many underestimate the importance of organizational factors in translating a growth strategy into reality. This oversight can dampen a company’s growth plans: organizational processes and
structures that are well suited to today’s challenges may well buckle under the strain of new demands or
make it impossible to meet them. Likewise, key employees may lack the skills needed to cope with the additional complexity that growth brings. By reviewing the experiences of three organizations that faced the stresses imposed by new growth initiatives, this article seeks to illustrate such “pain points” and
suggests some approaches for coping with them.

Click here to read the article in full.

See how the Management Innovation Index supports and assists the premise of this article

Practically Radical: Four Simple Truths about Leading Change and Making a Difference - William C. Taylor

“We are living through the age of disruption. You can’t do big things if you’re content with doing things a little better than everyone else or a little differently than how you did them before. In an era of hyper-competition and non-stop dislocation, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special. Today, the most successful organizations don’t just out-compete their rivals. They redefine the terms of competition by embracing one-of-a-kind ideas in a world filled with me-too thinking.”

Read William's full manifesto here courtesy of Change This.

About William C. Taylor | William C. Taylor is an agenda-setting writer, speaker, and entrepreneur who has shaped the global conversation about the best ways to compete, innovate, and succeed. He is the cofounder of Fast Company, which published its premiere issue 15 years ago, and the coauthor of Mavericks at Work, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. His new project, Practically Radical, is the latest chapter in a two-decade career devoted to challenging conventional wisdom in business and helping business leaders win. Practically Radical was published on January 4, 2011 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins. Bill blogs about the book at practicallyradical.com. A graduate of Princeton University and the MIT Sloan School of Management, he lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with his wife and two daughters.