Bill Taylor, co-author of Mavericks at Work, sat down with me for an interview to discuss the book, how association leaders can challenge their boards to challenge industry orthodoxy and what association mavericks need to know to succeed. (It is a little more than 10 minutes in length.)
MP3 File
I am blogging right now at the follow-up Thought Leader session for Mavericks at Work. Some key points:
+The importance of storytelling--Organizations must continuously create energy to propel things forward. Stories help do that. People in the organization sustain themselves through stories, while new people use them to imagine the new chapter. ING DIRECT has The Orange Journey and it has helped create a mythology around the company that inspires its employees.
+Leaders handling failure--You must learn from your errors, but not ditch them, so you can learn from them again in the future. Innovation is a team sport, so you must look at both the individual and the system when assessing failure. Are you willing to tolerate a bit of chaos and disruption? You've got to let the organization make small mistakes, but it is the job of leaders not to let the organization make a big mistake.
+Pulling the plug on ideas that aren't working--Companies are using prediction markets to help make decisions about which projects will fly and which don't. Organizations should think about developing a system for allowing ideas to percolate up and then mechanisms for evaluating them. In your association's metaphorical clothes closet, you have room for only so many outfits. If you want to put a new one in, you must take one out. Which one will you remove?
+Sustaining your maverick approach--You celebrate successes and keep moving when you're a challenger. It's an attitude that you maintain and it helps if you can find an enemy, i.e., what's wrong in our industry or profession. That is your enemy. You must have an edge. If you don't have an edge, you cannot differentiate. If you cannot differentiate, people won't want to spend time with you.
+Maverick traits--Strength of character combined with intellectual humility and insatiable curiosity. It is somewhat the worst of both worlds, because everyone is looking for hypocrisy in your words and deeds when you're standing for something, but you don't get to tell people what to do and have a huge ego. The maverick is always learning about what's next.
Reflecting on the fly feels like a bit of a contradiction in terms, but I wanted to share some initial impressions of how the Collins and Taylor general sessions stack up for me.
My first observation is that I don't think the two sessions were as different as we might think. Following yesterday's session, some people who know me well thought I might be upset by Jim's apparent "dissing" of innovation. I am well aware of Jim's concerns about the pursuit of innovation, and on some level, I share them. The mindless and undisciplined pursuit of innovation is not a strategy for long-term success. But all organizations, including associations, can create enduring success if they make innovation a genuine and consistent strategic priority. Contrary to popular belief, Jim's long view of moving from good to great is not at all incompatible with the work of innovation.
A second thought comes from the focus in today's general session on what I would broadly characterize as the creative and emotional side of the organization. Bill Taylor, Arkadi Kuhlmann from ING DIRECT and Lyn Thomas from Cirque du Soleil all spoke to this issue in their remarks. I doubt, however, that these leaders are any less committed to using data effectively to support intelligent decision-making. At the same time, they recognize that the human imagination and spirit are also critical elements of organizational success. The notion of "data-driven strategies," one of the seven measures of success and an area of emphasis of Jim's talk yesterday, strike me as unnecessarily one dimensional. In voluntary organizations, the energetic and passionate engagement of all stakeholders is an essential ingredient of strategic advancement, and I'm personally struggling with the notion that an Excel spreadsheet is always the best spark for the creativity our organizations very much need to thrive.
One final thought is simply that all association leaders must entertain a simple notion: there is no one "right" way to make sense of or drive toward organizational success. The ideas contained in the 7 Measures of Success book are now a part of our conversation flow and we will talk about them. I am a passionate advocate for innovation and while I know that all associations can benefit from actively engaging in the work of innovation, I recognize that not all leaders in our community will agree. One characteristic of real leadership is being able to live with the tension of competing ideas, and that is precisely what ASAE & The Center are challenging us to do.
Bill is talking with Larry Huston from Procter & Gamble about the company's "connect and develop" strategy for innovation. P&G is a consumer products behemoth, with a very well developed R&D function. But P&G has also recognized that most world-class innovators don't work for the company, so they have created networks with innovators around the world.
The case study of Pringles Prints is an example of how "connect and develop" works. P&G shares an innovation brief with its networks looking for a technology that can print directly on to Pringles chips. The brief works its way through the networks to a professor in Italy who has created technologies that makes this food-based printing process possible. This is a new form of innovation that is open and collaborative, a significant departure from the traditional R&D approach.
Your association can succeed with this same kind of approach by building innovation networks with individuals, associations, companies and other contributors, reaching out around your community, the country and the world for new ideas. No association needs to go about the work of innovation alone.
In this morning's Daily Now, I suggested that today's general session would send the message that associations must challenge conventional wisdom and industry orthodoxy. So far, it has not disappointed at all. Right now, Bill Taylor is interviewing Arkadi Kuhlmann, CEO of ING DIRECT. ING DIRECT has been called "the Southwest Airlines of banking."
ING DIRECT is an excellent example of a disruptive business model. Virtually all of the company's activity occurs online in order to reduce fees to customers. Although the company has "branches," they are more like cafes. ING DIRECT has challenged the underlying assumptions of the banking world, including those of customers who expect to have their hands held. (ING DIRECT actually fires customers who are too needy when it comes to help.)
I happen to be an ING DIRECT customer for savings, and I love what the company offers. I am definitely an evangelist for ING DIRECT, something that Arkadi believes is very important to its success. So the question for your association is two parts: 1) does your business model disrupt industry orthodoxy, even to the level of the member or customer and 2) do your members/customers have such profound passion for the way you do your work that they will share their zeal with others?