Organise to Innovate

Leadership is innovation and that needs to be applied regardless of whatver industry or organisation you lead. 

Most people will immediate think technology. Yes that is one aspect but innovation in all it's forms is crucial to the ongoing success of an organisation and those leading it! In many cases it is taking the non-existent, sometimes obscure or confusing to others  and making it into something coherent in achieving longevity and benefit.

Without innovation , the organisation could become tired, irrelevant and vulnerable tp takeover or being left behind completely only to eventually collapse as the talent looks to advance their careers elsewhere.

Your organisation should be dynamic, responsive and effective in driving both business objectives amd customer needs. 

Let's first of all look at some of the symptoms which necessitate the need for innovation and the risks of not addressing. These are examples of real life experiences across a number of industries. (Ideally you should be applying an early warning approach to read the right signs and avoid any of these manifesting themselves !) 

I'll then outline the practical approach to develop and maintain an innovative leadership ethos !

Symptoms

• Dated processes creating increased administration
• Too many interactions and hand-offs- leading to customer delays, dissatisfaction and complexity
• People frustrated and demotivated by inefficiency- they question direction!
• Technology is not being used effectively enough. 
• New technology deployed without addressing dated processes.
• Lack of governance and transparency leading to wrong behaviours, issues and cost of resolution
• Focus is on more mundane tasks rather than those key actions to take the organisation forward
• Costs of complexity inhibit investment in sales and other critical areas
• New talent become disillusioned by lack of dynamism and start looking elsewhere
• The competition moves ahead through more efficient use of technology and organisation
• Multiple management layers leads to increased cost and lack of transparency at executive levels. Also perpetuates protracted decision making and lack of empowerment.
• Constant cycle of fixing to standstill rather than progressing forward

Risks

• Increased costs
• Staff retention issues
• Your personal leadership reputation 
• Loss of custom
• Reduced return of investment
• Technology investments invalidated
• Compliance issues and associated costs
• Inability to compete

Suggested Innovations

• Have reduced management tiers with clear accountability of each
• Ensure balance of investment of resources to growth areas
• Divest /remove areas of cost with no measurable value
• Empower and encourage talent to come forward with new ideas
• Ensure deployment of technology which automates,accelerates and simplifies data
• Deploy flexible resource models to better manage demand in cost effective manner
• Review client trading models through segmentation based on spend and strategic importance
• Outsource /partner to reduce supply chain with strategic partners who deliver value business
• Deploy customer self-serve online models where practical