Becoming more creative & innovative
by Toronto Training and HR
January 2011
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Contents
3-4 Introduction to Toronto Training and HR
5-7 Elements contributing to a creative and innovative culture
8-10 Customer-focused innovation11-14 Leaders of innovation and managing
innovation15-17 Sustainability as a driver of innovation18-19 Coaching and creativity20-22 Become a better creative strategist23-24 Rules for running experiments25-28 Increased creativity and innovation29-30 Bold innovation31-32 Myths of innovation33-34 Innovative teams35-36 Ways to kill innovation37-38 Creating a climate for innovation39-40 Conditions for innovation41-43 Conditions for creativity44-45 Creative work environments46-47 Drill A48-49 Drill B50-51 Conclusion and questions
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Introduction
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Introduction to Toronto Training and HR
• Toronto Training and HR is a specialist training and human resources consultancy headed by Timothy Holden
• 10 years in banking• 10 years in training and human resources• Freelance practitioner since 2006• The core services provided by Toronto Training and HR
are:- Training course design- Training course delivery- Reducing costs- Saving time- Improving employee engagement &
morale- Services for job seekers
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Elements contributing to a creative and
innovative culture
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Elements contributing to a creative and innovative culture
1 of 2INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTSA few committed individuals from diverse sectors and unusual partnershipsIndividuals who are comfortable living outside of silos and/or systemsIndividuals with an entrepreneurial and network mind-setIndividuals with passion who persevere in the face of resistance
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Elements contributing to a creative and innovative culture
2 of 2SYSTEM ELEMENTSA collaborative and/or networked funding culture that frames failure as learning and an opportunity for the re-invention of an ideaAn awareness of three spaces where the system is connected or fragmentedFostering critical connectionsAn interdisciplinary environment that crosses traditional boundariesIncubators that provide opportunities to create ideas Learning and thinking globally while acting locally
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Customer-focused innovation
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Customer-focused innovation 1 of 2
Creating your company’s future requires being in the right marketsCreating your company’s future requires contemplating the futureCreating your company’s future requires anticipatory and proactive managementCreating your company’s future requires breakthrough strategiesCreating your company’s future requires breakthrough thinking
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Customer-focused innovation 2 of 2
Creating your company’s future requires numerous other capabilitiesBifocal managementBreakthrough executionSpeed and agilityBeing a learning organizationNot falling prey to the paradox of successIt all comes down to people
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Leaders of innovation and managing
innovation
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Leaders of innovation and managing innovation 1 of 3LEADERS OF INNOVATIONGood knowledge of the area in which they workMission-definition perspectivesSupport for followersSkills of resource acquisition and resource distributionEvaluative feedbackAbility to induce structure where it is not well definedOrganizational outreach
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Leaders of innovation and managing innovation 2 of 3MANAGING INNOVATIONOrganization models and structureOperational processesOrganizational alignmentKnowledge managementManagement style and leadershipIndividual employees
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Leaders of innovation and managing innovation 3 of 3MANAGEMENT INNOVATIONTransparent financial dataOpen and honest feedbackService level agreementsOpen evaluationsMy BluePrintEmployee first councils
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Sustainability as a driver for innovation
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Sustainability as a driver for innovation 1 of 2
Viewing compliance as opportunityMaking value chains sustainableDesigning sustainable products and servicesDeveloping new business modelsCreating next-practice platforms
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Sustainability as a driver for innovation 2 of 2
BECOMING MORE SUSTAINABLEDon’t start from the presentEnsure that learning precedes investmentsStay wedded to the goal while constantly adjusting tacticsBuild collaborative capacityUse a global presence to experiment
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Coaching and creativity
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Coaching and creativity
What is coaching?Encouraging creativity and the introduction of new ideasHonouring and supporting work-life balanceEngagement and support of employees through effective employee assistanceCreating and maintaining a civil work environment
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Become a better creative strategist
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Become a better creative strategist 1 of 2
Do not think that your domain experts--your operations people, accountants, or statisticians--cannot contribute innovative ideas to other areas of your business. Block out time for creative exploration throughout the day. In every meeting, no matter how tight its schedule, set aside a little time to explore creative ideas. Tell your people, "Let's think about how many different ways we could solve this problem." This expands the innovative capacity of your people and may lead to breakthrough ideas.
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Become a better creative strategist 2 of 2
Encourage your kids to think. Asking "Why?” is a good thing. Encourage your people to keep asking why. Don't let them be satisfied by the accepted solution.
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Rules for running experiments
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Rules for running experiments
Focus on individuals and think short termKeep it simpleStart with a proof-of-concept testWhen the results come in, slice the dataTry out-of the-box thinkingMeasure everything that mattersLook for natural experiments
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Increased creativity and innovation
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Increased creativity and innovation 1 of 3
Ignore everybodyThe idea doesn’t have to be big…it just has to change the worldPut the hours inIf your business plan depends on you being ‘discovered’ by some big shot, your plan will probably failYou are responsible for your own experienceEveryone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergartenKeep your day jobWorrying about ‘commercial’ v ‘artistic’ is a waste of time
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Increased creativity and innovation 2 of 3
Organizations that squelch creativity can no longer compete with organizations that champion creativityEverybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put in this earth to climbThe more talented someone is the less they need the propsDon’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds full stopIf you accept the pain, it cannot hurt youNever compare your inside with somebody else’s outsideDying young is overratedNobody cares, do it for yourselfWrite from the heart
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Increased creativity and innovation 3 of 3
The most important thing a creative person can learn, professionally, is to where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do from what you are notThe world is changingMerit can be bought, passion can’t Avoid the Water cooler GangSing in your own voiceThe choice of media is irrelevantSelling out is harder than it looksDon’t worry about finding inspiration, it comes eventuallyYou have to find your own shtick
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Bold innovation
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Bold innovation
In established firms, it’s impossible to start from scratch and hazardous to move too quicklyRadically-minded management innovators don’t have the benefit of a roadmapWe’re talking about people, not widgets
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Myths of innovation
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Myths of innovation
The ‘eureka’ momentThere is a clear path to innovationPeople dig new ideasThe lone inventor“I’m not really that creative”You’ll know innovation when you see itThe best ideas winInnovation is always good
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Innovative teams
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Innovative teams
creator - high-level thinker, extremely “wacky”ideascatalyst - a ‘connector’ who recognizes thoseideas and connects them to solutionschampion - paves through the nay-sayers toget the idea to market
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Ways to kill innovation
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Ways to kill innovation
more management layers (hierarchies)paperwork, reports & reviewsover planningcompetitionfavouring the go-gettersrisk aversionskewing to high-level thinkingvaluing deadlines over doing it rightdemanding consensus
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Creating a climate for innovation
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Creating a climate for innovation
Make innovation a priorityTake an outside-in perspectiveCreate a process for innovationDefine the big levers and pull themDrive out fearCreate trustRecognise both successful and unsuccessful innovators
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Conditions for innovation
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Conditions for innovation
A motivation or directionCreative thinking / experimenter mentalityAbility to convert dead ends into new motivations /directionsDesire to challenge (or sometimes ignorance of) the status quoThreshold for risk & comfort w/uncertaintyTime + $$$ for work
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Conditions for creativity
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Conditions for creativity 1 of 2
a safe space (ability to say potentially ‘dumb’things)start from simple, move to difficult – game flowmoving from personal to communalintroducing different perspectivesexperimentationcelebration of risk-takingtransparency and openness
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Conditions for creativity 2 of 2
change of environmentfun, laughter & enjoyment of activityclear understanding of rewardsoodles of encouragement
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Creative work environments
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Creative work environments
open spacesroom for personalizationclose to parks, coffee shops etc.healthy snacks and drinksout in the open meeting spacescreation of personal connections
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Drill A
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Drill A
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Drill B
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Drill B
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Conclusion & Questions
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Conclusion
SummaryQuestions