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CREATIVE ORGANISATION Forces that stimulate organisational innovativeness: - Turbulent operating environment where market or other changes are

frequent. - Organisation that is vulnerable due to competition, due to its small size. - Sophisticated/demanding clientele.

- The outputs of the organisation are novel, variable or custom built.


- A management that seeks a unique status for the organisation. - A management that has set for itself high targets in diverse areas like profits, expansion, public image, employee welfare, customer loyalty etc.

-An organisation facing a crisis that threatens its survival or its operating viability.
-Favorable circumstances such as rapid market growth. DESIGN OF AN INNOVATIVE ORGANISATION -The various organisational choices to generate a stream of successful innovation are as follows. 1) GROWTH STRATEGY: Being first in the field: - Pioneering new products, services or activities done for the first time in the country . Ex: BHEL

Creative imitation: - Taking somebody elses invention and then adapting it to uses not originally anticipated.

Ex: Computer developed by University of Pennsylvania picked up by IBM.


Opportunistic diversification: applications. - ideas about new products, activities, services or

Ex: Reliance Industries went in for related products such as cotton textiles, polyester, chemicals, petrochemicals, communications, electronics. Intra preneurship: - A small team consisting of engineers, technicians, designers etc lead by an entrepreneur type of a person called skunk work and given the mandate and the resources to develop a new product or activity area. The skunk work is provided access to the top management by having its head report to a member of the top management. Having several such skunk work groups in the organisation ensure that at least a few star new products would be available for marketing in the future. 2) COMPETITIVE STRATEGY:

- Identifying niches, i.e. poorly served market segments and a forceful attempt to capture the dominant market share in that niche. Ex: strategy pursued by Reliance co.
- Aggressively cutting costs by automation, energy conservation etc. - Strong customer and market research orientation

3) INNOVATIVE SCANNING: (i) External environment: by paying attention to such features of the external environment such as competition, technological change, government policies, demographic changes, the emergence of new knowledge, cultural changes and changes in perceptions Ex: In the textile industry, Reliance did what others were not doing.

(ii) Internal Environment: by looking into its own policies, structure, procedures, plant, management systems etc.
-Periodic spring cleaning is necessary to remove bureaucracies. Ex: IIM Ahmedabad sets up a faculty task force every five years called the the committee for future directions to review the institutes activities, programs, structure etc. 4) STRUCTURE TO FACILITATE INNOVATION: -Structure of an organisation can impede innovation because the principles governing structure are specialization, standardization, routinization and control while those governing innovation are cross fertilization of ideas, going in offbeat directions, individual and team initiative and so forth. - Decentralization, flat structure:- has few hierarchical levels, it frees time for decision makers to engage in divergent thinking. It also provides initiative and sense of responsibility to those to whom authority is delegated.

- Flexible organisation can be changed quickly in response to a need. A division can be readily pulled of one department and attached to another department. - Team management with complementary skills and through training and job rotation, members of the team are encouraged to learn each other's roles. - Groups for strategic functions: The tendency is to move from a functional structure to a divisional or matrix structure. In functional structure, people are grouped by specialist departments such as in a firm, production, marketing, finance, personnel etc. In divisional structure, all the specialists needed for an activity are grouped together as in corporate profit centres or in the different faculties of a university. In a matrix structure, people from different disciplines are temporarily assigned to a project or activity, either on a full time or part time basis, or they may be assigned to other projects when the current project is over 5) CONTROL TO FACILITATE INNOVATIONS: Self control: of individual members of the innovation group can give better results, rather than the authoritarian control/bureaucratic control. Peer Pressure: Colleague can exert pressure on the individual for doing his best. The individual does his best because of his identification with his team, and his concern for the teams performance.

6) CULTURE BUILDING FOR INNOVATION: - Early choices in life: The choice of organisation charts and form, mission of organisation, mode of making decisions, the first chief executive and other strategic individuals recruited in the early years of the organisation matter the growth of the organisation. - Widespread dissemination within the organisation of information about its mission, operating goals, opportunities, threats and performance should alert the staff to innovation opportunities. - Rewarding of initiative, creativity innovation and achievement is also important. -Inter level dialogues about innovation is also helpful for innovation 7) MOTIVATION TO SPUR INNOVATION: Meritocracy: i.e. rewards and promotions to those who deserve them by virtue of good performance. The impulse to innovate would freeze if people felt that their performance is not going to be rewarded but rather only their seniority or loyalty to the boss. Extrinsic factors (money, position, perquisites) and intrinsic factors (sense of challenge, autonomy, sense of making a significant contribution, sense of achievement) motivate people to be creative. 8) CONFLICT RESOLUTION FOR INNOVATION:- The conflicts which are likely arise during innovation can be reduced by face to face resolution and periodic progress review meetings of concerned staff.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CULTURE OF AN ORGANISATION MORE INNOVATIVE:

1) Credibility: The persons wanting to change the culture of an organisation should have credibility, otherwise his orders may be ignored or sabotaged. He should demonstrate his capability, show humility, give others the credit for the success. 2) Quick pay off tasks: The change agent should provide to the organisation, a stream of relatively small success experiences. These small innovations can result in gaining the confidence of the lower level people.
3) Coalition building for organisational change: The change agent should identify a few like minded individuals on whose support he can count. The more powerful these are, the better will be the output. 4) Mobilisation of the rank and the file: Involve the lower level people in diagnosing the organisations weaknesses and form group or task forces to brainstorm on ways for solving specific problems or accomplishing concrete tasks. 5) Professional management: Tools of professional management such as budgeting, cost control, performance appraisal, management by objective systems are to be institutionalized.

NEW DELHI: State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) on tuesday said that it has won three 'Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars' awarded by the government for innovation in developing low-cost, quality products. The awards will be shared by eight employees from the company's Haridwar and Hyderabad units. "BHEL has bagged three 'Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars' for the year 2007," a company release said.

Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskars are awarded each year by the Government of India for giving innovative suggestions leading to cost reduction, higher productivity, safety and quality of products.

How to make your organisation more creative.

Managing change

Effective change starts by understanding your present situation. Then, you create a joint vision of how you want things to be. When both are clear, you plan how to move from one to the other. Thus, you make your organisation more creative by first clarifying what is happening now.

How creative are you now?

You can find this out by asking your employees. The best way is by individual interview, using someone from outside the organisation. People will be open when personal confidentiality is guaranteed. The issues people raise can be explored in depth. The "Dimensions" above should not constrain the enquiry. They do not make an exhaustive list.

Ask questions like: -

How easy is it to get something new to happen? How do people react to new ideas? What happens if you suggest a new way of doing something? What happens if you try something and it does not work? How does the organisation encourage creativity and development? What does it do that discourages creativity and development? You would also explore people's experience of the "Dimensions" directly. Eg You could explore "Purpose" by asking. What is the company here to do? How important is that to you? Why? Workshops could explore the same questions. The people attending could be in natural teams or across the organisation. The choice would depend on the Company's developmental objectives. The data from the interviews and/or workshops would show which factors the Company should work on to make it more creative. Before starting to make plans, you should work with the people on their vision of how they would like their world of work to be. You can ask people, in a group, to list publicly the words they would use to describe work if "everything was right" and they were "thoroughly enjoying it". I am always amazed how much people agree and how easily they find a "slogan" to describe their preferred situation. A group of production workers chose "Everything running smoothly" to describe their preferred vision. When you have the situation now clearly understood and a clear vision of a desirable future, you can start to plan. I will describe some possible plans derived from the dimensions above. In a real situation only some of them will need work. There will also be new things that I have not listed.

Making improvements in practice Play It will help your staff to play at work if you keep the rules, procedures and monitoring down to the minimum possible for their part of the business. You can still be clear about the outcomes you expect and the boundaries they must keep within. Unreasonable control will inhibit playfulness and creativity. Can the organisation provide places for people to meet, support each other and explore their work in a free way? You could involve your staff by discussing this issue with them in a light hearted way!

Flexible Persistence You can encourage your staff to support each other, rather than competing. Support groups, action learning sets and co-consulting are all good mechanisms for this. When people know that they have some support, they will persist. If they hit obstacles, then talking these over will help them find a way through. Influencing skills training can help people build good quality relationships with decision makers. When you understand another person well, you can present proposals in a way that meets their needs (and your own). Purpose Many successful companies consider they serve many stakeholders. These could be employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers and the community. If all these stakeholders support a common purpose for the company then it will thrive. You can develop a common purpose at a workshop involving representatives of the above. You could start the process by asking people to list "What will be happening when the company is successful? Then develop a summary statement that all can support with enthusiasm. You refine this statement by discussion with the rest of the stakeholders. Power The simplest way to develop personal power is to increase the amount of support in the organisation. Being listened to is enormously empowering. This works best when people take turns. One form is "Coconsulting". Here, one person talks about and explores an issue while the other listens, encourages asks questions and challenges assumptions. Half to three quarters of an hour each way is usual. It is very simple, cheap and effective. If you can encourage your "client" to decide to do something, then their power increases.

Attention You can decide to give someone else some attention rather than concentrating on your own concerns. It is not easy but it is possible. The process of "Coconsulting" above is an excellent way of developing your ability to give attention. The structure challenges you to do so for half an hour even if you do not feel like it. When you see the enormous benefits of doing so, most people want to continue. A few minutes' feedback after each half session help this. Both parties can discuss what the helper did that was helpful and how it could be better next time. Key employees in stressful positions gain enormously from some one-way attention. Meetings of groups and teams work better when everyone has equal attention and does not have to fight for this. The team leader just asks everyone for two minutes contribution on a topic while the rest of the people just listen. Inspiration This is difficult to manage by a simple mechanism. You will know what happens in your organisation that dampens peoples' energy and enthusiasm. Avoid them. Too many rules, too much formality, no laughter, rigid job descriptions, grey offices all reduce the opportunity for inspiration to happen. It needs space and time to grow in. People get inspired in the bath after all. Inspirational ideas often happen after an intense stimulus like a conference. The pace of working life can mean people move from stimulus to stimulus with no time to reflect and become inspired.

Awareness Being aware is about thinking broadly and looking to discover the truth. The aware person attempts to avoid blaming and instead tries to understand why people do the things they do. This openness to new knowledge and experience develops through experiences in which the persons' self expands. Such experiences can be off the beaten track travel, small group courses, learning new things like pottery, dancing, or sailing, or a close relationship with someone who is very different from you. An aware manager can help his/her subordinates become more aware by delegating challenging assignments with thoughtful support. The organisation can encourage awareness by seeking the contributions of its members and asking provocative questions. Excessive insularity will destroy it.

Finally This article was written to stimulate thought and debate. The components will connect in many ways to suit your circumstances. They are not the last word. Please write to me if you have any insights or comments on the article or the subject. I would be pleased to hear from you.

Using these materials

I am entirely happy for you to use or draw on any these materials in any way you think will be helpful. I am keen to have my work, and the work of the people I have learned from, used. Please will you say where you found them? One way might be to give a link back to www.nickheap.co.uk or to info@nickheap.co.uk. This will help these positive ideas to spread, and help my business, too.

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