'Dad-dancing' and the things leaders do that get in the way of innovation - by Fiona MacGregor

Every business leader I meet talks about an intent to be more innovative – 84%, according to McKinsey Quarterly research (which probably begs the question about the other 16%). Innovation has found its way into all the frameworks businesses hold in such high esteem – it's a core competency, it's a performance objective, it's on the values poster and it's up there in the CEO's latest strategy speech. But it is translating that intent into a genuine competitive advantage that's the difficult bit; and where we often see well-intentioned leaders getting stuck in a mire of unwieldy employee suggestion schemes or poring over exec education case studies of Google or Amazon. Innovation teams are periodically bought in, then later restructured out when a more pressing business issue takes hold.

So what does it take to create and lead the innovative organisation? In many respects the iconic organisation and the CEO innovation hero have become an unhelpful preoccupation. There is no need to don a polo neck and try to be Steve Jobs (in fact, think of your team's teen embarrassment and please don't). In truth many of the most innovative organisations and leaders have probably escaped your attention. Forbes publish an annual list of the 100 most innovative companies, based on measuring innovation 'premium' in market value. Let's take the top 5 – no surprise to see Apple, Google and Amazon in there, but Salesforce.com, Intuitive Surgical & Tencent holdings – heard of them?

What are these companies doing to justify the plaudits? They're creating future value. They innovate around the business model (not the product per se), they challenge the core assumptions of a business sector, they think about ecosystems and platforms to sustain revenues – not just individual product launches. They understand where tomorrow's value could come from. And, at the same time, they're protecting today's value by continually making lots of little bets, continually innovating to improve the customer experience and today's product. The innovative organisation isn't just about the big idea, it's also about lots of little ones - delivered.

What do leaders in the innovative organisation do differently? They are able to deal with the tension between today's value and tomorrow's. They recognise that there are different 'levels' of innovation with different levels of risk and potential reward and they can hold and manage that balance. They know that innovation should mean different things in different parts of their business – they don't need every employee looking for the next £10mn opportunity, they want their people first-and-foremost focused on doing the day job better. Leaders are the keepers of innovation in the organisation. Much more important than being the 'ideas man' is making sure you're not the member of the leadership team inadvertently standing in innovation's way.

Are you? Start with three simple reflection points...

Recognise that you know too much

You're an engineer, a finance expert, you have 20 years' experience. Being the expert can make you rooted in lots of assumptions – assumptions about how this business makes money, assumptions about what customers want, assumptions about what will work and what won't. Innovation relies on leaders being prepared to recognise what today's assumptions are and think the unthinkable.

Recognise that you know too little

The biggest challenge I've faced when working with leadership teams is persuading them they aren't representative of the population at large. And herein lies the 'dad dancing' issue –thinking you know how to be hip (closely related to the senior exec pet idea issue). Leaders in the innovative organisation constantly take on board 'fuel': stimulus to help them look at things differently and make new associations. They immerse themselves in what target customers are doing, feeling & thinking and how that's changing; seeking out what's being patented or what start-ups are doing, looking at how other sectors are evolving and creating value. They are always looking for what one innovation director described to me as a 'funny feeling in my tummy' – the exploitable insight.

Recognise that the questions you ask might be getting in the way

It's not new in leadership to recognise that where you place your emphasis will set the tone for your teams & your business. But this matters disproportionately when it comes to innovation. The way you make decisions, the way you evaluate options, the questions you ask can all kill innovation. What might you find out if you asked 'what did you learn from that test?' rather than 'have you completed the project status report?' 'Big' innovation can't be expected to emerge from the same processes you use to manage your core business performance. If innovative companies prefer to cannibalise their own revenues before someone else does, how does that square with business case hurdles?

So, before your CEO gets up on that stage to set out your intent to be more innovative, start by being clear as a leadership team on what your role in delivering against that intent will be. How will you ensure you are safeguarding tomorrow's value, whilst making plenty of small bets for today? How do you plan to let your teams do what they do best, and get out the way as a leadership team? As a collective leadership team, review what innovation resources you need to achieve your goals. And finally, consider how you personally can load up on innovation fuel - and ask yourself, are you a dad-dancer, or an innovation leader?

Fiona Macgregor is co-founder of Purposeful enterprise who help organisations and their leaders become more innovative. They are a Performance Collective partner on leading innovation. If you'd like to start a conversation please contact Fiona directly via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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