| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
|
|
Innovation Management - Diversity Can Make All The Difference
Companies are welcoming a diverse range of employees (The Sunday Times, April 10 2005). Doh! It is incredible that this concept is getting coverage in 2005. I mean, how many new ideas, novel ideas and divergent thinking is going to come from an all male, white board! Employees tell us that when you bring together a team that represents different perspectives and different experiences, the outcome is richer than if you had a group of people with the same background (The Sunday Times, April 10 2005). Doh! Reducing the above to the basics of creativity (problem identification and idea generation) and innovation (idea selection, development and commercialisation), it is beyond obvious that diversity and intellectual cross-pollination produces better results: a) Creativity can be defined as the production of a number of ideas, the production of a number of diverse ideas and the production of a number of novel ideas. Increasing the number, diversity and novelty of participants increases all three (further, manipulating group structures maximises output). b) Similar individuals have a greater tendency for groupthink, path dependency and parochialism. c) Diverse and novel participants increase frame breaking. d) Radical change requires the introduction of new knowledge - less likely without sets of divergent individuals. e) Radical shifts are more often the result of cumulative incremental changes; degrees of incremental change increase with diversity. f) Good ideas result from increased tacit knowledge. A diverse group increases the tacit knowledge pool. g) Good ideas benefit from collaboration - the introduction of a wide knowledge base into the equation. h) Good ideas benefit from the utilisation of networks - the introduction of a wide knowledge base into the equation. In conclusion, increased diversity is good. Doh! This topic is covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com. You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site. Kal Bishop, MBA ********************************** You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained. Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached on http://www.managing-creativity.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Employee Surveys: a Strategic Tool for Positive Change Do you want to measure your workers' level of satisfaction? Or change policies and procedures to make them more effective? Or find out if your supervisors are stuck in out-dated ways of managing? Good Idea! But how do you make sure you are getting reliable information to make sound management decisions?When it comes to conducting quality research, a pound of prevention is worth much more than one ounce of cure. Here are five steps to turn your employee surveys into a powerful strategic change management tool. Solve Problems Permanently - Ask WHY As Albert Einstein said:-"The significant problems we face today, cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."Problems don't go away unless you get to the cause - the source of them. Getting the Most from Appraisals Does your organisation have one of those annual 'occasions' that few look forward to: the annual appraisal or performance review? How do you look forward to it? I wonder how people talk about it before and after?Are appraisals worth doing? If done properly - yes. If done poorly - no!!!Why have appraisals? When carried out properly they can achieve a number of benefits for all parties. Inspirational Power ( Part 1 ) The Fundamentals of Strategic Marketing, Some Key Traits for Greater EffectivenessProbably, the greatest challenge to marketing management in the next five Years will be to change quick and fast enough, in order to keep pace with new technologies, new markets and new corporate values According to the definition of the AMA, "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. "Customer focus has nowadays become a cliché among marketers keen to win competitive advantage. Temporary Employees and Operational Problems; Your Use of Temps Might Reveal Warning Signs A recent Washington Post article, described the life of temporary employees working at an automobile plant in Kentucky. Working at a fraction of what permanent employees make at the plant, some employees had been working as temps for extended periods, as long as three or four years, when early indications had been they would be permanent within six to 12 months. Take This Into Consideration Before You Write Your Mission Statement What principles should a company keep in mind when developing a mission statement? Appropriate criteria must be chosen for defining the business. There are several alternatives for defining one's services: by the products one produces, by unique resources that the company possesses, by a particular strength that the company has, by unique financial measures, or by needs that are met. ISO 9001, What Next? The overriding goal of ISO-14000. (History 1995)As ISO-9000 becomes a way of life for the global business community, ISO-14000 is almost ready to debut with its own set of standards for voluntary environmental compliance. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Become An Effective Executive In his book, The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker pointed out that the effective executive is the person who focuses on making a contribution.This focus on the making of a contribution is the key. Out of Control? There are papers on the floor, across the desk and resting on the keyboard. Piles of files are all around. Your Biggest Problem in Business? Work Ethic US Work Ethic Issues and Lack of serviceWell many of us are getting upset with the lack of service these days and no one cares and somehow we have all lowered our standards to the fact that getting good service is not to be expected, but rather a nice surprise if it ever does occur. Many great companies have derelicts, under achievers, cry babies, and people which could really careless and this is causing a rift between the best customers and businesses. Setting Direction Within an Organization FINDING DIRECTION: An organization can't succeed without direction. Direction means having clear goals and guidelines; set goals and guidelines for staff to follow. Making Your Workers Your Partners There is an inherent conflict between owners and managers of companies. The former want, for instance, to minimize costs - the latter to draw huge salaries as long as they are in power (who knows what will transpire tomorrow). Five Ways to Influence Change in Others Because of my work as a consultant, trainer and coach I deal with change and people's reactions to it all the time. When a Client decides to work with us, they are recognizing that some sort of change is needed. What Makes a Crisis a Crisis? If you're old enough and were living in America about 30 years ago, you may remember the scandal in the motion picture industry known as "the Begelman affair" or "Hollywoodgate."A skillful analysis of the crisis that rocked Columbia Pictures, a leading company in its field, is presented by Steven Fink in his book, "Crisis Management: Planning for theInevitable. Are You Cascading Your Strategy, or Fragmenting It? INTRODUCTIONThe typical approach executive teams use to cascade, or roll out, their strategic direction is to produce a clear set of goals, objectives, critical success factors or a scorecard and then get each departmental or functional manager to take this on board and customize it for their part of the organisation. The trouble then begins?A TYPICAL APPROACH: EACH DEPARTMENT ADOPTS OR ADAPTS A VERSION OF THE CORPORATE STRATEGYThe first phase of most organisational planning processes is that the organisation's executives design and express a strategic direction using a framework of some kind. Resolve Differences Resolving conflict doesn't come easily to too many people. Most of us want harmonious relationships and smooth interpersonal interactions. Improvements In A Large Public Electric Utility In South America The company decided to develop and implement an improvement program. The main thrust was to propose strategies and alternatives for the implementation of a quality program. One Thing You Cant Hide One of the most important of all motivators at work is consideration. Employees report that the best managers they ever had were people who cared about them as people and as friends. Well-Defined Processes - How to Create Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay in control? Business professionals can learn how to create well-defined processes with the easy-to-manage Process Approach of Plan-Do-Check-Act.Real Tools for Real Business ProcessIn MBA courses, students come across a lot of buzzwords and the theories behind them. The Retailers Calendar The Julian calendar we use to pass the time every day, every week, every month and every year is the one most commonly used by businesses. Its general availability and familiarity make it a natural selection.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
