Employee led innovation

Employee Led Innovation

A Discussion

Many Sources of Innovation

• R&D Driven Innovation• User Led Innovation • Open Innovation• Social Innovation• Employee Led Innovation

Employee Led Innovation – What do I mean

Employee-Led Innovation• Not just “R&D” employees or Management driven• Bottom up• Systematic, cultural not ad-hoc• Driven by Engaged Employees• Creating continuously, renewing organisations

Employee-Led InnovationDoing something that goes beyond your job description.

Takes you away from your paid day-job (or from your free time), in order to try something new that offers uncertain pay-offs, at some future time to your employer.

Why renew?

Creativity

Employee Led InnovationKnowledge/ Information

Research Knowledge

User/Customer Knowledge

ProcessKnowledge

Absorbed/Filtered/Re-imagined by employees to create new knowledge

Employeecreativity

New Process

New Product

Let employees have access to knowledge, encourage wide diverse knowledge sets, joint problem solving

Employee led innovation is built on good Knowledge Management !

Knowledge Management – Make Knowledge Productive

Data

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Wisdom

Which ingredients can be substituted to meet Customer tastes and preferences

Information

Flour (100g)

Baking Soda (1tsp)

Salt (pinch)

Sugar (100g)

Butter (50g)

Brown Sugar(50g)

Eggs (2)

Vanilla(1tsp)

Chocolate Chips

Knowledge

Preheat oven to 375°F. Stir flour with baking soda set aside … … tablespoon of dough per cookie … … Bake at 375°F for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Know How Know Why

Knowledge Management is about making knowledge productive. Can you act on the knowledge you possess?

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1. Built on Good Knowledge Management2. What other characteristics should

Organisations and Employees possess?

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Organisation Characteristics

• Leadership – Leaders at all levels must open gates and encourage learning, skill sharing and knowledge creation. Create a passion for cutting edge knowledge

• Encourage Iteration in Activities – activities are never perfected, they need constant attention, like garden. How can we do this better?

• Tight coupling between complimentary skills – create interfaces between specialist groups to allow information flow without eroding deep reservoirs of knowledge that create capabilities.

Employee Characteristics• Enthusiasm for Knowledge - curious

employees seek information and create knowledge.

• Drive to stay ahead in Knowledge - want to access latest and best technology wherever it originates

• Higher Order Learning – Understand “Why” not just how of activities

Enthusiastic and engaged employees work longer and tend to be more creative.!


1. Build on Good Knowledge Management2. Employee & Organisational Characteristics3. How to cultivate/Enable Employee led

Innovation?

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Key Enablers of Employee Led Innovation

• Time Out — to give employees the space in their working day for creative thought, reflection & the opportunity to create new Knowledge

• Expansive Roles — to help employees move beyond the confines of their assigned job

• Competitions — to stimulate action and to get the creative juices flowing

• Open Forums — to give employees a sense of direction and to foster collaboration.

Birkenshaw 2013• Create a climate of Experimentation & Shared Problem Solving

• Support Intelligent Failure – recognise that failure builds knowledge

Leonard-Barton 2005

• Set parameters without stifling creativity • Get employees to contribute - Motivations• Idea Overload • Idea Quality • Evaluating Ideas – Published Criteria• Selecting ideas – Fair & Transparent

Challenges to Overcome

How to Manage Employee Led Innovation

• You need a process/a system– Methodology to bring an idea through feasibility

to implementation• Should be scientific (evidence based)• Should quickly and cheaply validate ideas

• Adapted to your Innovation strategy• Proposer answers focused questions

Try Lean Canvas/Business Canvas

Try the Lean Startup Methodology

You need to let the employee have ownership of the idea !

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Document title 14

Examples - Competitions• In July Sony launched First Flight, a

crowdfunding website selling ideas its staff generated.

• Concepts range from e-paper watches to adaptive remote controls https://first-flight.sony.com/

00 Month 2014

https://first-flight.sony.com/

Examples – Time Out• Adobe Kickbox – “If somebody is excited enough to do it, we want

to fund it”– … more cost effective to let all workers pursue

their ideas and then see which ideas pan out.set of instructions to "beat" the box,a Bic pen, two sets of Post-it notes, a timer, a Staples mini notebook for "Bad Ideas," a slightly larger spiral notebook, a World Market caramel and sea salt chocolate bar,a $10 Starbucks gift card.

$1000 pre-paid Citi Bank Card

Examples – Expansive Roles

• Chaparal Steel – employees experimentation with a new rolling mill it’s vendor believed was limited to 8-inch slabs is producing 14-inch slabs

• Vendor wanted to buy back the design• Culture of learning, shared problem solving.• Decisions pushed down to lowest possible

supervisory level – “where the knowledge is”• Constant formal & informal experimentation

Examples - Enablers• Met Office

– Employee led, spare-time alliance to research innovation in business

– Now embedded in HR• Idea Street – On-line forum share/collaborate/comment• Innovative Workspaces – relaxed, adaptive space for teams,

encouraging creativity• Creative facilitation – Trained facilitators encourage creativity and

innovation on projects • ThinkUP Academy – One day creativity training courses• Outreach – University Partnerships• Hack days – Shared problem solving

Resources

• Lean Startup – Eric Ries• Lean Business Canvas – Ash Maurya• Deep Smarts – Dorothy Leonard & Walter

Swap• Wellsprings of Knowledge – Dorothy Leonard• www.createtomorrow.co.uk

http://www.createtomorrow.co.uk/