Ongoing thoughts about innovation
I recently read Frances Horibe’s Creating the Innovation Culture: Leveraging Visionaries, Dissenters and Other Troublemakers in Your Organization and found the concept of dissenters particularly intriguing.
According to Horibe, one reason companies fail to innovate is because they don’t recognize and accept that innovation is disruptive and initially takes the form of dissent. Dissent means that people want to go in a different direction from what is generally accepted. Encouraging constructive dissent is a key step in the innovation process because dissenters can offer new ideas and force others to challenge assumptions and come up with better ideas.
Horibe relates that even dissenters that are completely wrong help groups reach more robust and effective outcomes. So next time that strong-headed member of your team goes off, ranting about a crazy idea for a new way to do something, hear them out. Studies show that even if you discard their idea, their input will help your team generate a better result.
At RightNow I encourage constructive dissent. A valuable dissenter is trying to make something better, and offers an alternative way to achieve goals – even if they might annoy you. They also make meetings far more interesting. Hear them out.
When was the last time you forcefully dissented?
Greg Gianforte
October 23, 2009 at 10:02 am
Greg, you make a great point that encouraging “constructive dissent” to foster innovation. New ideas don’t get a chance to blossom if they are perceived as unwelcome by those comfortable with the status quo. I think this is one reason why innovative thinkers leave big companies.
There’s a flip side to this, however. Sometimes a new idea gets up such a head of steam, that anyone not getting on board is perceived as a naysayer and “not a team player.”
The current financial crisis is an example of how our government leaders bought into Greenspan’s hands-off policy regarding regulating Wall Street, which resulted in a boom over the past 10 years followed by the recent financial meltdown.
Turns out that about 10 years ago tat Brooksley Born tried to regulate the risky derivatives market, but was stopped by the Greenspan and his posse. The rest, as they say, is history.
Getting back to the business world, I suggest that “constructive dissent” be encouraged by everyone. New ideas should be encouraged and the best ones cultivated into new products and services. But in the process, the old stuff that still works shouldn’t be tossed aside.