Mar 22, 2010
2 comments
Transform The World - Innovate!
I had the pleasure of speaking to a group at the Shifting Gears program this morning in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
These are motivated individuals in mid-career who saw the world change around them as the auto industry in Detroit underwent its massive transition.
They are taking courses on re-learning how to compete and shine in a world of entrepreneurs, small businesses and risk takers. To use a phrase from Seth Godin’s Linchpin, they are being taught how to fight the lizard-brain.
One of the key messages I conveyed was the need to constantly be innovating. The group has the basic skills to do this, but need to learn how to reapply those skills to generate innovation.
Most of the people in the group are engineers or worked in environments geared to engineers. They are very accustomed to thinking about and structuring formal processes.
This is wonderful. You can create processes that generate innovation.
The problem is that most of them have been taught to build processes that eliminate costs by standardizing output. What needs to be taught is how to develop processes that maximize innovation.
The way to generate innovation is to build processes and standards that measure output for its value to the customer. And by value, I don’t mean providing widget x for the least money. This is what they have been doing for 20 years. By value, I mean providing a good or service that the customer truly appreciates.
Its great programs like Shifting Gears that can help drive this re-learning in Michigan and help harness the talent that’s here.
Its also this kind of mindset shift, particularly in project management, that can foster a flurry of innovation and lead the economy forward.
