By Marty Thompson
I was fascinated with the results of a recent research study conducted by Jennifer S. Mueller, University of Pennsylvania, Jack A. Goncalo at Cornell University, ILR, and Dishan Kamdarat the Indian School of Business, in press at the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Here is the Abstract summary from their paper.
“Drawing on and extending prototype theories of creativity and leadership, we theorize that the expression of creative ideas may diminish judgments of leadership potential unless the charismatic leadership prototype is activated in the minds of social perceivers. Study 1 shows creative idea expression is negatively related to perceptions of leadership potential in a sample of employees working in jobs that required creative problem solving. Study 2 shows that participants randomly instructed to express creative solutions during an interaction are viewed as having lower leadership potential. A third scenario study replicated this finding showing that participants attributed less leadership potential to targets expressing creative ideas, except when the “charismatic” leader prototype was activated. In sum, we show that the negative association between expressing creative ideas and leadership potential is robust and underscores an important but previously unidentified bias against selecting effective leaders.”
Most of us would agree that creativity is the fundamental component of innovation. But how does true innovation get promoted up through corporate processes and internal social hierarchies to create the next big thing, or a breakaway leap in competitive advantage? Well, sadly, in many cases it doesn’t. However, in recent conversations with several business leaders in the technology sector, we are just now beginning to see a shift in some perceptions that corporate leadership must begin to reward and nurture creativity, free expression, and social freedom as valuable attributes. One could argue that the slow erosion of innovation in Silicon Valley in particular, has been due to the rise of the leadership cult.
So how does this malaise show up at the social level in an organization that has a rigid, conformist hierarchy? One where the established marketing, PR, and marketing communications camps retain complete editorial control over what is said, and how it is said?
Those organizations tend to be slow to respond to their customers, and the marketplace. They tend to be articulate, yet they make the mistake of confusing quantity of content with plain old fashioned conversation. They tend to think of the tiny voices that fill their office cubicals as bits and bytes that must be managed with existing processes and policies. In short, they don’t believe that The Kids Are Alright, and certainly no, Johnny Can’t Read.
But perhaps they should let the geeks out. Why wouldn’t you have product managers talk product directly with your customers, for example?
So where does your company begin, when attempting to shift from a process based hierarchy to an organization that thrives on a culture of excellence?
First and foremost, get help in understanding what your corporate culture looks like, and how it is either steering the ship, or scraping barnacles off the keel.
Second, focus on creating and fostering a culture that is results focused, not enshrined in process. Foster the spirit of innovation by nurturing and rewarding all ideas. And don’t rely exclusively on internal think tanks, committees, etc. There are several studies out there confirming that group dynamics can and often do hammer down great ideas (more on this in a future post). Give your employees options to come up with ideas independently. In a similar way, always be actively asking your customers. There are many technology options out there (another post) to help you pick up on social media trends, etc, but having dedicated individuals regularly interacting with and searching for great ideas is equally important.
Use the results of your divination into corporate culture to help you guide your employees, those tiny voices, into places of prominence. There are also many great social media policies freely available out there. Study them, copy what works for your folks. Just be sure you don’t try to copy for the sake of copying. Use your social media policy as an adjunct to the more important goal of putting your best people out there, talking with your customers. Put the hard work of getting your house in order, internally, first. And believe it or not, there are some social media experts out there. Sometimes it does take a rocket scientist.
Realize that you will make mistakes. But that with the proper notion that cultural insights in a healthy organization are a key driver, you will learn quickly. The use of social media by your organization will expose it to the world. You simply have no option to reflect anything more or less. Those who would observe, and interact with your company, will read your beads.
Rely upon your customers. Be frank about what you are attempting to do. Tell your story, and involve the world. And release your geeks.
I’d like to share one of the single best presentations linking corporate cultural identity and performance we have found. Reed Hastings at Netflix has provided this gem to all of us. Lynn and I were practically bowled over when we read it.
“Reference Guide on our Freedom and Responsibility Culture”
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