INNOVATION, A GOOD DESIRE OR ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

“We do not dare to many things because they are difficult, but they are difficult because we do not dare to do them”  Lucio Anneo Séneca

Innovation, especially the organizational one, should not remain in a good desire, in the aspiration that its managers have, in a word that sounds good and that is also fashionable: Innovation must be an organizational reality, because clearly companies that do not Innovate are doomed to disappear.

Innovation becomes a reality, as long as it is not limited to an area full of people a little rare dedicated to inventing new things, to prototype and to propose products and services that do not necessarily match the needs of a market and therefore are not always Successful.

Frequently, companies has to design thousands of products in order to have only one successful in the market, it is a very expensive process that leads many organizations to buy from third parties products and services that have a great certainty that they go to be successful in the market, or even to buy complete companies that come in to fill the inefficiency in terms of innovation of some organizations that do not opt ​​for this type of measures, long ago would have been extinguished.

The best way to make innovation a business reality is to include as a core issue of the organization's DNA, to live, breath and transpire in each member and in every space of the company.

For this, it is necessary fundamentally three elements: Culture, People and Resources.

Let's talk about culture in the first instance, it must be enterprising, characterized by a participative, close leadership, accompanying its team at all times, a culture that invites to propose ideas and suggestions in each business activity.

 In this kind of culture the error is considered as a natural in professional development, where autonomy is a norm.

Finally, "macromanagement" characterizes performance, teamwork understood as sharing a vision and feel rowing in the same boat, is an organizational capacity and where the outstanding job is fully recognized.

In the second instance we think of people, the selection of people should not only focus on technical skills - that is the minimum that the candidate must have to apply for a vacancy - but in soft skills, a professional that fits into a Innovative culture must be self-managed, must be autonomous, take risks, make their own decisions, must have mastery of the subject to which it is dedicated, in this should not improvise, must be rigorous, select the best in each area of ​​knowledge, Whatever the position that is required, from what some call operatives to what others call strategic.

It is essential that these people have a purpose, that they understand why their work is important, how they are contributing to humanity, this gives meaning and allows each of them to deliver the best of themselves. Finally they must be people who are comfortable in ambiguity, who navigate deftly in turbulent waters, in changing environments, have know how to overcome difficult times, and feel the need to continually reinvent themselves.

Innovation can not remain only in a dream or in a fairy tale and from here the third condition of an innovative organization, resources, without people, technology, raw materials and money, it is very difficult to innovate, we are not in Disneyland " We are in a very competitive market, constantly changing and highly demanding.

 

In short, innovation is not simply a matter for research and development departments, is an issue primarily of culture, people and resources. The final recommendation is that you measure how innovative your organization's culture is, find the gaps and act to close them, otherwise innovation will cost a lot and it will do so at a much slower speed than the current market requires, Putting in very high risk its differential advantage and its permanence in the market

Oscar Javier Jiménez Yepes 

MBA Javeriana University

Twitter: @Inntegrity8

Facebook: Inntegrity onestopsite

Blog: http://actualidadnoticiasdeinteres.blogspot.com

Mail: jimenez.oscar@javeriana.edu.co

Find below the link of the Spanish version of this article

http://actualidadnoticiasdeinteres.blogspot.com.co/2017/03/innovacion-un-buen-deseo-o-cultura.html

CULTURA DE INNOVACIÓN, NACE O SE HACE

“La innovación es lo que distingue a un líder de los demás” Steve Jobs

De acuerdo con el manual de Oslo, se entiende por innovación “la concepción e implantación de cambios significativos en el producto, el proceso, el marketing o la organización de la empresa con el propósito de mejorar los resultados. Los cambios innovadores se realizan mediante la aplicación de nuevos conocimientos y tecnología que pueden ser desarrollados internamente, en colaboración externa o adquiridos mediante servicios de asesoramiento o por compra de tecnología”.

Partiendo de esta definición que traigo del Manual De Oslo, lo primero que podemos concluir es que sería impreciso y además incompleto circunscribir la innovación al lanzamiento de nuevos productos y servicios, es importante considerar que la innovación está íntimamente ligada a la propuesta de valor de cada organización en específico, de su ventaja diferencial y dependiendo de esta, la innovación podría estar asociada a modelo de negocio, procesos, cadena de valor, estrategia; entre otros.

Por esta razón limitar la innovación a áreas específicas no sería apropiado, está debe estar en el ADN de la empresa, en todas las áreas, en los diferentes niveles de cargo, a través de toda la organización.

Esto nos lleva a pensar que la innovación está asociada a la cultura organizacional, a atributos y manifestaciones de esta que faciliten, promuevan e incentiven la innovación.

Una cultura que soporte la innovación compromete comportamientos como creatividad, toma de riesgos, libertad, trabajo en equipo, orientación a soluciones, confianza, respeto y velocidad en la toma de decisiones, similarmente, se podría esperar que esa cultura rechaza prácticas y comportamientos como rigidez, control, predictibilidad y estabilidad.

Se debe considerar en adición que la organización debe tener la intensión de ser innovadora, una infraestructura que soporte las iniciativas de innovación y un ambiente o contexto que soporte la implementación.

Esto nos da suficientes elementos para asegurar que la cultura de innovación no necesariamente nace, se  puede transformar y convertirla en un impulsor de la propuesta de valor y un verdadero diferenciador de la organización.

La pregunta entonces sería como convertir la cultura en un movilizador de la innovación empresarial.

La primera recomendación sería medir las manifestaciones de la cultura que movilizarán la innovación, estamos hablando de un liderazgo que promueva la participación de los colaboradores en el proceso de toma de decisiones, el trabajo en equipo, el reconocimiento del trabajo sobresaliente, permitir el error como ejercicio normal del desarrollo de las actividades y la búsqueda de mejores maneras de hacer las cosas, entornos que inviten a la creación y a la ideación, ambientes que privilegien la diversidad y las diferencias de opinión, atraer el conflicto y el adecuado manejo del mismo entre otros.

La segunda recomendación sería definir las brechas existentes entre los atributos culturales deseados y los que realmente están presentes en la organización.

Finalmente desarrollar e implementar planes de acción que permitan cerrar las brechas encontradas. Esto debe ser un ejercicio permanente que nos garantice un ambiente sostenible de ideación, reinvención e innovación empresarial.

En conclusión, si decide innovar, no se limite a un área en específico, haga de la innovación una capacidad que este presente en cada rincón de la empresa, en su ADN, en la sangre de la organización. La forma de lograrlo es a través de implantar una cultura que incentive la innovación.

Oscar Javier Jiménez Yepes 

MBA Universidad Javeriana 

Twitter: @Inntegrity8

Facebook: Inntegrity onestopsite

Blog: http://actualidadnoticiasdeinteres.blogspot.com

Mail: jimenez.oscar@javeriana.edu.co

Encuentre anexo el link de la version en ingles de este artículo

http://actualidadnoticiasdeinteres.blogspot.com.co/2017/03/innovation-culture-born-or-done.html

INNOVATION CULTURE, BORN, OR DONE

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower" Steve Jobs

According to Oslo manual, innovation is understood as "the design and implementation of significant changes in the product, process, marketing or organization of the company to improve results. Innovative changes are made through the application of new knowledge that can be developed internally, in external collaboration or acquired through advisory services or through the purchase of technology. "

Based on this definition, the first thing we can conclude is that it would be imprecise and incomplete to circumscribe innovation to the launching of new products and services. It is important to consider that innovation is closely linked to the value proposition of each specific organization and of its differential advantage. Therefore, innovation could be associated with  the company´s business model, processes, value chain and strategy among others.

For the reasons mentioned above, it would not be appropriate to limit innovation to some specific areas of a company. From my point of view innovation must be in the company's DNA and in different hierarchical levels of the organization.

We may conclude that innovation is associated with the organizational culture of a company. The company´s attributes and manifestations facilitate, promote and encourage innovation.

A culture that supports innovation involves and requires behaviors such as creativity, risk taking, freedom, teamwork, orientation to solutions, trust, respect and speed in decision making. On other hand this kind of culture rejects practices and behaviors such as rigidity, Control, predictability and stability.

It should be considered in addition that the organization must have the intention of being innovative, an infrastructure that supports the innovation initiatives and an environment that supports its implementation.

This gives us enough elements to ensure that the culture of innovation is not necessarily born can be transformed and become a driver of the value proposition and a true differentiator of the organization.

The question then would be how to turn culture into a mobilizer of business innovation.

The first recommendation would be to measure the manifestations of culture that will mobilize innovation. We refer to behaviors such as leadership that promotes the participation of employees in the decision-making process, teamwork, recognition of outstanding work, recognizing mistakes as a part of the learning process, and the research of better ways of doing things. Likewise here is really important to create environments that invite the team to create and to bring new ideas. At this point is really important to have environments that privilege diversity and differences of opinion.

The second recommendation would be to define the gaps between the desired cultural attributes and those that are currently present in the organization.

Finally companies must develop and implement action plans to fill the gaps. This must be a permanent exercise that guarantees us a sustainable environment of ideation, reinvention and business innovation.

In conclusion, if you decide to innovate, do not limit yourself to an specific area, make innovation a capacity that is present in every corner of the company, in its DNA, in the organizational blood. The way to achieve this is through implanting a culture that encourages innovation.

Oscar Javier Jiménez Yepes 

MBA Universidad Javeriana 

Twitter: @Inntegrity8

Facebook: Inntegrity onestopsite

Blog: http://actualidadnoticiasdeinteres.blogspot.com

Mail: jimenez.oscar@javeriana.edu.co

Find below the link of the Spanish version of this article
http://actualidadnoticiasdeinteres.blogspot.com.co/2017/03/cultura-de-innovacion-nace-o-se-hace.html