2013 Center for Creative Leadership.
All rights reserved.
Top CEOs Cite Creativity As Most Important Leadership Quality
Kill the Company
Top Leadership Qualities
End the Status Quo,
Start an Innovation Revolution
Lisa Bodell, CEO
futurethink
Source: IBM Global Chief Executive Officer Study, 2010-11
Leading Effectively Webinar Series
Top CEOs Cite Creativity As Most Important Leadership Quality
Top Leadership Qualities
Better prepared to:
innovate
creative problem solve
take smart risks
keep up with rate of change
A blank piece of paper.
Nothing.
Snowstorm!
Cotton ball
Ice rink floor
Inside a coconut
Whiteboard
Invisible dog!
Race car with no sponsors
WHITE noise
Starting over
Potential
Source: IBM Global Chief Executive Officer Study, 2010-11
Why arent we
reaching our potential?
What do we VALUE?
MANAGING not LEADING
OUTPUTS over INPUTS
DOING over THINKING
HARD SKILLS over SOFT SKILLS
PROCESS over CULTURE
2013 Center for Creative Leadership.
All rights reserved.
Complexity
Complacency
A 2011 PWC survey summarizes the quandary:
Those in management... found innovation
disruptive to their day-to-day activities and felt it
got in the way of running an efficient operation-which is what they were paid to do.
Somethings different.
Positive Culture
(GOOD)
Negative Culture
(BAD)
Complacent Culture
(WORSE)
Inspired
Fear
Routine, comfortable
Action-oriented
Lacks inspiring vision
Somewhat pleasant
Motivated, independent
Resigned/Lacks energy
Smart risks
Unmotivated or selfmotivated
Rewards conformity
Challenging
No risks or HUGE risks
Little risk taking
Numbers
Extracting to Growing Energy
Selling Cars to Mobility Services
Establishing Funds to Make Current
Business Obsolete
2013 Center for Creative Leadership.
All rights reserved.
To be more innovative,
innovation cannot be your starting point
How Innovative Is Your Organization?
See how many questions can you answer YES to:
1. We push the boundaries of what is possible. We continually imagine how to apply
trends to our business to stay ahead.
2. Our employees are comfortable asking provocative questions to stretch the
organizations thinking.
3. Our teams apply best practices from offbeat sources to creatively solve problems.
4. Our people can think on their feet and nimbly change direction when faced with
unforeseen challenges.
5. Our employees do not easily give up on their beliefs and ideas when encountering
adversity or disbelief, and generally see them through.
To approach change differently,
change your approach
6. We constantly push for continual improvement, even if our approach is already
successful.
7. Failure and smart risk taking are celebrated within our organization and by our
leadership. Efforts do not have to be successful to be recognized.
8. There is an active culture of dialogue between departments, functions, and levels
within the organization.
How Innovative Is Your Organization?
See how many questions can you answer YES to:
# Yes
1 to 2
You Are
Status Quo
Keywords
Protective, cautious
How Innovative Is Your Organization?
See how many questions can you answer YES to:
1. We push the boundaries of what is possible. We continually imagine how to apply
trends to our business to stay ahead. STRATEGIC IMAGINATION
2. Our employees are comfortable asking provocative questions to stretch the
organizations thinking. PROVOCATIVE INQUIRY
3. Our teams apply best practices from offbeat sources to creatively solve problems.
CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
3 to 5
Risk Taker
Optimistic, competitive
6 to 8
Change Maker Visionary, market maker
4. Our people can think on their feet and nimbly change direction when faced with
unforeseen challenges. AGILITY
5. Our employees do not easily give up on their beliefs and ideas when encountering
adversity or disbelief, and generally see them through. RESILIENCE
6. We constantly push for continual improvement, even if our approach is already
successful. CHALLENGE STATUS QUO
7. Failure and smart risk taking are celebrated within our organization and by our
leadership. Efforts do not have to be successful to be recognized. INVEST IN SMART
RISKS
8. There is an active culture of dialogue between departments, functions, and levels
within the organization. ACTIVE COLLABORATION
A better approach to
change.
Change the approach!
2013 Center for Creative Leadership.
All rights reserved.
Change.
Cant be put on people
but created BY THEM
Supported from top down and
driven from the middle-out
Not a 12-step program
a flexible toolkit that provides
guardrails not handcuffs
Killer Tools for Change
1. Killer Queries
2. Kill a Stupid Rule
3. Assumption Reversal
Cant always be BIG
needs to start small
Killer Queries
Kill A Stupid Rule
Whats good about our products and services?
If we won an outstanding service award, what would it celebrate and
why?
Where should we improve?
What suffers more breakdowns our services, our process, or our
people? Why?
How would you describe/change the company culture?
Youve just written a tell-all book about our organization. What secrets
does it reveal?
If we could undergo a corporate culture exorcism, what 3 evil customs
should be eliminated?
Assumption Reversal
What might be all the new restaurant concepts
that you can create?
2013 Center for Creative Leadership.
All rights reserved.
Assumption Reversal
What might be all the new restaurant concepts
that you can create?
Assumption
Menu
Reversal
No menu, tablet, waiter reads your mind
Chef
Celebrity chef, robot chef, make your own
Location
No location, location changes each week,
secret location, outdoors
2013 Center for Creative Leadership.
All rights reserved.
Resources to Learn More
Assumption Reversal
How can we apply this to our work?
futurethink.com
Assumption
Reversal
IDEA!
Develop Teams
Dont develop teams
People develop themselves
Employees create their own dev plan
and budget
Set pricing
structures
No set pricing
Give it away
No need for approvals if minimums
are met
Set agendas for
status meetings
No agendas
Only those that are prepared can
speak at meetings
Creativitypost.com
Trendwatching.com
Springwise.com
Innovationwatch.com
TED.com
Longbets.org
Download your Free Preview
of Kill the Company today!
I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas.
I'm frightened of the old ones.
John Cage, Composer/Inventor
Access it here:
www.futurethink.com/freepreview
Somethings different.
Leading Effectively Webinar Series
Change Your Approach!
Lisa Bodell
CEO, futurethink
[email protected]
Killthecompany.com
Somethings different.
Visit www.ccl.org/webinars
for details about
live and on-demand Webinars.
with any questions about the series.
