How to build an environment that enables Innovation.

How to build an environment that enables

innovation.

Author: Johanna Green, Founder & CEO, Disrupt Synergies AB and Founder & Swarm Partner, swarm&Co.

How you innovate Yourself, your organisation and

AEVG™.

1© 2015-2017 DISRUPT SYNERGIES AB

BackgroundSince 1999 Johanna Green has been engaged in international projects that spans across borders, (Europe, USA, Africa, Asia) over 30 industries, and multiple disciplines, with focus on business development, sales strategy and execution.

The experience from multiple industries and department developed her Lateral thinking and her fascination for innovation, disruption, eco-systems, social communities, personal growth, social anthropology and digital transformation. Are of expertize is analysing “how to create synergies for cross-fertilization that releases cross-industry innovation and accelerate exponential value growth. The cornerstones used as foundation to AEVG™.

This article is written to give a glance into the mentality of successful company owners, senior leaders and Board members she has met with along the way. Leaders she defines as “those who successfully manage to disrupt status quo and continuously move forward, with the rare “ability to trust people to innovate”.

“True innovators have the ability to disrupt themselves and others status quo of Thinking, Doing and Acting, to release innovation and AEVG™ (Accelerate

Exponential Value Growth). - Johanna Green


Johanna Green is the founder and CEO at Disrupt Synergies and Founder and Swarm Partner of Swarm&Co.

She holds a Bachelor in Leadership in Action with specialty in innovation, at BI Norwegian business school, and has attended the Master in Digital Media Management with

specialty in Digital transformation, at Hyper Island.

“THE right way of Thinking, Doing and Acting?”..

If you are an executive with a curious mind and ability to evolve, you have most probably experienced that you have been surrounded by other “leaders” who merely focus on trying to control status quo while making others in their surroundings to do THE right thing?

And while eventually such culture of “right and wrong” had been implemented, these “leaders” managed to drastically reduce the company´s ability to innovate!, followed by lost talent and revenue. You are definitely not alone with this experience.

Organisational culture is a powerful thing. So powerful that when entering any organisation, like quicksand, you are met by norms and rules that quickly get you tangled in the organisational roots of;

“THE right way of Thinking, Doing and Acting”.

“Predicting a technology when it´s doubling is inherently tricky.

If you miss one step, you´re off by 50%!”

- David Frigstad, CEO at Frost & Sullivan


üd

Our complex environment demands a Pluralist approach, multiple angles to find valuable and sustainable solutions.

Picture: Getty Images

And Will Rogers


“Should we dig where we stand?”..

In 1978 Swedish Sven Lindqvist popularized the Swedish expression “Dig where you stand” by writing a book with the same name, made for workers to investigate their own workplaces. This mentality creates a focus inwards ourselves and where we stand, instead of being curious and open-minded to ”get out of the building”, to understand how the world works out there. This mentality transform into a culture defined by Inertia in large (industrial) organisations. “The waterfall principle” can also be related to this way of thinking, doing and acting, since it focuses on improving each isolated step throughout a linear process, instead of taking into consideration the external factors that are crucial for answering the important question;

This linear and classic mentality has been incorporated by many Swedish industrial organizations and it enables the company to move forward in a linear way, with the ability to sometimes create Exponential Growth, however the Value and Accelerated value of such growth is lost.

By rolling out “best practise” classic “evidence-based” processes and methods, classic companies believe “what took us here, also will take us there”.

Sven Lindqvist’s book (1978) “Dig where you stand”, was a manual to Do-It-Yourself historical research,

aimed at workers. It should be used to make them participate in writing “History work” from a fresh point of view – by workers investigating their

own workplaces’.

The approach "Dig where you stand" has been applied by a Professor of Education at the University of Gothenburg, to

identify aspects of own practice that teachers want to change,

by following and systematically analyze change process. – We

believe this methodology hinders innovation, when not

being combined with methods such as Design thinking.

Maybe it make more sense after all to simply stick to organizational knitting and do the very best with what we have?


“Why is this product being made?, and for who will it benefit?“To innovate we need something more…, something disruptive”.

Picture: Pierre Nanterme, CEO Accenture, WEF


Uber

Do you believe it is time to Innovate?

Facebook

AliBaba

The world´s most valuable retailer, has no inventory.

AirBnB

The world´s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles.

The world´s most popular media owner, creates no content.

The world´s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.

Picture: Businessman and sharks, The Alpha Alliance


50% of the Forbes500 were disrupted by Exponential organisations in less than 10 years and the pace is accelerating Exponentially.

Large companies are getting disrupted by Tech start-up companies that take the road less travelled and completely disrupt current business models. Think of Nokia that bought Navteq for around 8 billion dollars and ended up with physical sensors around Europe and Google´s response to buy the Israeli Tech start-up company Waze, for around 1.3 billion dollars, instead leaving Google with over 50 million human sensors, (since Waze was an app that could be downloaded to a mobile phone).

Salim Ismail, the best-selling author of Exponential organizations describes this very well in his book, “Exponential Organizations”.

Children and grown ups, don´t get inspired by what leaders say, but how they behave towards changing demands. Leaders with strong core values enabling the organisation to innovate with a smart approach to “fail cheap”, will be the difference between the organisations that will lead the future and those being drained from driven creatives and intellectuals. This is also explained very well in Eric Ries book “The Lean Start-up”.

“To successfully innovate one must first start with oneself”.

© 2015-2017 DISRUPT SYNERGIES AB

TheEraofDavid&Goliath

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Picture: David & Goliath

The ability to innovate can be increased with applied methods and processes, however “it always starts with the mentality of the leader first”.

PLURALISM

6 core values that can push your ability to innovate

These 6 core values is a holistic mindset that, when practised, enhances the ability to innovate. This mentality can be applied into any organization or home, for that matter, starting first with being embraced by Top management (or parents).


The 6 core values create a culture that is brave, curious, open, empathic and respectful towards self and others, within and outside the organisation. It creates an organization that is in

constant move and leaves room for creative thought, embracing the ability to innovate.

PERSEVERANCE

VALUE FIRST INTERDEPENDENCE

ABUNDANCE

ALTRUISM

1.ValueFirstA competitive high performing organisation risks having top management that have influenced their teams to be protective of information and resources, making them filter information coming from the client or other team members that if shared, could have brought valuable insights that would accelerate value growth. This is how sales revenue is lost in the majority of organizations and how product development is hindered to be created for the users, instead being built within a tight team and scary enough never even being able to see daylight before being launched.

Untapped value can be found for those who look. With a customer focused mind-set our peripheral vision enables the team to stay responsive towards new information that can be included in the process.

When organisational culture becomes too strong it risks to prioritize “team first”, which can strongly hinder the team to innovate and create real value. It takes a tough individual to stand up against strong team culture, to share his/ her views about what value is currently being wasted, and how to relocate and transform it to AEVG™ (Accelerated Exponential Value Growth).

To learn more about how to create and

communicate value, we encourage you

to read Simon Sinek´s book:

“Start with Why”.


Applying a “Value first” approach means your people are determined to find the best way forward running the project,

driving the end results towards creating full value for the customer/ client, instead of being focused inwards and merely

towards having an effective team process.

Picture: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, WEF


2.Pluralism

Applying a “Pluralist” approach takes a person with strong self-esteem and ability to balance knowledge with openness, curiosity, respect and leadership.

In the old world we highly valued “Integrity first”, which for many become equivalent to “having a strong opinion about something and not letting oneself be influenced or persuaded to change that belief”.

This has become a challenge for many Board of Directors and Executive leaders.

In a world that is changing with accelerating pace we must instead open up our perspectives and enable new solutions to emerge by daring to embrace new disruptive ways of Thinking, Doing and Acting.

We therefore instead use a Pluralist approach to challenges by using multiple sciences or philosophies to release innovation and enable real value solutions. Especially when global players come in to play, the Pluralist approach is invaluable.

Picture: Slideshare. Introduction to cognitive psychology

Picture: Kant´s Formulation


Leaders can be trained and continuously practise Pluralism, In order to facilitate teams, projects and outcomes, including diverse people, methods, environments, to enable cross-industry innovation by cross-fertilize multiple possibilities and outcomes.

3.Abundance

The definition of abundance as “overflowing fullness” or “abundance of the heart”, enhances the opportunity to share insights to cross-fertilize the entire organisation and the entire eco-system, since the mentality of “scarce resource”, thus feeling neglectful to share, will drastically be eliminated.

The mentality is applied by multiple successful entrepreneurs, such as Peter H. Diamandis and Steve Kotler, who is also co-writer, just to name a few. Napoleon Hill wrote in 1937 the book “Think and grow rich”, a book that will be part of transforming your mind-set, if you have not yet read it.

The approach is proven to bring wealth, which comes in many shape and forms, the most important is mental wealth.

One of the most influential American authors and Motivational influencers, Zig Ziglar, once said,


Zig left us unfortunately in 2012, still his abundance mentality is spread across the globe and this way of thinking, doing and acting can have remarkable effects in your private life as well as career life and as a successful leader that shapes a corporate culture that is trusted to innovate.

“If you go out looking for friends, you will find them being very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you will find them everywhere”.

3.Abundance

When using the Abundance approach, to share new insights and valuable information, with your clients, customers, team mates, friends, partners and of course your spouse or husband, you shall experience, what is called “a boomerang effect”, where eventually new insights and learnings will come back to you and enrich you and often not in the shape or form you expected.

Innovation is released in organisations where top management have the ability to influence the whole organisation to share insights and lead by example as to create an environment where it is accepted to disrupt current ways of Thinking, Doing and Acting.

Shaped by DS 6 core valuesEthical and smart investments for regenerative economics

Focused towards building synergies with the entire eco-system (co-players, organizations,

across borders, industries, faculties and societies)

Embraces Pluralistic alternatives

Allocates and relocates value to release AEVG™

founded on permaculture ethics

DSAbundanceModel


This is how small Tech start-up´, of sometimes just 2-6 people, openly share knowledge and information within their hubs,

managing to accelerate exponential growth, in ways that large corporations just can not do.

4.Altruism

Altruism is the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

When applying an altruistic approach to clients, co-workers and family members the ability to bring value and bond is present at a completely new level.

In the corporate world this can be applied to being focused on how all kinds of resources are applied and continuously used in the daily work, in relation to ethics and moral ways of Thinking, Doing and Acting.

This mentality creates a behaviour that embraces high trust and accelerated and increased transparency that ease the use of MVP (minimum-viable-products). This is a method used to, in collaboration with your clients and customers, step by step, innovate products and services that are useful and valuable and that will be used, thus leading measurable visible profits and great ROI for the organisation.

This is how we can better build products and platforms that customers and clients want and that will bring synergies that positively influence societal impact.

Picture: Altruism. Compassion to change yourself and the world


“ Building something nobody wants is the ultimate form of waste”. – Eric Ries

4.Interdependence

To accelerate exponential value growth it is first crucial to establish an eco-system with multiple partners that can create and nurture an environment of “mutual inquiry and learning”. It is important to create incentives that drives positive synergies across organizational boundaries.

By sharing insights and collaborating with diverse players that spans across borders, industries and faculties, being interdependent can exponentially increase value creation, such as increased revenue and strategies in place for long-term investments, for all parties involved.

Shared platforms, sharing of Big data, Smart data and open APIs, joint collaborations through new market entry and co-design, co-branding, are just some examples of how an interdependence approach can AEVG™ (accelerate exponential value growth) for your business.


“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality”. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

4.Interdependence

The counterparts and where we see unhealthy and economical disadvantages are taking place are in business relations built on “Dependency as well as Independency”.

Dependency is when small players are negatively unbalanced towards large players that, for example, renegotiates agreements that cuts margins and sometimes even steal valuable information and clients or customers.

Picture: Interdependence.

“Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own effort. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success”.

“Interdependence is a choice only independent people can make”

- Steve Covey, The 7 habits of highly effective people


“If the boomerang effect is not there, it is time to leave”.

4.Perseverance

Perseverance is being persistent in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. There is an old expression saying, “No pain, no gain”, but just how much pain should we take and how much gain should be the minimum requirement to make the decision to continue?

Do you know when to pivot? The product development department in your organisation have yearly multiple ideas and projects running that will never see daylight. Who decides what to stop and when to stop it?

Do we really know how to separate the wheat from the chaff?

What approach do you bring to the table when influencing what should be tomorrow´s stars in your organisation? (whether being related to new business opportunities or diverse employees)


In a world where tomorrow never will be the same as today, how can we make the right decisions; to know, how and when to pivot our ways of thinking, doing and acting?

4.Perseverance

It is the Era of David and Goliath. Large players are being slowly wiped out by entrepreneurial eco-systems in all industries, being Med-tech, Fin-tech, Ed-tech, Forestry, Energy and others.

By being persistent to continuously share insights across borders, industries and faculties and by learning from each other by using a mentality that nurtures and accelerates exponential (value) growth, we have the power to really makes a difference, to pivot the outcome of tomorrow and how we live our lives.

By being respectful towards how perseverance is used, it will open doors that enables opportunities to drive real value growth, beyond quarterly reports.


Picture: Model, Slight Edge Life Paths

Learning how to apply an approach towards how you drive innovation in your organization will be the difference that

will make the difference”, it will be the slight edge between success or failure.

It all starts with your Approach that creates the ability to disrupt

status quo. A mentality that is used to find, allocate and relocate

value in People, Things and ways of thinking, doing and acting, to

drive valuable results that truly matters.

This is how you release innovation and AEVG™ (Accelerate

Exponential Value Growth) in your organization and in society.

– Johanna Green

1a: to draw closer to : approach a destination1b: to come very near to : to be almost the same as …

2a : to make advances to especially in order to create a desired result2b: to take preliminary steps toward accomplishment or full knowledge or experience of/ Try to approach the subject with an open mind.

The definition of Approach


Picture. Digging a whole

http://media.gettyimages.com/videos/man-in-suit-and-hat-instructs-children-wearing-caps-and-holding-how-video-id155971609?s=640x640

Picture: Pierre Nanterme, CEO Accenture, WEF

https://weforum-assets-production.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/editor/y1LHLm1x8-f8fds35ETrvNGVaEssYD8uYMzsH7oRibQ.jpg

Picture: Businessman and sharks, The Alpha Alliance

https://i2.wp.com/www.thealphaalliance.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Business-surival-_Sharks1.jpg?fit=624%2C624

Picture: David & Goliath

https://img.clipartfest.com/3599829fdabb500e64e19b172a106aee_david-and-goliath-clipart-david-and-goliath_4167-3028.jpeg

Picture: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, WEF

https://assets.weforum.org/editor/g3qAKvQDpVfM9FF9x8FcMxrcpoVwxhGEtIfL-gSKgio.jpg

Picture: Slideshare. Introduction to cognitive psychology

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/chapter1-introduction-to-cognitive-psychology-1200617148196972-3/95/chapter1-introduction-to-cognitive-psychology-3-728.jpg?cb=1200588349

Picture: Pluralism

http://thetwinpowers.com/images/Finding%20Your%20Path%2001.jpg

Picture: Kant´s Formulation

http://s208662543.websitehome.co.uk/kant%20small.jpg

Picture: Altruism. Compassion to change yourself and the world

http://www.matthieuricard.org/en/books/altruism-the-power-of-compassion-to-change-yourself-and-the-world

Picture: Interdependence.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zXlP1Vj6TIQ/UuMBkADh1NI/AAAAAAAAH60/YDYHj-_TWfk/s1600/terrariums+interdependence.png

• Picture: Perseverance. Model, Slight Edge Life Paths

https://dharonoff.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/7-principles-of-the-slight-edge-4-638.jpg

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How to build an environment that enables Innovation.

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Transcript of How to build an environment that enables Innovation.