Practical Ways to Lead an Innovative Organization

Praise Quotes

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Who Are the People in These Essays?

1.Encourage Management Innovation

1. 1.1Consider These Innovation Leadership Principles
2. 1.2Start With Why
3. People Want Work to Matter
4. 1.3Manage for Effectiveness
5. 1.4Environment Shapes Everyone’s Behavior
6. 1.5Encourage Management Flow Efficiency
7. 1.6Create a Congruent Organization
8. 1.7Create Integrity in the Organization
9. 1.8Manage for Change and Innovation

2.Does Management Require Practice?

1. 2.1Myth: Management Doesn’t Need Practice
2. 2.2Increase Management Capability
3. 2.3Create Your Management Cohort
4. 2.4Options to Practice Management

3.Should We Treat Everyone the Same Way?

1. 3.1Myth: We Must Treat Everyone the Same Way
2. 3.2Everyone Wants Something Different
3. 3.3Options for Fair Treatment

4.Must We Manage Performance?

1. Salary Transparency Can Solve Salary Disparity
2. 4.1Myth: Performance Management Creates Employee Engagement
3. 4.2Performance Management Creates Disengagement
4. 4.3Ranking People Creates Disengagement
5. 4.4What Creates Employee Engagement?
6. 4.5Options to Manage Salary Expenses
7. 4.6Individual Bonuses Create Disengagement
8. 4.7Options to Create Engagement

5.Which Teams Are the Best?

1. 5.1Myth: I Can Compare Teams and It’s Valuable to Do So
2. 5.2Individuals and Teams Perform Incomparable Work
3. 5.3Measure Flow, Not Productivity
4. 5.4Verify the Team’s Objectives
5. Consider These Guidelines for OKRs
6. 5.5Options To Support Teams to be Their Best

6.Does Competition Between Teams or Managers Work?

1. 6.1Myth: Friendly Competition Is Constructive
2. 6.2“Friendly” Competition Never Is
3. 6.3What Are Your Objectives?
4. 6.4Ask the Teams for the Results You Want
5. 6.5Recognize Competition
6. 6.6Options to Avoid Competition

7.What Kind of Physical Space Works?

1. 7.1Myth: We Only Need One Kind of Space
2. 7.2Knowledge Workers Need a Variety of WorkSpaces
3. 7.3How Knowledge Workers Use Space
4. 7.4Options to Create Necessary Workspaces

8.Don’t We Need Estimates to Plan?

1. 8.1Myth: I Need Estimates to Plan
2. 8.2Understand an Estimate’s Value
3. 8.3Plan by Value
4. 8.4Use Value to Assess Your Work
5. 8.5Options to Move to Value-Based Planning

9.Must We Utilize Everyone at 100%?

1. 9.1Myth: 100% Utilization Works
2. 9.2How Did We Get Here?
3. 9.3Why 100% Utilization Doesn’t Work for People
4. 9.4Agile and Lean Approaches Make the Myth Transparent
5. 9.5Can We Accommodate Fast Switching?
6. 9.6Options to Avoid 100% Utilization

10.Can’t I Move People From Project to Project?

1. 10.1Myth: I Can Move People Like Chess Pieces
2. 10.2Managers Can’t Please Everyone
3. Your Position Amplifies Your Comments
4. 10.3Say No
5. 10.4Visualize the Work at All Levels
6. 10.5Flow Projects Through Teams
7. Do Teams Have to Stay Together Forever?
8. 10.6Capitalize on Each Person’s Individualities
9. 10.7Options to Collaborate on the Project Portfolio

11.Don’t People Already Know How to Do Their Jobs?

1. 11.1Myth: We Have No Time for Training
2. 11.2Training Is a Necessary Part of Knowledge Work
3. 11.3Make Time for Conferences, Too
4. 11.4Capitalize on Curiosity
5. 11.5Evidence That People Need Training
6. 11.6Options for Training

12.Doesn’t Lower Salaries Mean Lower Project Cost?

1. 12.1Myth: Lower Wages Mean Less Expensive Projects
2. 12.2Project Cost Is More Than Wage Cost
3. 12.3Visualize Your Team’s Cycle Time
4. 12.4Cost of Delay Affects Any Project, Agile or Not
5. 12.5Hire Smart Teams, Not Solo People
6. 12.6Options to Lower Cycle Time and Project Costs

13.Who Has the Power to Decide?

1. 13.1Myth: I Can Standardize How Other People Work
2. 13.2Standards Create a False Sense of Security
3. 13.3Imposing a Standard Removes Autonomy
4. 13.4Policies and Procedures Prevent People from Thinking
5. 13.5Standards Create Brittle Systems
6. 13.6Power Derives from Decisions (and Hierarchy)
7. 13.7Guidelines and Constraints Build Adaptability and Resilience
8. 13.8Create a Safe and Transparent Environment
9. 13.9Options to Address Decision Power

14.Isn’t the Organization a Well-Oiled Machine?

1. 14.1Myth: I Can Manage by Spreadsheet
2. 14.2Embrace Management “Messiness”
3. 14.3Data Helps Management Decisions
4. 14.4Consider Measures that Enhance Innovation
5. 14.5Management is All About People
6. 14.6Options to Create an Opportunistic Culture

15.Where’s the Quick Fix or Silver Bullet?

1. 15.1Myth: We Need a Quick Fix or a Silver Bullet
2. 15.2Know Your Business Reason for Any Change
3. 15.3There is No Quick Fix or Silver Bullet for Culture
4. 15.4Beware of Management Fads
5. 15.5Reframe Change as Experiments
6. Reframe “Fail Fast” to Learn Early
7. 15.6Options for Change

16.Where Will You Start Leading an Innovative Organization?

1. 16.1Does Your Organization Require Innovation?
2. 16.2Reinforce a Culture of Innovation
3. 16.3Assess Your Current Actions
4. 16.4Change Your Behaviors First
5. 16.5You Don’t Have to be Perfect
6. 16.6Is an Innovation Culture For You?

Annotated Bibliography

More from Johanna