INNOVATION IN TURBULENT TIMES

Two Heads are Better than One

By Marie

OVERVIEW

In their article Innovation in Turbulent Times, Darrell Rigby, Kara Gruver, and James Allen make the case that the key to growth is pairing an analytic left-brain thinker with an imaginative right-brain partner:

 Rational, logical, linear Sequential analytic processing Language, grammar, verbal Literal Objective

Right Brain

Imaginative Holistic framing Visualization Subjective Time-free

Left Brain

 David Packard + Bill Hewlett

Both trained as engineers, but Packard became the executive leader & Hewlett supplied the engineering spark.

PARFUMS CHANEL
Pierre Wertheimer + Coco Chanel
Perfume legend Coco Chanel teamed up with Wertheimer to provide business discipline to her fledgling enterprise.

John walker + Brad Bird

Creative tension between the producer Walker & director Bird sharpens the resulting movies

HEWLETTPACKARD

PIXAR

THE VIEW
Fine, but the problem is that in most "rational" industries dominated by "maximize shareholder value" thinking, there no room at the top for the creative thinker. In fact, I would argue that most companies are too sharply skewed to the left brain.

The CEO, CFO and the heads of all the business units are too focused on P&L to think outside the proverbial box.

SUGGESTION

Creativity and innovation are keys to business success in the global economy. Separate short-term tactics from medium-to-longer term strategy initiatives. Marketing is fine, but it doesnt guarantee lasting results. A great product does. Stimulate creativity. Encouraging staff to come forward with new ideas, helping people formulate projects can be done inexpensively.

CONCLUSION

This sounds like basic and somewhat obvious rules. With one exception: very few news organizations have adopted them.