Does innovation happen because of HR’s systems or in spite of them?
As a country, Canada is not good at innovation. The World Economic Forum ranks Canada 12th in the world. Not good. If we don’t get more innovative, we may see our way of life eroding.
And HR professionals are a cautious lot even among carefully stepping Canadians. Managers bemoan what they could have done had they not been prevented by the “cross-every-t-and-dot-every-i” HR person. Of course, it’s important to prevent that which is immoral, illegal or simply ill-advised, but if people are the most important asset, HR should be leading the charge to innovate on the use of their potential.
It’s not that there’s no innovation in HR — there is plenty. But ask yourself two questions: Is your HR department seen as a leading-edge innovator? Does innovation happen because of your systems or in spite of them?
Risk and innovation
If you want innovation, you have to take some risks. It’s just not possible to innovate and have everything stay the same. This is often where innovation dies. Why? Here are some barriers; see if they resonate.
•“Where would my company be if I didn’t stop the lone rangers?” Fair enough. But today’s organizations cannot afford one-dimensional employees. HR professionals have to put the right safeguards in place and take the risks necessary to innovate. At the very least, we need to move away from the commonly held view of lawyers and accountants that the optimal amount of risk is zero. That may be true for an efficient organization, but not an innovative one.
Managing risk to encourage innovation doesn’t mean minimizing it. It means taking on more, not less.
•“I’ll destroy my career if I fail.” How are people treated when they fail? Are they turfed out or dusted off and allowed to try again? If your company punishes risk-takers, a wise person keeps his head down. Don’t confuse dips in popularity or expressions of disappointment as signs of a risk-averse company.
•“I’ll hate myself if I fail.” Well, of course. If we weren’t hard-wired to expect only success of ourselves, we wouldn’t need to discuss this topic at all. But take a leaf from the entrepreneur’s book. The word “failure” almost never occurs in conversation, even though many have to try three or four times before they successfully launch a business. Entrepreneurs see failures as opportunities to begin again more intelligently. You need to make that shift yourself.
•“It might not work out.” You’re right, it might not. That’s the thing about risk — you can’t be sure. If you are, it isn’t risk. I have a friend whose company has kept its head above water despite the dot-com bust and is starting to hire. She was enthusiastic when a former colleague approached her for a job. But the person wanted assurance that the company would remain viable. Coming from a world in which there was low risk and low payoff, he wasn’t prepared to raise both. No risk means no downside but also no payoff.
How to start
Risk doesn’t have to mean jumping off the cliff and hoping for a net. There are degrees. There’s “bet-the-house” risk and “court-severe-embarrassment” risk. They’re not qualitatively or quantitatively the same. But even so, nobody can smooth everything out until taking a risk doesn’t involve taking a risk.
The cold comfort is that risk gets easier the more one experiences it. When I first went out on my own, I was panic stricken if I couldn’t predict with 100 per cent accuracy my income for the coming year. Since I could never do that, you can imagine how often I planned my bag-lady wardrobe. However, over the course of several years, seeing six months ahead was enough and now, knowing I can pay myself next month is nice, but nobody has to get me to breathe into a paper bag to stop the hyperventilation if I don’t.
The risk hasn’t actually gotten any less — I just don’t perceive it as threatening. Most people find that the more risk you take, the more you can take.
In taking on risk, you don’t have to go out on a limb. But if you’re hugging the tree — that is, if you are completely comfortable with the risk involved — you’re probably not taking enough. If your stomach is feeling a bit queasy and thoughts like, “God, I hope this works out,” keep floating through your mind, you’re probably about at the right level.
Taking risks is not a matter of waiting until all the conditions are perfect or all the risks have been smoothed away. It is primarily about working on what is inside you and, no matter what, taking a leap of faith.
Frances Horibe is the Ottawa-based author of Managing Knowledge Workers and most recently Creating the Innovation Culture: Leveraging Visionaries, Dissenters and Other Useful Troublemakers. She can be reached at www.franceshoribe.com.
Are you aware of an innovative or risk-taking initiative — perhaps in your own organization or another you know of? Send a note to managing editor John Hobel ([email protected]).
And HR professionals are a cautious lot even among carefully stepping Canadians. Managers bemoan what they could have done had they not been prevented by the “cross-every-t-and-dot-every-i” HR person. Of course, it’s important to prevent that which is immoral, illegal or simply ill-advised, but if people are the most important asset, HR should be leading the charge to innovate on the use of their potential.
It’s not that there’s no innovation in HR — there is plenty. But ask yourself two questions: Is your HR department seen as a leading-edge innovator? Does innovation happen because of your systems or in spite of them?
Risk and innovation
If you want innovation, you have to take some risks. It’s just not possible to innovate and have everything stay the same. This is often where innovation dies. Why? Here are some barriers; see if they resonate.
•“Where would my company be if I didn’t stop the lone rangers?” Fair enough. But today’s organizations cannot afford one-dimensional employees. HR professionals have to put the right safeguards in place and take the risks necessary to innovate. At the very least, we need to move away from the commonly held view of lawyers and accountants that the optimal amount of risk is zero. That may be true for an efficient organization, but not an innovative one.
Managing risk to encourage innovation doesn’t mean minimizing it. It means taking on more, not less.
•“I’ll destroy my career if I fail.” How are people treated when they fail? Are they turfed out or dusted off and allowed to try again? If your company punishes risk-takers, a wise person keeps his head down. Don’t confuse dips in popularity or expressions of disappointment as signs of a risk-averse company.
•“I’ll hate myself if I fail.” Well, of course. If we weren’t hard-wired to expect only success of ourselves, we wouldn’t need to discuss this topic at all. But take a leaf from the entrepreneur’s book. The word “failure” almost never occurs in conversation, even though many have to try three or four times before they successfully launch a business. Entrepreneurs see failures as opportunities to begin again more intelligently. You need to make that shift yourself.
•“It might not work out.” You’re right, it might not. That’s the thing about risk — you can’t be sure. If you are, it isn’t risk. I have a friend whose company has kept its head above water despite the dot-com bust and is starting to hire. She was enthusiastic when a former colleague approached her for a job. But the person wanted assurance that the company would remain viable. Coming from a world in which there was low risk and low payoff, he wasn’t prepared to raise both. No risk means no downside but also no payoff.
How to start
Risk doesn’t have to mean jumping off the cliff and hoping for a net. There are degrees. There’s “bet-the-house” risk and “court-severe-embarrassment” risk. They’re not qualitatively or quantitatively the same. But even so, nobody can smooth everything out until taking a risk doesn’t involve taking a risk.
The cold comfort is that risk gets easier the more one experiences it. When I first went out on my own, I was panic stricken if I couldn’t predict with 100 per cent accuracy my income for the coming year. Since I could never do that, you can imagine how often I planned my bag-lady wardrobe. However, over the course of several years, seeing six months ahead was enough and now, knowing I can pay myself next month is nice, but nobody has to get me to breathe into a paper bag to stop the hyperventilation if I don’t.
The risk hasn’t actually gotten any less — I just don’t perceive it as threatening. Most people find that the more risk you take, the more you can take.
In taking on risk, you don’t have to go out on a limb. But if you’re hugging the tree — that is, if you are completely comfortable with the risk involved — you’re probably not taking enough. If your stomach is feeling a bit queasy and thoughts like, “God, I hope this works out,” keep floating through your mind, you’re probably about at the right level.
Taking risks is not a matter of waiting until all the conditions are perfect or all the risks have been smoothed away. It is primarily about working on what is inside you and, no matter what, taking a leap of faith.
Frances Horibe is the Ottawa-based author of Managing Knowledge Workers and most recently Creating the Innovation Culture: Leveraging Visionaries, Dissenters and Other Useful Troublemakers. She can be reached at www.franceshoribe.com.
Are you aware of an innovative or risk-taking initiative — perhaps in your own organization or another you know of? Send a note to managing editor John Hobel ([email protected]).
