Innovation is the “hot” word among all the business thought leaders as we kick off 2015…
There’s “dark-side” innovation, “game changing” innovation and even “shark jumping” innovation, as a recent search of LinkedIn thought influencer posts recently revealed.
But there’s very little talk about organizational innovation focused on the greatest—and most taken for granted resource—that and organization has: its people.
Now, as companies are emerging from the trance of Frederick Wilson Taylor, they are still continuing to treat employees and others as disposable widgets. The current pressure on Marissa Mayer and Yahoo is just a recent high profile example of this.
But, organizations are more than short term ROI and their daily stock ticker price.
- A 2013 survey revealed that 70% of employees at work feel as though they are so overwhelmed that they do not have time to engage with creative or strategic thinking.
- According to a Microsoft article written in 2005, people work an average of 45 hours a week; they consider about 17 of those hours to be unproductive (U.S.: 45 hours a week; 16 hours are considered unproductive).
- There is still the belief among C-Suite executives that frontline employees don’t possess enough “big picture” knowledge to navigate innovation in organizations.
Something has to give, if innovation is the key to moving forward in a business environment that is increasingly unstable and unpredictable.
It’s time to hack at the organizational culture that underlies preconceived notions of productivity, innovation and even people.
Conflicts are part of the innovation process and disputes are the result of that process.
Conflict also brings change and can serve as a driver for innovation in even the most entrenched organizational culture.
It’s time to hack a new system. It’s time for conflict engagement systems design for the 21st century.
-Peace Be With You All-
Jesan Sorrells, MA
Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant
Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)
Email HSCT: hsconsultingandtraining@gmail.com
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