24/7 Innovation Diagnostic

Culture

Context 

• Is an exciting context created for employees?
• Are people made aware of the big picture?
• When selling new ideas internally, is “why” addressed before “what” and “how?”
• Is a powerful “burning platform” created to stimulate interest?
• Do people understand how their work fits in with the overall effort?
• Are personal passions aligned with organizational objectives?

Diversity

• Does the organization develop teams with diverse skills and analytical styles?
• Does the organization value contention, debate, and tension?
• Do managers acknowledge, but avoid punishing, failure?
• Are conversations structured to accommodate different analytical styles?
• Does the organization avoid the lowest common denominator, analysis paralysis, and “right of infinite appeal?”
• Are new organizations created when a new culture/skill-set is needed?

Language and Behaviors

• Are employees encouraged to stay open to new possibilities?
• Is “inclusive” language used?
• Are employees encouraged to contribute ideas?
• Are employees encouraged to take risks?
• Is gossiping and politicking discouraged?
• Is negative, pessimistic language discouraged?

Encouragement

• Are efforts of individuals and teams privately acknowledged?
• Are efforts of individuals and teams publicly acknowledged?
• Are people shown the result of their efforts?

Leadership

Goal-orientation

• Are clear goals and outcomes provided to avoid ambiguity?
• Are detailed procedures avoided when delegating work?
• Is there a clear structure for managing commitments?

Advocates and Owners

• Are managers/process owners advocates for innovative thinking throughout the organization?
• Are managers/process owners empowered to work across relevant functions?
• Are the managers/process owners chosen for their communication/management skills rather than their technical skills?
• Do managers/process owners facilitate rather than dictate?

Consistency and Trust

• Does management demonstrate the organization’s commitment to the success of initiatives and individuals?
• Does management follow through on ideas generated by employees?
• Does management avoid the frequent changing of goals?

Strong Leadership

• Do leaders demonstrate their commitment to innovation?
• Do leaders make tough, unpopular decisions (intestinal fortitude)?
• Are the leaders inspirational?
• Do the leaders serve as a role model for the rest of the organization?

Competency (The Inner Innovator)

Assumptions

• Are underlying assumptions/rules surfaced and challenged?
• Is the organization prepared to break with tradition?
• Are the root causes of problems identified and addressed?

Filters

• Are individuals and teams encouraged to apply different “filters” to the daily activities?
• Are individuals encouraged to try new things?
• Is “yes, and” used rather than “yeah, but”?
• Do you “think in opposites”?
• Do you consider “the worst ideas”?
• Do you consider “illogical combinations”?
• Do you and your team engage in competitor war games?

Simplicity

• Are simple solutions used over sophisticated ones?
• Is over-analysis avoided? Is a build it, try it, fix it approach used when appropriate?
• Are overly formulaic approaches avoided?

Roles

• Is everyone in the organization provided an appropriate challenge? Are people matched with jobs to minimize boredom or employees being overwhelmed?
• Do you only keep employees who subscribe to the values of the organization?
• Are jobs, roles, or tasks rotated to keep people challenged and growing?

Organization

Collect and connect dots

• Are knowledge and skills building encouraged?
• Are people encouraged to explore new disciplines?
• Do individuals collect and combine ideas?
• Are individuals encouraged to look at work through various filters?
• Does the organization collect, combine, disseminate, and reward best ideas?
• Are individuals encouraged to challenge norms?
• Is a standard process used for innovation (diverge then converge)?
• Are centers of excellence used to build broad-based expertise?

Invest time and money

• Are efforts adequately funded in terms of money and resources?
• Is time allocated for innovative thinking, reflection, and planning (15% rule)?
• Does the physical environment facilitate communication and collaboration?

Networked Organization

• Is your organization an “alliance-based network of capabilities?”
• Are procedural or technical standards used only where informal coordination is ineffective?
• Is data shared across the organization?
• Are non-critical capabilities outsourced?
• Are performance objectives aligned across organizations?
• Is decision making pushed to the lowest levels of organization?

Internal Markets

• Is cross-unit cooperation encouraged through appropriate incentives?
• Is internal competition used to keep people on their toes?
• Are survival of the fittest/free market models applied throughout the organization?

Processes

Flexible Processes

• Are the 7Rs used to define innovative processes?
• Are illogical solutions considered?
• Are overly prescriptive processes avoided?
• Does the organization have processes/procedures for protecting intellectual property?
• Is technology used to enable innovation rather than prescribe procedures?

Eliminate administration

• Are knowledge workers freed to focus on value adding activities rather than administration?
• Is the effective use of critical resources optimized?

Focus Outside In

• Is the organization customer focused, designing from the outside in?
• Does the organization stand in the customers’ shoes and observe their processes in action?
• Does the organization focus on redesigning customer processes rather than internal processes?
• Does the organization create customer needs rather than just responding to them?
• Are different customer segments handled differently?
• Is the organization “easy to do business with?”

Strategy

Strategic alignment

• Are all initiatives aligned to the overall strategy?
• Are all stakeholders considered when defining the strategy (stakeholder wants & needs)?

Targeting

• Are capabilities targeted that create the greatest stakeholder value and represent the greatest opportunity for improvement?
• Is the most valuable work converted into knowledge work?
• Is a holistic view maintained?
• Is the organization’s capacity to change considered?

Performance

Measures and Incentives

• Are stretch targets used to create a challenge?
• Are performance-based incentives and team measures used?
• Do the measures focus on outcomes rather than tasks?
• Are “fear based” incentives avoided?
• Are performance targets defined concurrently, or in advance of the business design?
• Are measures “balanced?”
• Are measures holistic?  Has their impact on other measures been taken into account?

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