In a recent interview about his book he drew a comparison between business and cities (http://smrt.io/KfOMgV).

I thought the comparison was so instructive I thought I would repeat Jonah’s views below:

‘One of the models I proposed in the book is that companies should be more like cities. This is the work of Geoffrey West. He’s made a very provocative comparison between cities and companies. He points out that cities and companies are both big social organizations, and yet there’s one interesting difference, which is that cities never die while companies die all the time. And the reason, he explains, is because as cities get bigger, they make everyone in that city more productive. In companies, the opposite happens. As a company gets bigger, everyone in that company becomes less productive, and this is why companies die.

The reason West gives is that companies get in the way. They stifle interactions. They tell us to brainstorm, and brainstorming doesn’t work. They tell us to always focus, to never relax, not to daydream. That’s bad advice. They silo knowledge. They become these very vertical, hierarchical places, and many of these things that are done with the very best of intentions actually hold people back. They make it harder to be creative.

The situation:

Clients are under constant time-pressure to solve their key problems faster than ever before. And in a world where everything can be copied big, new ideas are wanted more than ever.

What if:

We could solve a pressing client problem or opportunity in just 24  hours?

We could involve everyone in the agency in the creative process?

We could make the 24 Hour Blitz part of the agencies value proposition?

We could have an awesome time, work with a diverse group and learn a powerful new creative thinking tool?

The Concept:

A specific client is invited to participate in the 24 Hour Blitz (every month).

They brief the entire agency (or at least the team leaders) at say 4.00pm on a Thursday.

The challenge has to be a business building one rather than say an advertising issue for example.

The agency forms into groups of 4-6 people, chosen at random.

Each team will be shown how to use the Blitz Tool (by me) to generate a range of new ideas and solutions (A Blitz is the tool or application of Speed Thinking for groups and teams).

The groups will work throughout the morning to generate a breakthrough solution(s).

This solution(s) will be presented to an internal evaluation panel (plus one client) at lunch-time.

Based on this review the groups will be given the opportunity to:

- Present their solution to the client directly or

- Asked to build/improve on their recommendation or

- Start again.

The selected agency groups will present their solutions to the client (and the rest of the agency) at 4.00pm on a Friday.

Presentation of awards, drinking and general partying follows.

 The Benefits:

The 24 Hour Blitz is a fast, intense, focused way to solve one of your clients key business issues.

Ideally the business challenge is a key one where a business-as-usual approach has not worked and/or some fresh thinking is needed. Because the challenge is of a broader business nature it will expand the understanding of the clients business.

If the agency can develop a new solution (and with their creativity, why not) then it will build and strengthen an existing client relationship.

This process is fun, engaging and will be an amazing learning opportunity for all involved. It will develop your people and might uncover a creative resource that is hidden in the agency.

The 24 Hour Blitz should also improve the general creative performance of the agency and in particular the ability to think quickly under time-pressure.

The process can be scheduled in (say once a month) so the disruption to the agency is minimal and when the client finds out about it will have them lining up to try it.

In short, the 24 Hour Blitz is a way to unlock the creativity of all the staff and potentially build and retain key clients.

If you would like to give this a go then please contact me.

Happy Blitzing.

ken

However there is a team format of golf called Ambrose which is fun to play and represents a lovely analogy for how groups and teams can become more productive and effective.

The Ambrose 4 person format means that each player hits off and the best shot is selected. This becomes the point at which each player plays their second shot and so on until the ball is in the hole. Your end score is adjusted for the respective handicaps of each of the players in your team.

Usually the other requirement is that there is a minimum of drives per player i.e. 3 out of the 4 players must play their drive rather than using the drive of say the best player all the time.

Key Lessons:

In an Ambrose tournament it is not uncommon for the teams to score at par and often well under it. This means that the team by pulling together has scored better than any of the individual players could score.

Far too often I see so may smart people in a room yet when they work as a team their collective IQ drops.

Another learning is that with an Ambrose format every individual still has to try and perform at their best. It just may be your turn to pull out a wonder shot or sink a putt. Their is no no loafing or relying on other team-members. The emphasis (as our per Blitz tool) is on the individual and the team performing at a higher level.

Because of the handicap scoring system each person regardless of their actual playing ability can make a contribution. This is a good lesson for all groups and teams — every individual member can make a valuable input because they all have a unique perspective on a problem. There is rarely the one best way.

In an Ambrose format, each player can learn from one another — one player may play perhaps a high pitch shot whilst the other a bump and run. In a similar vein, if you can create a space and place of trust and learning, amazing goals can be reached by all sorts of different paths.

So the next time you are invited to play golf in an Ambrose format take it — it will teach you about working in a team and you will have a lot of fun (not to mention the low score your team will shoot).

Happy Golfing.

Ken

I say pleasure because I learn a lot more from them about business and life then they do from me.

For example:

They love playing in a team

For my daughter, to play in a team with her mates is her version of heaven. They can laugh, train and enjoy a shared team experience. With much of our work and study done in teams it seems that we forget that being part of a team or group can be among the best moments of our life.

The result is secondary

It is not so much (for her) that the result does not matter but more about whether they enjoyed the game. This is quite a difference with some of the parents (and the coach?) who worry about the result of the game and ponder what might have been. Perhaps we would all (paradoxically) achieve and enjoy life more if we let go of the end result a little.

It’s only a game — dad!

It sometimes feels that my daughter and her teammates are the adults when it comes to sport. They realise that soccer is just a game and are much more willing to compete and risk losing. They can handle defeat (it seems) much better than the real adults. As we age I wonder if that sense of adventure deserts us and we stop taking risks for fear of making a mistake or potentially failing.

It’s got to be fun

Sometimes at training I forget that unless the drill is fun it will not hold their attention and the skill that I am trying to impart breaks down. In these cases I bemoan the lack of engagement of the players rather than facing up to the reality that my carefully planned training sessions are often boring. Imagine if we could design our life around doing more of the activities that engage us?

You have to ‘think on your feet’

Coaching soccer is much harder than it looks. In the game on the weekend our goalkeeper fell ill just before the game which meant that two girls had to take turns in being a goal (a quick decision) and our centre back arrived late which meant a total reshuffle of the team. These were all decisions made on the spot — a form of speed thinking in action. For most of us this is a daily reality — we are faced with having to produce ‘more and more’ in ‘less and less’ time which means that we all have to become better, faster decision-makers.

 The old and the new

In our team we have 4 girls that have never played soccer before so the challenge is to mould them into a team of more experienced players. They are lost at times but they bring energy and enthusiasm which some of the more experienced girls have lost. The lesson here? We know that the higher performing groups are a mixture of the expert and the nieve, the people close to the problem and those that can look at it with fresh eyes.

My last lesson is that coaches and managers are for the most part, volunteers trying to do a great job for their kids. I too often in the past have been critical of their efforts. I know what that feels like now to be a coach and have only grudging respect for what all volunteers do (although there was that netball semi-final last year…………..let it go Ken).

Happy Coaching,

Ken

It consists of 4 well-known judges (all recording singers in their own right) who have their back to the singers and must decide whether they wish to mentor these singers or not. The 4 judges form teams (based on their selections) and compete with one another until there is an eventual winner.

I was sceptical (I admit) at the start but the show has won me over.

It can be entertaining and at times, quite moving.

The succes of this show has many lessons for leaders:

1. A point of differentiation

The Voice is similar to other reality type shows yet quite different. In a ‘me-too’ world every product or service needs to have a point of differentiation.

In this case the judges have their back to the singers. This creates drama and excitement when the judges turn around to actually see their picks.

2. The contestants are judged on their voice not their looks.

Because the judges have their backs to the contestants they must initially judge on the voice only. In a similar way leaders need to be able to judge the quality of an idea on its merits not by the person’s role, position or status. I have been in many brainstorming sessions where the most unexpected of people create the best ideas.

3. It is original — up to a point!

The Voice format has been adapted from a similar program in Holland. The lesson? Ideas can be found anywhere in the world — you need to go and find and be open to them. In addition, ideas are rarely original to the world, most often they are original to a context. If you take one idea from one situation and apply it to another you are being creative.

4. It is on trend.

Successful ideas and concept almost invariably reflect a consumer trend. In this case the trend in these types of shows is for the judges to be more supportive (Think Master Chef) rather than the sometimes cruel judges seen in Project Runway for example.

5. The judges have credibility.

In The Voice each of the 4 judges have credibility and have ‘runs on the board’. The lesson for leaders is to role-model the behaviour they expect in others.

6. Individual then group

The last lesson for leaders is this. In The Voice the show starts with an individual performance then moves up to more of a group competition. In a similar way our Blitz tool (for example) starts with the individual then works up to the group. In a team-based world, both the individual needs to perform and the group at a higher and higher level.

Actually this is another lesson for all leaders. The premise of this show is that the coaches (i.e. the judges) has seen something in the performance that even the contestant may not be aware of. It is a mixture of performance and potential. Leaders also have to encourage higher performance and unlock hidden talents within the person and the group.

In summary, the best leadership show in town may well be The Voice!

Listen and learn.

In my experience one of the best ways to move forward is to have an innovation day every quarter.

I am not the first person to think of this concept.

Australian software company, Atlassian have for the past few days held what they call a Fed Ex Day, so-called because of the desire to absolutely deliver on a new feature in 24 hours (http://www.atlassian.com/fedex-day).

I like an innovation day every quarter for the following reasons: 

- Innovation becomes part of the calendar of the business. Every quarter there is at least one day dedicated to innovation.

- It is both symbolic (i.e. innovation is important) and practical (e.g. Atlassian implements about 10% of their  Fed-Ex projects).

- The innovation day is a tangible, practical, simple and a fun way to encourage and stimulate innovation across the business.

- The day is a celebration of innovation both past, present and future.

- It fosters greater collaboration and learning.

- New ideas can be created and evaluated in 1 day rather than waiting for weeks or months to receive feedback from senior managers.

I have been involved in planning and delivering Innovation days for many different organisations.

There is no right or wrong way to run an innovation day but here are some suggestions:

- Establish some goals and ways of measuring success e.g. Number of ideas or people involved.

These might include a range of hard and soft outcomes (e.g. did it create a buzz?).

In this way you can determine if the day has been a success and is worth repeating and defending when those budget cuts come around.

- Nominate some project champions with a senior management mentor (this can rotate every quarter).

- Try and build an alignment between the needs of the business and the passion of the teams developing ideas.

- Use cross-functional teams (allocated at random).

- Establish an evaluation tool (criteria) before the days so you and others know exactly how the ideas are to be judged.

- Formalise and distribute a ‘lessons learned’ document so that the next innovation day can be even better.

Each and every innovation day requires a deal of pre-work but the benefits both in terms of successful ideas and in building a more innovative culture are immense.

I can help.

Just try it!

There are two complementary strategies you can employ:

1. Formal

In this approach you deliberately introduce silo-busting approaches.

For example;

- Move people around so they gain experience in different departments and roles.

- Use online tools such as Yammer.

- Use project teams that are cross-functional in design.

- Have a collaboration KPI for each manager and leader.

- Introduce a BLITZ tool for groups and teams (i.e. this process encourages the use of outsiders or volunteers).

2. Informal

The other approach is to encourage greater collaboration by designing informal interactions.

For example:

- Friday night drinks

- Placing a cafe in the office.

- Having the meeting rooms in the centre of the office building or (as Steve Jobs apparently did) place the toilets in the middle of the building.

The aim here is to encourage and facilitate spontaneous interactions between people of different departments, levels and functions. Out of these interactions, creativity emerges (e.g. in my doctoral research I spent a number of days at the ABC and noticed that the staff canteen proved to be a dynamic creative hub).

Organisations can become more creative and innovative. One of the best ways to achieve this is to facilitate the sharing of ideas and knowledge across boundaries both formally and informally.

I was recently asked by a CEO of an international service brand to help the company’s leadership group with its innovation efforts.

Ken Hudson

 

Dr Ken Hudson is the inventor of Speed Thinking and Blitz – its practical application for groups and teams. Dr Hudson was a former marketing director at American Express, has published three books in eight countries and has a PhD in organisational creativity.