Creative destructor: Changing behaviour

If you start a franchise much of what you buy is a robust business method.

If you repeat the business method in the right way, you should be successful.

A business method, like many other things, persuades us to adopt a routine, not to question, and to repeat behaviour.

An entrepreneur wanting to grow quickly will have developed a business method, and then the growth is about that repetition.

Changing behaviour - what we do in given situations is often difficult. It represents a risk.

As individuals once we have "proved a concept" it is unlikely we want to deviate far from that concept. We therefore protect and surround this concept with defense mechanisms. If the time comes for change - we are quite resistant.

Action learning does provide a forum for changing behaviour - groups of individuals can pose questions and find out information about themselves, or about a given situation. This can allow them as individuals to change as required.

What is interesting about action learning is that in order to get the right dialogue going trust between members of the group is vital. Questions can push you as an individual into an uncomfortable space. You would find it very easy to put up a defense mechanism.

Change in individuals requires trust and good understanding of a given situation. Otherwise the change may be short lived or superficial.

Action learning does seem to be quite powerful - yet underused in business. It is as there is a lot of time that has to be invested. Other than time, they are very cheap to run.

Creative Destruction: Firms look outside for ideas

"To roll out new consumer products, Procter & Gamble Co. has long relied exclusively on its famed research and development staff.

But over the next five years, fully half of the products it introduces are expected to come from partners, suppliers, universities, contract labs, and other sources outside the company." http://www.boston.com

Its always encouraging to hear this sort of news. Especially when you offer a complete soft innovation package! Do get in touch if you hear of any similar good news.

Creative Destruction: Scripts - The power of 2 words

Just 2 words may have quite a large effect on us as individuals.

Consider swearing, or insults, many are very negative and target you personally. They attack who you are.

Particular words may take you to a dark place that you have been before - and you may not be able to resist acting out a script. What you do is probably of little consequence, and wont help solve the problems or issues that are at hand.

Positive words seem to be weaker. Or possibly we listen to the negative words, but don't hear the positive ones as clearly. Hypnosis is often used to help "reprogramme", by reaching into your subconscious.

One of my clients has developed a computer hypnosis programme and a methodology for helping anxiety, depression, and stress. Other disorders connected with eating or even smoking may be helped as well.

Have a look at his blog! http://computerhypnosis.blogspot.com/

Creative Destruction: Scripts

Do you ever get a sense of deja vu?

You might get a sense that when ever this happens to me - I do this.

This is a script. You probably repeat scripts over and over again whenever you meet similar situations that prompt a similar response.

For instance a very "british" response to poor service in a restaurant is to become internally angry, complain to your partner and friends, and then do nothing and accept the situation.

This situation - and if you are guilty of the above action - is a script.

Falling into a script stops you evaluating situations and solving problems properly. They may also be quite stressful.

If a person prompts a script may be a couple of words spoken to you, a look, body language, tone or pitch of voice, or possibly how someone dresses.

If you are prone to a particular script there should be a solution or a process that you can go through to improve your own potential performance. Part of the difficulty is identifying your script.

How might you do that?

Creative Destruction: 3M's 7 pillars of Innovation

This article was summarised from an article in Business Week online last week, and identifies what 3M believe to be the route to their success in bring out a stream of new products:

1. Investing in R+D

2. The corporate culture must be actively maintained.

3. Innovation is impossible without a broad base of technology.

4. Formal and informal networking

5. Set individual expectations and reward employees for outstanding work.

6. Quantify efforts.

7. Research must be tied to the customer.

Examining this list it is easy to say "those are obvious", and indeed they are. Consider how difficult it is though to remain really customer focussed when a company grows. Many become inward looking, and while revenue remains in the short term, why face the world?

When you conduct research, who do you choose to be part of the research team? How do you convince the inventor types that the customer is really important? Or to listen to the person who has been parachuted into the team from marketing?

How easy is it to assess the culture of a company without just taking a litmus test and thinking everything will be OK?

If your company strives to be like 3M, how do you think that you could maintain all 7 pillars for 104 years!