Creativity & innovation

							Becoming more creative &
      innovative


   by Toronto Training and HR

         January 2011
           3-4     Introduction to Toronto Training and HR
           5-7     Elements contributing to a creative and

Contents
                   innovative culture
           8-10    Customer-focused innovation
           11-14   Leaders of innovation and managing innovation
           15-17   Sustainability as a driver of innovation
           18-19   Coaching and creativity
           20-22   Become a better creative strategist
           23-24   Rules for running experiments
           25-28   Increased creativity and innovation
           29-30   Bold innovation
           31-32   Myths of innovation
           33-34   Innovative teams
           35-36   Ways to kill innovation
           37-38   Creating a climate for innovation
           39-40   Conditions for innovation
           41-43   Conditions for creativity
           44-45   Creative work environments
           46-47   Drill A
           48-49   Drill B
           50-51   Conclusion and questions
                         Page 2
Introduction




     Page 3
Introduction to Toronto Training
            and HR
• Toronto Training and HR is a specialist training and human
  resources consultancy headed by Timothy Holden
• 10 years in banking
• 10 years in training and human resources
• Freelance practitioner since 2006
• The core services provided by Toronto Training and HR are:
              - Training course design
              - Training course delivery
              - Reducing costs
              - Saving time
              - Improving employee engagement & morale
              - Services for job seekers

                            Page 4
Elements contributing to a
  creative and innovative
          culture




            Page 5
Elements contributing to a creative
   and innovative culture 1 of 2
INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS
A few committed individuals from diverse sectors
and unusual partnerships
Individuals who are comfortable living outside of
silos and/or systems
Individuals with an entrepreneurial and network
mind-set
Individuals with passion who persevere in the face
of resistance


                      Page 6
Elements contributing to a creative
   and innovative culture 2 of 2
SYSTEM ELEMENTS
A collaborative and/or networked funding culture that
frames failure as learning and an opportunity for the re-
invention of an idea
An awareness of three spaces where the system is
connected or fragmented
Fostering critical connections
An interdisciplinary environment that crosses traditional
boundaries
Incubators that provide opportunities to create ideas
Learning and thinking globally while acting locally


                           Page 7
Customer-focused
   innovation




       Page 8
 Customer-focused innovation 1 of 2
Creating your company‟s   future requires being in the right
markets
Creating your company‟s   future requires contemplating the
future
Creating your company‟s   future requires anticipatory and
proactive management
Creating your company‟s   future requires breakthrough
strategies
Creating your company‟s   future requires breakthrough
thinking



                           Page 9
Customer-focused innovation 2 of 2
Creating your company‟s future requires numerous
other capabilities
Bifocal management
Breakthrough execution
Speed and agility
Being a learning organization
Not falling prey to the paradox of success
It all comes down to people



                      Page 10
Leaders of innovation and
  managing innovation




           Page 11
   Leaders of innovation and
   managing innovation 1 of 3
LEADERS OF INNOVATION
Good knowledge of the area in which they work
Mission-definition perspectives
Support for followers
Skills of resource acquisition and resource
distribution
Evaluative feedback
Ability to induce structure where it is not well
defined
Organizational outreach

                       Page 12
   Leaders of innovation and
   managing innovation 2 of 3
MANAGING INNOVATION
Organization models and structure
Operational processes
Organizational alignment
Knowledge management
Management style and leadership
Individual employees




                     Page 13
   Leaders of innovation and
   managing innovation 3 of 3
MANAGEMENT INNOVATION
Transparent financial data
Open and honest feedback
Service level agreements
Open evaluations
My BluePrint
Employee first councils




                    Page 14
Sustainability as a driver
     for innovation




           Page 15
   Sustainability as a driver for
        innovation 1 of 2
Viewing compliance as opportunity
Making value chains sustainable
Designing sustainable products and services
Developing new business models
Creating next-practice platforms




                      Page 16
   Sustainability as a driver for
        innovation 2 of 2
BECOMING MORE SUSTAINABLE
Don‟t start from the present
Ensure that learning precedes investments
Stay wedded to the goal while constantly adjusting
tactics
Build collaborative capacity
Use a global presence to experiment




                      Page 17
Coaching and creativity




          Page 18
      Coaching and creativity
What is coaching?
Encouraging creativity and the introduction of new
ideas
Honouring and supporting work-life balance
Engagement and support of employees through
effective employee assistance
Creating and maintaining a civil work environment




                      Page 19
Become a better creative
      strategist




          Page 20
      Become a better creative
          strategist 1 of 2
Do not think that your domain experts--your operations
people, accountants, or statisticians--cannot contribute
innovative ideas to other areas of your business.
Block out time for creative exploration throughout the day.
In every meeting, no matter how tight its schedule, set
aside a little time to explore creative ideas. Tell your
people, "Let's think about how many different ways we
could solve this problem." This expands the innovative
capacity of your people and may lead to breakthrough
ideas.


                          Page 21
     Become a better creative
         strategist 2 of 2
Encourage your kids to think. Asking "Why?” is a
good thing. Encourage your people to keep asking
why. Don't let them be satisfied by the accepted
solution.




                     Page 22
Rules for running
  experiments




       Page 23
 Rules for running experiments
Focus on individuals and think short term
Keep it simple
Start with a proof-of-concept test
When the results come in, slice the data
Try out-of the-box thinking
Measure everything that matters
Look for natural experiments




                      Page 24
Increased creativity and
      innovation




          Page 25
       Increased creativity and
          innovation 1 of 3
Ignore everybody
The idea doesn‟t have to be big…it just has to change the
world
Put the hours in
If your business plan depends on you being „discovered‟ by
some big shot, your plan will probably fail
You are responsible for your own experience
Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of
crayons in kindergarten
Keep your day job
Worrying about „commercial‟ v „artistic‟ is a waste of time


                          Page 26
       Increased creativity and
          innovation 2 of 3
Organizations that squelch creativity can no longer compete
with organizations that champion creativity
Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were
put in this earth to climb
The more talented someone is the less they need the props
Don‟t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds full stop
If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you
Never compare your inside with somebody else‟s outside
Dying young is overrated
Nobody cares, do it for yourself
Write from the heart


                          Page 27
       Increased creativity and
          innovation 3 of 3
The most important thing a creative person can learn,
professionally, is to where to draw the red line that
separates what you are willing to do from what you are not
The world is changing
Merit can be bought, passion can‟t
Avoid the Water cooler Gang
Sing in your own voice
The choice of media is irrelevant
Selling out is harder than it looks
Don‟t worry about finding inspiration, it comes eventually
You have to find your own shtick


                         Page 28
Bold innovation




      Page 29
             Bold innovation
In established firms, it‟s impossible to start from
scratch and hazardous to move too quickly
Radically-minded management innovators don‟t
have the benefit of a roadmap
We‟re talking about people, not widgets




                       Page 30
Myths of innovation




        Page 31
         Myths of innovation
The „eureka‟ moment
There is a clear path to innovation
People dig new ideas
The lone inventor
“I‟m not really that creative”
You‟ll know innovation when you see it
The best ideas win
Innovation is always good



                      Page 32
Innovative teams




      Page 33
           Innovative teams
creator - high-level thinker, extremely “wacky”
ideas
catalyst - a „connector‟ who recognizes those
ideas and connects them to solutions
champion - paves through the nay-sayers to
get the idea to market




                      Page 34
Ways to kill innovation




          Page 35
       Ways to kill innovation
more management layers (hierarchies)
paperwork, reports & reviews
over planning
competition
favouring the go-getters
risk aversion
skewing to high-level thinking
valuing deadlines over doing it right
demanding consensus


                     Page 36
Creating a climate for
     innovation




         Page 37
Creating a climate for innovation
Make innovation a priority
Take an outside-in perspective
Create a process for innovation
Define the big levers and pull them
Drive out fear
Create trust
Recognise both successful and unsuccessful
innovators



                     Page 38
Conditions for innovation




           Page 39
     Conditions for innovation
A motivation or direction
Creative thinking / experimenter mentality
Ability to convert dead ends into new motivations /
directions
Desire to challenge (or sometimes ignorance of)
the status quo
Threshold for risk & comfort w/uncertainty
Time + $$$ for work



                      Page 40
Conditions for creativity




           Page 41
 Conditions for creativity 1 of 2
a safe space (ability to say potentially „dumb‟
things)
start from simple, move to difficult – game flow
moving from personal to communal
introducing different perspectives
experimentation
celebration of risk-taking
transparency and openness



                      Page 42
 Conditions for creativity 2 of 2
change of environment
fun, laughter & enjoyment of activity
clear understanding of rewards
oodles of encouragement




                      Page 43
Creative work
environments




     Page 44
   Creative work environments
open spaces
room for personalization
close to parks, coffee shops etc.
healthy snacks and drinks
out in the open meeting spaces
creation of personal connections




                      Page 45
Drill A




  Page 46
Drill A




 Page 47
Drill B




  Page 48
Drill B




 Page 49
Conclusion & Questions




          Page 50
            Conclusion
Summary
Questions




               Page 51