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The Innovator’s DNA

To think differently successful innovators act differently. 

This was revealed in a long term, global research project called The Innovator's DNA.  The researchers studied the leaders of successful innovative companies to find out what they did differently than leaders of less innovative companies.  Their findings included:  

• The ability to generate creative ideas is as much a function of behavior as thinking.
• And there are specific behaviors the most successful business innovators practice more often than less innovative leaders.

Each of these behaviors, individually and in combination, increase the ability to make creative new connections: 

Questioning:  asking more questions more often, to better understand what is and what could be.

Observing:  engaging your senses to take in what's working and what isn't, across many different environments.

Networking:  frequently meeting people who are different from you, to learn more about what they know, do and think.

Experimenting:  creating pilot tests and prototypes, to test ideas, develop new insights and share ideas with others.    

The ability to make creative new connections, associating, is a cognitive skill that can be increased by practicing the four behavior skills.

Innovative entrepreneurs who are CEOs spent 50% more time questioning, observing, networking, experimenting and associating than CEOs with no innovation track record.  

Another interesting result?  If you want to increase your ability to think creatively, and encourage creative thinking in others, you only need to practice two or more of these skills more often.  

"Innovation is a habit," the researchers said. "And for these innovative entrepreneurs it's a way of life. It's the fabric of who they are. And for others who aren't that way, they could be: if they choose to act different to think different."

How to Get Unstuck with "Catalytic Questioning"

Ever have one of those challenges you're just sick of thinking about?  Where it seems that you're working too hard, and going nowhere fast?

Catalytic Questioning can help you get unstuck. There's a smart article on it in July's HBR that defines a process you can use individually and with teams. 

In a nutshell, here are the steps:

• Check to make sure all involved are intellectually and emotionally connected to the challenge, and truly don't know how to answer it.
• Sit or (better yet) stand in front of a whiteboard or several sheets of flip chart paper. Pick a scribe.  Before starting, take a breath, relax and set aside any mental distractions.
• One at a time, state a question related to the challenge.  The scribe simply writes each question.  At this stage, only questions are allowed - no explanations, comments or answers.  Each person works to provide interesting, provocative and/or important questions.  At times, the well will run dry.  Stick with it for 10-20 minutes, or until you have 50 - 100 questions.  Find the questions no one's asking ... yet.
• When you've exhausted your ability to define questions, take a quick break or stretch.  Come back and identify the most "catalytic" ones - the ones with the potential to disrupt the status quo, or provide entirely different perspectives or solutions. Narrow it down to the 3-4 that matter most.
• Now that you have 3-4 fresh lines of inquiry, go find some answers!  You can use Catalytic Questioning as often as needed to get unstuck and develop deeper insights and better solutions.

As an executive coach, I've seen over and over again how the right question can unlock new thinking, energy and solutions.  This question storming process can help you do the same.

Choosing An Effective Response to Conflict

Got conflict?  Many good leaders do.  Our response to conflict determines both its impact and our willingness to continue to lead, innovate and raise the bar in new ways.  

Thomas and Kilmann found that we're better able to respond effectively when we're comfortable using several conflict strategies, and match the strategy to the situation.

They identified five conflict strategies that incorporate different levels of assertiveness (focused on meeting your concerns) and cooperativeness (focused on meeting other's concerns).  

Each can be a valuable social skill in certain situations, so let's take a quick look:

Competing is a power-oriented strategy - useful when winning is what's important.   High assertive/low cooperative.  "I'm standing up for my rights."

Collaborating searches for a solution that meets everyone's concerns.  High assertive/high  cooperative.  "Let's find a creative win-win."

Compromising finds a solution that's "good enough."  Moderate assertive/moderate cooperative.  "Let's split the difference."

Avoiding sidesteps or withdraws from the situation.  Low assertive/low cooperative.  "I'm choosing my battles."

Accommodating sets aside your concerns to help someone meet theirs.  High cooperative/low assertive.  "This is more important to you than me."

So which one to use when?  Considerations to guide your choice include:  

Importance of the issue:  Not that important to you?  Consider accommodating, avoiding or compromising.  Very important?  Consider competing or collaborating.

Importance of the relationship: Very important?  Accommodating, collaborating and compromising become more attractive.  

Time:  The less you have, the more attractive compromising, accommodating, and avoiding become.

Trust:  The lower the trust levels (and the higher the stress levels), the more challenging collaboration becomes.

Complexity:  one-dimensional issues lend themselves to competing, accommodating and compromising.  Multidimensional issues lend themselves to collaboration.

  

This kind of conflict literacy creates a practical and powerful advantage.  Happily, Kilmann has a tool and many more insights to share.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

We know storytelling is a great leadership skill for engaging and influencing others.  However, there is also a growing body of research on how to harness the power of our inner narratives:  

Use a Redemptive Rear View Mirror 

The stories we recount about our past have a powerful impact on our memories and behaviors. Psychologist Jonathan Adler's research highlights three habits that build resiliency and emotional strength as you reminisce:

• Recalling both the positive and negative aspects of past situations.
• Seeing negative events from your past as external events ("That speech didn't go over well," rather than "I'm not a good presenter.")
• Identifying how you have grown stronger and more effective as a result of your experiences.

Regulate with Reframing     

When you get emotionally triggered by a challenging situation, find a plausible but more positive way to view what's happening.  The research on this practice ("reframing") has confirmed significant benefits.  Psychologists Gross and John grouped hundreds of people based on whether they tended to use reframing or suppression (pretending everything's fine) to deal with strong emotions.  They compared the two groups on factors including optimism, environmental mastery and positive relationships.  On every factor, those who reframed were significantly better off than those who suppressed. 

Forecast Your Successes

Envision how you will be successful over the next few years. The more you revisit this story of what your future will look, sound, feel, smell and even taste like, the clearer it becomes.  Replaying this movie in your mind helps you recognize and act on choices that support it.

"Mental imagery impacts many cognitive processes in the brain: motor control, attention, perception, planning, and memory," says researcher Angie LeVan. "It's been found that mental practices can enhance motivation, increase confidence and self-efficacy, improve motor performance, prime your brain for success, and increase states of flow."

This awareness of what you're telling yourself, and how balanced but empowering your narratives are, is like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the better your story can become.

Stress, Mindfulness and the Executive Brain

Stop for just a moment and take everything in, within and around you, noticing without judging. This is mindfulness.   

The NeuroLeadership Institute refers to mindfulness as "direct experience," focusing on the brain circuitry activated when you're being mindful.  Think of it as being a video recorder or a sensory satellite receiving dish.

So why is mindfulness important to leaders?   

Well, many workplaces create high levels of stress. Stress can trigger our "threat" circuitry ... quickly ramping up our "fight or flight" response ... simultaneously shutting down our prefrontal cortex (PFC), or executive brain. 

The PFC is where higher ordered thinking, like judgement, creativity and complex decision-making, occur.  Best to avoid shutting it down when possible. 

For most of us, our opportunity to "hit the brakes" as we experience a threat is fleeting.  Why?  Because these brakes are located IN the PFC! 

This is where mindfulness comes in.  Research has shown that those with a strong "direct experience" network have stronger braking systems and are better able to manage a "threat" state.  This translates into better access to the executive brain functions located in your PFC.  

"But I don't have time to meditate," you exclaim.  

That's OK. 

You can strengthen your direct experience network just about anywhere, any time: walking to a meeting, on a train, at a traffic light, during lunch, upon waking....  

Simply spend a few minutes noticing everything you're sensing, internally and externally, without judging.   

You can start small (a daily minute or two) and build from there. One study showed a dramatic improvement after practicing mindfulness for 20 minutes a day for only FIVE days. 

So if you want to work at your highest cognitive levels, take advantage of those fleeting moments and turn them into mindfulness moments.

[With thanks to this post's guest author, Paul McGinniss of the NeuroLeadership Group] 

Running with Scissors

My friend MJ occasionally asks, "Are we running with scissors or an Olympic torch?"

It makes me smile and then makes me think.

We're a few weeks into our new year.  Far enough along to relate this distinction to how we're using our time.
 
"Running with scissors" means using your time recklessly:  filling your days with meetings, conversations and work that keep you busy but blunts your impact.

This habit can hurt you.

Time is currency. Use it strategically and you create the kind of impact you want, squander it away and you don't.

Where can you find opportunities to pare away meetings and activities with a questionable or lower return on your time?

"Running with an Olympic torch" means consciously investing your time in activities that uphold the kind of value you want to provide.

You can do more of this by regularly returning to questions like:
Who do I want to matter to most?
What am I doing now that they value most?
What do I need to be doing now so I'll matter in the ways I want to going forward?

The more time you invest in activities that support your answers to these questions, the brighter your path becomes.

Regifting for Leaders

Regifting is an enduring leadership practice that resonates as the holidays approach.  It involves two simple steps:

    

• Recognize when someone does something that inspires you do do your best.
• Find a way to apply that approach with someone else.

The interesting thing about this practice is that it benefits you as much as others.

• Recognizing when someone treats you in a way that brings out your best means that you're paying attention to leadership style - therefore increasing the odds that you continuously develop yours.
• Finding ways to apply that positive approach with someone else increases your track record of, and reputation for, positive leadership practices.

If you like this form of regifting, you can also apply it on an annual basis:

  

• Each December, make a point of recalling high-points from the prior eleven months, and who helped to make them happen.
• Share these recollections with those that come to mind, and thank them.  

This appreciative tradition extends the impact of the high-points, creating a positive ripple effect. 

Speaking of high points, thank you continuing to find ways to be a more innovative and effective leader throughout 2013 -


Here's to all you'll do and be in 2014!

Straight Talk from Singular Stars

Working as a coach at a conference on "Mentors, Sponsors and Breaking the Glass Ceiling Through Our Allies," I met a lively group of smart trailblazers.  

  

Reginald Van Lee, EVP at Booz Allen Hamilton, was a memorable one.  Warm and witty in person, he accomplished what many struggle with once they reach the podium:  making his points in a concise, consumable way. 

  

He recommended that ground breaking leaders of all types cultivate their 

"4 Cs":

COURAGE:  to excel, to be different.

  

COMPETENCE:  you need to be exceptionally competent when you're trying to accomplish what few that look, act or think like you do.  Accept this and press on.

  

CONFIDENCE:  to attend excellent schools, vie for new roles, pursue powerful relationships.  Don't wait for permission - show up and lead.

  

COLLABORATION:  you can't do it alone - consciously create alliances.  Talk to someone new often.  Your network expands your value.

  

Paula Madison, CEO of the Los Angeles Sparks, was equally forthright and compelling.  Some of her comments echoed similar themes:

• Be bold.  "Courage and comfort are not in the same room." 
• Be an expert, and claim your accomplishments. "I'm proud to be a different kind of leader, a different kind of woman."
• Advocate for yourself.  No one will care more about your career than you do - you can't expect others to do more for you than you do for yourself. 
• Attend carefully to feedback.  Feedback tells you how you're showing up.

The audience was energized by these kinds of unvarnished, hard-earned perspectives. If you were to give your own "straight talk" on pointers for pioneering leaders, what would you include?

How to Resist Distractions and Temptation

Your phone buzzes as you pull onto the highway.  Are you more likely to think,

"I can't read texts while I'm driving." 

 or 

"I don't read texts while I'm driving."

Several interesting studies coming out of Boston College and the University of Houston revealed the impact of using "I can't" versus "I don't."  

In one study of 30 adults with health and fitness goals:

• 10 participants were not given a strategy.
• 10 were told to use "I can't" statements when they were tempted to slip (for example, "I can't skip work-outs.")
• 10 were told to use "I don't" statements when they were tempted to slip (for example, "I don't skip work-outs.") 

After 10 days

• In the group that wasn't given a strategy, three of the 10 were still working on their goals.
• In the "I can't" group, only one of the 10 was still working on her goal.
• In the "I don't" group, eight of the 10 participants were still working on their goals.

The study participants then received daily emails asking how well they were doing with their goals. 

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University explains:  

"I don't" is experienced as a choice, so it feels empowering. It's an affirmation of your determination and willpower. "I can't" isn't a choice. It's a restriction, it's being imposed upon you. So thinking "I can't" undermines your sense of power and personal agency."

Want to resist distractions and temptation?  Working on an important goal?  Whenever you catch yourself veering off course, try reminding yourself that "I don't...."  It's a small strategy that can make a big difference.

Step It Up By Stepping Back

I have a great feeling about this particular team.  The demands of working for the second largest bank in the world can be relentless, but they leverage strengths like:  

-  working with very bright people

-  a palpable commitment to high quality work

-  deep technical expertise

-  and being extremely capable of delivering.

  

They also face challenges faced by many executive teams in large companies, like: 

-  sustaining a shared clarity about the big picture

-  culling myopic or reactive execution practices

-  navigating the growing size and complexity of their organization

-  and working smarter rather than harder.

So why am I so optimistic about their ability to excel? 

Because in the midst of yet another hard charging week, they exercised a discipline that helps Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and other business notables out-lead, out-innovate and out-sustain the competition.  They took time out to think together.  

As Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, wrote:  "...if you don't take the time to think proactively you will increasingly find yourself reacting to your environment rather than influencing it. The resulting situation will inevitably require far more time (and meetings) than thinking strategically would have to begin with."

Regularly carving out time to think is an essential but often elusive practice.  So how can you turn this good intention into a sustainable habit?  

Here are three approaches to consider:

Recognize the stigma of the alternative

"Uber-busy" used to infer "uber-important."  Increasingly, too busy is viewed as the new lazy.  Double parking appointments and running flat out through limitless days can make others question your commitment to high quality work.  As one 360 feedback source asked, "If he can't manage his schedule, how is he managing our function?"  

Curate your commitments

In other words, find ways to say no so that you can say yes.  What is it time for you to let go of, so that you have the bandwidth to do something better? Spending more of your day doing what only you can do increases the odds that you're utilizing your teams well. 

Design your time

Think about what doing your best work looks like.  Then find ways to link elements of the approach in this video to creating a habit of working that way:

Here's to You!

I get a kick out of being around people who are smart in different ways than I am - who have different kinds of interests and ambitions and impacts.  

It's invigorating to be around this capacity and learn from these mindsets and skills.

Which means that I'm very lucky - because as an executive coach I work daily with accomplished learners and leaders who like to work as hard as I do.  

They keep me constantly aware of how much more is possible.
  
Many times my work feels like a celebration:  of what my clients have learned and achieved and given to others - and how much more they will going forward.  

So this Quick Note will be my toast to them and to you:

Here's to the game changers

• the ones who persist in finding a better way
• and engaging others in making it happen.

Here's to the connectors

• who build networks that go up, down, sideways, and diagonally;
• who network to learn new perspectives and make new connections
• and who make sure that they give more than take along the way.

Here's to the long gamers

• who've learned that you can often get what you want - but maybe not quite in the way you thought you would;
• who know that if it's a worthwhile goal you persevere until you make it happen.
• Because living other people's goals doesn't work, but joining forces to meet a common goal does.

Here's to the listeners

• who understand how much more there is to really hear,
• who know how to draw out what others have to offer,
• and who make make time to listen for their own wisdom.

Here's to those that surprise themselves

• with what they realize they've accomplished;
• and then get curious, and then determined
• and ready to find out what they'll learn as they take on their next challenge.

Here's to you!

Clearing A Deadlock

We've all been there.  

You're debating a difficult issue and each person starts to dig in.  Positions become more extreme.  Emotions start to surface, tempers may flare.  It occurs to you, maybe not for the first time, that the other person is an idiot.

And you realize that you're each now more focused on winning than finding the solution.

You're deadlocked, but you really need a solution.  What can you do?

    

Here's an approach that has worked well for other leaders, it may also work for you.

Shift your focus from winning to being very clear.  

Be as succinct, specific and relatable as you can; speaking for the other person's benefit rather than your own.

This does two things for you.  

It requires you to crystalize your thinking, and it helps you communicate in a way that can be heard when emotions are running high.

Then, focus on helping the other person communicate very clearly.

Restate what you're hearing them say, ask if you got it right.  Don't give your response until you do.  

This does two things for them.  

It helps them crystallize their thinking and it helps them start listening to you again.

Why?  Because we become more open to hearing others once we know we've been heard.

As the points you make become clearer, and as you both begin actively listening to them, you do more than open yourself up to new insights.  You also build the trust and rapport needed to begin to move forward again.