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Innovative Leadership

Innovation introduces something new or makes changes in something already established. In the world of work, leadership in innovation is needed especially in reacting to competitive markets, in designing new products for existing markets, in reacting to changes in work processes as technology improves, and in encouraging employees to increase their levels of expertise and organizational commitment. The challenge for leaders is to maintain the cutting edge in their areas of responsibility so as to keep their organizations in the forefront, either through new or renewed processes.

Overview of the Innovative Process

Margaret Wheatley supplied an overview of innovation for leaders: “Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections … from active, collegial networks … from ongoing circles of exchange, where information is not just accumulated or stored, but created. Knowledge is generated anew from connections that weren't there before” (1992, 113). This overview details a need for information, collegial networks, circles of exchange, and knowledge generation. Another important innovative process is called competence building, in which employees are encouraged to “take charge” of their organizational lives by taking on more responsibility, asking for training in areas in which they see needs, and by learning from their mistakes. Competence building is an empowerment strategy (Dessler 2004). Employees who get needed information and exchange information freely with colleagues generate knowledge to fuel innovation. At the same time as employees increase their levels of expertise, they increase their commitment to the leaders who fostered their knowledge creation and to the colleagues with whom they formed new connections in their organizations.

The Role of Information Technologies in Innovation

The idea of innovation may bring to mind information technologies (IT): microelectronics, computer systems, and telecommunications. These technologies have created competition for bureaucracies, an organizational model in which work is coordinated “vertically” by specialized administrative and clerical personnel who gather and summarize information for use in decision making. As an example, consider an organization grouped by product into divisions. One division may be responsible for developing and testing a new component of the company's product. One department within the division might design the new component, another might produce the component, and another department might be responsible for evaluation/testing. The task calls for interdependent work and large amounts of information exchange. In a hierarchical organization such as a bureaucracy, communication would flow up the chain of command from the workers to their supervisors to department managers. Department managers would consult one another and the division manager to decide how work gets done, and the instructions would flow back down to the workers through the hierarchical channels of information. This vertical approach creates delays and idled workers waiting for decisions—an inefficient process at best. A more efficient and effective process is the authorization of lateral connections, in which information is communicated directly between participants in departments rather than through vertical channels. Some organizations would see this as violating the unity-of-command principle, since department heads would not be in full control and could not be held accountable for workers' behavior.

The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reached the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go.

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