Management innovation = Communication innovation

Another wake up call.

I just tuned in to Gary Hamel’s recent webinar [ironically - given the closing line to last week's post - called]: Lighting the Fires of Management Innovation.[1] In it he describes how Management innovation was once the source of significant competitive advantage.  But, most management innovation took place in the very late 19th and very early 20th century.

So, if we are going to effectively tackle the urgent challenges of today, we need a fundamental reinvention of underlying management principles and practices.  And, we need to create this ‘management advantage’ at a time when the pace of change – political, economic, social, and technological – is increasing.

How?  Well according to Hamel it will take courage.  The courage to:

• Take on big and noble problems
• Question dogma
• Learn from positive deviance [he refers specifically to the ethos of the web and the values that he believes must infiltrate management]
• Start small – we need to be able to be both revolutionary and evolutionary at the same time.

[echos of Grassroots thinking]

Innovation in communication – the communications function and the communications themselves – will be absolutely fundamental to the reinvention of management.

As communicators it’s sometimes easy to be a little complacent around the idea of communication innovation.  After all the past decade has brought significant and important innovation to how we do communications.  The number and kinds of navigation tools, distribution channels, communication tools and tactics that are available grows exponentially.

But the kind of innovation that Hamel is calling for asks us to fundamentally rethink what we do.  Are we taking on or encouraging our organizations to take on big and noble ideas?  Do we question dogma – ours and others?  Are we learning from positive deviance?  Do we start small or are we caught up in one system wide campaign after another?

Are we ready to take this challenge on? As a profession?  As executives and managers? As advisors to leadership?  As employees and as voices for employees and other key stakeholders?

I’d love to hear what you think.  [the conversation continues]

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[1] You need to be registered on the Management Innovation Exchange to access it, but it’s well worth it.

Tags: Behaviour change, Communications, Innovation