March 2002

Innovation Tips

…ideas to help you foster collaborative genius

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Convey a Mission That Matters

Abraham Maslow once noted that the only happy people he knew were the ones working well at something they considered important. All of his “self-actualized” clients had one thing in common—they were motivated by some great and important job. As Mathew Fox noted, “We all want to be part of something big and sacred.”

But most organizations don’t look at the big and sacred side of what they do; they stick to the prosaic. They usually define their mission in terms of products or services they provide, rather than in terms of the value they deliver to others. Conveying a mission in terms of products and services instead of value delivered creates two key problems:

1. The organization becomes blind to key opportunities for innovation.

2. The organization never engages the deep commitment of its people.

Innovation

Think of the oft-cited buggy whip manufacturers of the turn of the century. They no doubt thought they were in the business of making buggy whips—and they disappeared when the need for buggy whips disappeared.

People only bought buggy whips because they wanted mobile lives. If the manufacturers had seen their work from the standpoint of the value delivered to their constituency—mobility—they would have been more attentive to the technological changes affecting that mobility; they could have more readily seen the available windows of opportunity through which to capitalize on those changes.

When the whole organization is aware of the value delivered to a customer or constituency, the whole organization can be mindful of opportunities to fulfill that value. When an entire organization is innovating, seeking ways to continually enhance value delivered, that organization is virtually unstoppable.

Deep Commitment

What is the value delivered to others? That is the mission, the great and important job, the one we may begin to see as big and sacred. Insurance companies deliver peace of mind, assurance, and protection to their clients; they issue policies only as a means to that end. Hospitals comfort and heal the infirm; their medical equipment and services are only the means to that end.

When people in an organization begin to get a sense of the larger purpose of their work, the one that affects the lives of others in meaningful and fruitful ways, they bring a whole new perspective to the job. They can approach their work, like Maslow’s clients, feeling that they are dedicated to some great and important work. All work is ennobled when delivered for the benefit of someone else.

When the work of an organization is seen in terms of the value delivered, it opens up whole new vistas of possibilities. The entire demeanor of the organization—the level of camaraderie, the attitudes, the compassion, the innovative initiatives—all begin to shift dramatically.

(This is the third in a series of articles on leadership and collaborative genius.)

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