November 2000

PARTNERS FOR INNOVATION, INC.

www.partnersfi.com

Innovation Tips

a monthly internet letter addressing key aspects of

collaborative innovation

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Changing the Soul and Energy of a Company, Simply

“We are trying to get the soul and energy of a start-up into the body of a $60 billion, 114-year-old company. We must have every good idea from every man and woman in the organization; we cannot afford management styles that suppress and intimidate.”

These are the words of Jack Welch, the CEO who dramatically altered the way GE does business over his nearly twenty year stewardship, and created more shareholder value than any other modern corporate leader.

GE accomplished much of that change with simple organizational innovations like “Work Out,” “Best Practices,” and “Six Sigma,” innovations that transformed their culture.

Work Out is the name given to a three-day retreat of groups of fifty people from all levels of the organization who gather just to talk openly about what needs fixing in the company and in their operating environments.

Best Practices is another opportunity for people to meet, this time informally to review what is working well. People from outside of GE are often brought in to talk about what is working in industries unrelated to GE’s. It is an opportunity for cross-fertilizing and synthesizing fresh ideas into the fabric of GE’s operating practices.

Six Sigma focuses on reducing defects in products and processes, setting highly ambitious goals for statistical results. The ambitious goals themselves require people to start thinking and talking about the unconventional, about new approaches to accomplishing what had been previously unattainable.

How do you get the soul and energy of a start-up in a $60 billion dollar enterprise? The same way you get that soul and energy into the body of any organization. You give people the opportunity to talk about and take responsibility for what needs fixing, what is going well, and what new approaches need to be developed.

Simple. Like all highly effective innovation, the answer is usually simple. “You can’t believe how hard it is for people to be simple, how much they fear being simple. They worry that if they’re simple, people will think they’re simple-minded. In reality, of course, it’s just the reverse. Clear, tough-minded people are the most simple.” Jack Welch

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