In my last post, I talked about the importance of people within your organization and freeing them up so they can become more innovative. While I got a lot of great feedback from many of you, some disagreed. The thought being: “I don’t want people changing the process or experimenting on the job. I just want them to come in, follow the process, do their job, and go home.” Now, I have to admit, that there was a time when I agreed with that sentiment – especially since I spent so many years in manufacturing and operations. However, I’ve learned a thing or two in my career that has changed my view on that.

Traditionally, if you ran a manufacturing plant, hospital, or accounting firm, you wanted people to come to work on time, follow the rules and the established processes, and leave at the end of the day. The thought being, if someone left or had to be let go, they were relatively easily replaced. And, if someone is easily replaceable like that, you can pay them as little as possible to keep your costs down and compete for business.

The problem with that mindset is it’s not working anymore. Companies cannot continue to compete on price, instead we must focus on how to add value to the customer, to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Seth Godin goes into detail in his book Linchpin about how to become a linchpin and why they are good for companies. Think about the maintenance person in your company who knows how to fix anything or troubleshoot any problem – that person is indispensible. Now imagine if all your employees were like that – what would it mean to your competitiveness?

Do we need to have processes and procedures – yes, because customers want reliability and consistency. However, there needs to be room for your people to innovate and develop new ways to wow your customers and bring more value to them. Look at the auto industry. Most of the companies are competing on price and with few exceptions cars are not very different. But what about Rolls Royce? This is a company built on craftsmanship – each car is handmade. The machinists and fabricators there are not easily replaced, they are practically artists. Do they have procedures to follow? Sure. But do they have the freedom to innovate, to really wow the customer? Absolutely; which is why they are able to command the prices they do. They are not competing on price because of all the perceived value they offer.

How can you change your company or department to become more innovative?

1. Eliminate the wasteful, redundant rework people have to do. Streamline the process to give them more free time.

2. Ask yourself if the culture fosters innovation. Are new ideas shot down because “that will never work,” or “we tried that before and it failed,” or “you haven’t been here long enough to really understand how things work.” Change your actions to begin changing the culture – even if it’s just within your own team.

3. Invite and challenge people to come up with new ideas, methods, or products.  Remember failure is a great teacher.

With the current rate of change, if you are not moving forward and innovating, you are moving backwards.