Leading Innovation: Transform yourself and

your organization

Dhiman Deb Chowdhury

http://www.dhimanchowdhury.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dhiman1/

When one of the corporate Americas venerated boys Gorge Fischer took the helm of Kodak,
many thought that Kodak would reinvent itself and offer disruptive product lines capitalizing
best of what transformational technologies have to offer. After all, Fischer has the credential to
support such aspiration: he has been instrumental to Motorolas success in the 1990s. Yet,
despite the best effort, digital strategy did not gain traction at Kodak and Fischer found himself
knee deep in organizational muddy labyrinth (Henry & Goh, 2009). Unlike Motorola where he
guided the company to record earnings, Eastman Kodak had an entrenched culture one that
common with aged corporations: a strong rigidity to change. This organizational cognition (a
behavior driven norm) rendered even the most promising ideates of disruptive technology into
futile efforts. According to Henry & Goh (2009), the most important observation of Kodaks
failure is that management did not take initiative to marshal organizations capability recognizing
threats and opportunities. Kodak had both money and the means to advance in the digital

photography marketplace but the organization wanted to do this on its own way. In addition, the
organization viewed digital photography as a threat to the traditional business model. It is a
common phenomenon among many aged corporations: they fail to foster innovation.
Lets take Xerox for example; once Steve Job said, Xerox could have own the computer
industry and could be IBM of the nineties (Forbes, 2012). But, it did not. Inventions and for that
matter patents or R&D investments will not produce optimal result unless the organization foster
innovation. Inventions and creativity are the basis for innovation but those are not innovation.
Innovation is more than just creativity or inventions it includes application and implementation
(Chowdhury, 2015). Going back to the case of Eastman Kodak, the organization had 1100
patents in digital imaging and processing, those of which are sold to Apple, Google and
Facebook during bankruptcy proceedings (Forbes, 2012). However, such enormous number of
patents did not come to Kodaks rescue, nor did its fattish bank balance. What would have help
Kodak instead is the transformational change towards innovation.
So, what is innovation and how can we foster this in an organization?
Innovation is studied in many disciplines and definitions can be varied depending upon whether
innovation is viewed as object-based (kind of innovation) or subject based (actors who initiate
and implement innovation). I will make it even simpler, innovation is intentionally creating or
acquiring new ideas, introducing them, and applying them for a beneficial purpose (West & Farr,
1989, 1990; Janssen, 2000). It can be new product, services or process that produce business
result and includes application and implementation. To foster innovation, organization must
create environmental support system that includes culture, knowledge management, process,
strategy, goal orientation and perceived fairness. Assuming these antecedents are present, the
important aspect of innovation is human elements: behavioral competence. This where you bring
the difference: as a leader and an employee. You shape your organizations innovation
landscape.
It begins with you for the transformation you like to see in the organization. Whether you are a C
level executive or an employee, the behavioral framework presented here will do amazing things
for you both in organizational settings and in your person life.
Top Ten Traits of Leading Innovation
In my latest publication in the East Asian Journal of Business Management (EAJBM), I
presented a behavioral framework for organizational innovation. The context of innovation is
broad and the body of knowledge lacks a comprehensive discussion around innovative
workplace behavior (IWB) that advances innovation. Assumption here is that organizational
support system is conducive of transformational behavioral change in the organization. I have
discussed about the antecedents of innovation in my research paper that is scheduled to be
published by February, 2015. If you are interested to learn further, please view it at
http://www.eajbm.org later in the month. The Innovation Workplace Behavior (IWB) occurs in
three phases: idea generation, dissemination and realization. Literatures are clear about this but
what behaviors entail IWB is not discussed. This is where my research offers valuable insights.
The following sets of behavioral dimensions are empirically investigated as the fundamental

IWB attributes. So, if you are serious about transforming your organization to an innovative
entity, foster these behavioral dimensions: you will find it very useful.
Emotional Intelligence: Be respectful to others feelings and understand that of your own and
more importantly, manage your emotion positively. This awareness and practice will make you a
better person both in business and personal life; especially when it comes to conflict
management, you will find this behavioral attribute quite handy.
Empathy: It is about understanding of other persons feelings from their own reference point or
being at the shoes. Empathy is also referred to as empathetic listening or inclusive of it. Be a
good listener; listen carefully to others viewpoints and be respectful to that. It cannot be that
everything has to be your way: be mindful of it. In case of hot exchange, do not immediately
respond; wait, let go of your emotion and respond with positive emotion. Practice this and you
will be effective in conflict management.
Individual initiative: If you follow the behavior of entrepreneurs or may be one of the confident
leaders you admire most, you will observe that they are not afraid to take charge and boldly go
where no one has gone before. Develop your confidence, believe in you and make educated
move. This behavior includes enthusiasm, making constructive suggestions and risk taking. If
you are a leader, allow such behavior to foster in your organization and you will find things get
done creatively.
Voice Behavior: This is an important behavior both for leaders and employees. If you are a
leader, allow constructive dialogues, creative suggestions, opinions and encourage your
employees to be open to their suggestions. Your followers or opposition may have good idea,
hear it and listen with empathy. Be open to discussion and allow communication to flow. Many
organizations that suffer from passive aggressive behavior do not foster voice behavior rendering
their organization subject to one way communication. This is harmful and continued practice of
one way communication will render your organization to age early.
Knowledge Sharing: Literature is clear about importance of knowledge sharing in innovation.
Make this central to your behavioral augmentation. Create knowledge management system, bring
transformational technology to help foster knowledge sharing. Also, allow your organization to
tolerate informal hallway and coffee table conversations. This informal setting allows employees
to exchange views, discuss ideas and promotes it through social interactions.
Positive Deviance: In the study of organizational scholarship, protagonists consider innovation
is part of generative dynamics of positivity. Organizations that have been successful in fostering
innovation are open to risk taking and allow their employees to positively challenge status quo.
Do not allow your personal emotion to cloud the judgment. Smart of the smartest will behave
differently than others, do not confined them by rules, procedures and bureaucratic hurdles,
instead create positive atmosphere to exchange their views.
Social Participation (Civic Virtue): Collaboration is important in knowledge sharing,
expressing opinion and dissemination of ideas or seeking creative solutions. In a social setting,
you need to be comfortable of exchanging views and work with others in a team environment to

find creative solutions to problem or discuss better alternatives. Social participation is thus
central to innovation. It is of utmost important though to be civilized and stay civilized in group
environment and be part of organizational life.
Employee Sustainability: If you are not careful, life will be harsh. So, enjoy, have positive
attitude towards life. Being a knowledge worker, your work does not end when you step out of
the office. With improve digital connectivity and seeking knowledge nirvana, you could easily
get overwhelm. So, be fit both mentally and physically. In many of the innovative organization,
employees are seen to be more aware of their well-being and that of others. If you are a leader,
ensure your organizational environment supportive of this psychosomatic fitness.
Helping Behavior: Depending on cultural origin, some consider helping others a nuisance while
others consider it a blessing. Be sensitive to others needs and that of yours, be a little social to
help out those need help. Being mentor is a good way to advance your leadership.
Administrative Behavior: Last but not the least, learn to get things done. Execute and manage
yourself including your tasks with attention to details.
While there may be many other behavioral dimensions exist in Innovative work Behavior, many
have overlaps with those mentioned here. These behaviors are not industry specific and
universally applicable to different types of organization in different industries. Practice this and
keep me posted on your observation.
Reference
Chowdhury, D.D., 2015. Deviant Citizenship Behavior: A comprehensive framework towards
behavioral excellence in organizations. East Asian Journal of Business and Management, Vol 5,
Issue 1.
Forbes, 2012. The Lesson That Market Leaders Are Failing To Learn From Xerox PARC.
Forbes.
Forbes, 2012a. How Kodak Failed. Forbes.
Henry, C.L. & Goh, M.J., 2009. Disruptive technology: How Kodak missed the digital
photography revolution. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Volume 18 Issue 1,
March, 2009.
Janssen, O. , 2000. Job demands, perceptions of effort reward fairness and innovative work
behavior. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, 73, 287 302.
West, M. & Farr, J., 1989. Innovation at work: Psychological perspectives. Social Behaviour, 4,
15 30.
West, M. & Farr, J. (Eds.), 1990. Innovation and Creativity at Work: Psychological and
Organizational Strategies. Chichester, UK: John Wiley.