Innovation in Korea: Rules of the Mind

The Power of Innovation

The Asian invasion!  How soon will we face our fate?  Will the west be buried by Innovations from the east?  Will we be left in the dust?  

I think the answer is that we’re ok in the near term if my experience in South Korea is any indicator.

The whole concept of Innovation fascinates me. 

·      How do humans dig into their natural creativity and come up with ideas that move the world in a positive direction? 

·      Once you have an idea, how do you turn it into something useful?

I’ve worked around the world and I sense that some places are better at idea generation and implementation than others.  Why is this?

Well I recently spent more than two years in Korea building Innovation capability within a large company.  This gave me a chance to do first hand observation and research.  I found three things:

1.     The vast majority of employees are not engaged in Innovation.  Hierarchy and deference leave them out.

2.     Innovation in product extensions and “adjacent possible” new products is disciplined, rigorous, and repeatable.  The reverse engineering mantra of “faster, better, cheaper” is deeply ingrained in the rhythm of the business.

3.     Korea is a long way away from seeing a Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Eric Schmidt, or Jeff Bezoz.  White space, game changing, blue ocean Innovation is rare in Korea

While I was in Korea I took time to get to know my hosts.  I questioned them about their history, culture, and future.  I visited their museums, landmarks, and festivals.  I studied and listened.  Ultimately I consolidated my learnings into a five page article.  Here is the summary: 

Innovation in Korea is the captive of uniformity of thought and respect for institutions, build on centuries of homogeneity and the teachings of Confucius.  

The entrepreneurial spirit in Korea is swallowed by its large conglomerates.  Seoul is not a hot bed of private equity investors.  Investment capital is generally consumed in the bureaucracy of entitlement.  Capital in Korea belongs to deference.

I respect the achievements of my Korean friends.  It’s impossible to downplay the economic “Miracle on the Han” or the legendary products and services coming out of: Samsung, LG, and Hyundai/Kia.

But is “faster, better, cheaper” the sum total of the Innovation story in Korea.  Will Korean businesses be able to engage the entire workforce and will their Innovators bring new business models to the global stage?

You can look deeper into these questions by reading the whole article: Innovation in Korea: Rules of the Mind

5 Things I Really Believe About Change Management

Organizations are in constant need of changing what they do and how they do it.  

There is a generally accepted formula for change managememt that includes steps such as:

• Setting a compelling vision
• Chartering teams: executive sponsors, project teams, issue teams
• Communicating to increase awareness
• Getting short term wins to maintain momentum
• measuring results
• Integrating changes into the way that business is done

Ok, we all agree on this, but what’s underneath successful transformations?  What do we really believe?  What levers do we push when the change stalls?

Well, I’ve asked myself these questions and I’ve reviewed my work over the last decade.  I found there are some things deep inside of me that I believe.  I consolidated these into five core beliefs.  Here they are in shorthand to increase readability.  

    1.    Change Is A Function Of Resources: 

Change does not happen through good will.  Change is directly related to the amount and intensity of resources applied to it.  The corollary is that an organization’s immune system cannot fight concentrated resources.

To disrupt organizational inertia you need to dedicate resources outside the normal rhythm of the business.  Don’t “repurpose” resources and don’t let subordinate managers control change budgets.

Transformation requires that leaders make different decisions.  This can't happen with the resource allocation rules that are designed to protect the ongoing business.

2. Don’t Fight The Organization's DNA:  

Companies are successful because they have a DNA, a culture.  You need to understand this DNA if you expect to change the organization.  You need to know what the organization can be; not what it wants to be.

IBM transformed by selling off what it was and buying what it wanted to be.   That’s a great strategy if you have the leadership, resources, perseverance, and commitment to pull it off.  Most organizations don't.  Doing the “adjacent possible” is more realistic than “making the impossible, possible.”

Work on the right changes, not those driven by ego.  

3. Poke Someone In The Eye:  

The worst words in the transformation business are: integration, collaboration, and cooperation.  These are words of passive resistance.  You’re about to be coopted.

I'm not advocating nastiness, but I am advocating “discomfort.”  If people are comfortable they’re not thinking; if they’re not thinking they are not changing.

Leading change is tough work.  You must be an irritant - even if that puts you at risk.

4. Managers Resist Change – Not Employees:  

Employees do their jobs until they are clear about the alternative.  Not so for managers.  Managers are vested in the status quo.  They enforce rules that ensure: efficiency, consistency, and low risk.  

Sometimes “change management” comes down to “change – management.”  In reality many transformations rely on cycling people out of the middle of the organization to allow those with untainted ideas to rise and participate.

Move quickly on resisters.  Removing a band-aid involves the same amount of pain whether you rip it off quickly or peel it off slowly.

5. Change Is Not A Journey:  

It fascinates me that we tell clients that change is accelerating exponentially.  In the next breath we tell them that transformation is a long journey and not to expect short term results.  You’ve got to be kidding?

We need to prove ourselves everyday by contributing to: new and incremental revenues, increased customer loyalty, and improvements in the cost structure.  

If you're not providing value everyday then you become part of the furniture.  You’ll be eliminated as executives become fatigued.

So, there you have it.  Those are the core beliefs that drive me when consulting on organization transformation.

However, as my mentor used to say: “that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.”

What do you believe drives organization transformation?