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Ethos Issue 5, Nov 2008
Creating Hot Spots of Innovation and
Energy in Your Organisations
Lynda Gratton
Sometimes, these friendships require real courage on the part of leaders. While the advertising agency OgilvyOne had been a friendly place under the direction of its founder, David Ogilvy, its original entrepreneurial culture had, by 1992, ossified into highly autonomous factions led by barons who were more interested in protecting their turf than in building the business. "The London office was horrible," a senior manager told us, "with constant backbiting and a lot of bad blood."
The change started with Charlotte Beers, the then CEO of Ogilvy, who invited all the business leaders to a two-day off-site meeting. Breaking with the norms, she began the conversation by asking direct questions: "How do we feel about one another? Why can’t we work together? Do we recognise what that is doing to our clients?" That meeting was the turning point. Initially, the discussions were very difficult. "We simply did not know how to talk openly to each other," the same senior manager told us. "We were so used to being defensive and polite. It took two years and eight meetings—and some changes in the cast of characters—before we learned to deal with emotions and feelings, to be authentic. It’s only through that process that we learned the power of friendship."
The Leader‘s Unique Signature
Hot Spots emerge; they cannot be ordered to appear. However, in each company where Hot Spots flourish, we found a handful of practices and processes that are unique and extremely valuable to the company. These are not best practices imported from elsewhere; rather they are the practices and processes that resonate with the values of the company. I call these signature processes, and leaders and their HR partners play a crucial role in defining and sponsoring them.
Exceptional leaders use signature processes as a means to communicate their values and the values of the company. To do so requires that the leader be very clear about what those values are. This is a key role for leaders and their HR partners. I saw this very clearly at the mobile phone company Nokia, known for its creative and unusual organisational structure. I can still recall the pride in senior executive Mikko Kosonen’s voice as he talked of Nokia’s signature process—their modular structure: "One of the distinctive characteristics of Nokia is the organisational architecture. It is avant-garde." Over hours of discussions, Nokia executives tried to describe the structure, their ideas behind it, how it worked, and what it meant. Figures were drawn, analogies made, and examples given—all with enthusiasm and caring.
AN IGNITING AGENDA FOR HR
It is clear to me that HR can play a key role in encouraging and supporting igniting questions, purpose and vision. Here are three ways that the partnership between leaders and HR can become a real source for the emergence of Hot Spots:
Support the Creation of Great Tasks
One of the most significant roles HR can play is to support the creation of great tasks. When developing tasks, three questions should be asked:
Does this task have meaning for people? Igniting tasks, like British Telecom’s (BT) Challenge Cup, create a sense of meaning. Meaningful tasks resonate with employees’ sense of values and, by engaging in these tasks, people believe they can have an impact on others or on the company. People working on the "force for good" initiative at BP or for BT’s challenge knew that their contributions and energy created something that had impact and meaning.
Is the task challenging and exciting? Tasks are more likely to ignite energy when they are challenging, exciting, and ambiguous. When tasks are too simple and obvious, they generally fail to really engage people.
Does the task provide opportunities for personal growth? Employees are more likely to be engaged with and enthused by a task that provides an opportunity for them to develop their knowledge and know-how. It could be a task that develops their social capital by providing opportunities to span boundaries and enhance the quality and depth of their network. It could be a task which provides an opportunity to develop emotional capital through increased self-awareness or feedback. The actual developmental focus is unique to each task. Yet no matter how development occurs, it can play a crucial role in ignition.
Champion Purposeful Conversations
HR professionals can play a key role in supporting the ignition of latent energy in the company by supporting a culture of constant questioning. Tough questions need to be asked, and tough questions need fuel. Often, the fuel from a single work group or business unit is not sufficient. Some of the most interesting igniting questions come as a result of an individual’s or group’s exposure to a variety of information and stimuli from inside and outside the organisation. The challenge here for HR and talent development is to create development opportunities that expose potential leaders to a broad and invigorating set of ideas and people.
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