Creating the Innovation Culture: Leveraging Visionaries, Dissenters and Other Useful Troublemakers [Hardcover]

"..This is a book which every conventional manager should read." (Modern Management, February 2002)

"Frances Horibe's insightful narrative is both thought-provoking and entertaining. Creating the Innovation Culture is a vital part of any library— especially for those of us who toil daily to harness and encourage creativity. In business today, innovation is everything. This book is an exploration of the delicate balance between innovation and dissidence."
— Derek Burney, President and CEO, Corel Corporation

"It was George Bernard Shaw who once remarked with undeniable logic that all progress has to depend on the 'unreasonable man' because they are the ones who don't adapt to the world as it is. This, or course, makes perfect sense, but only up to the point where one is faced with having to deal with the reality of it in an organization.

"Whether you're one of the dissenters, someone managing dissent, or merely an observer, there's something in Creating the Innovation Culture for everyone— an understanding of dissent and innovation, advice, new ideas, and a hint of the consequences if we don't learn to deal with those 'unreasonable men.'"
— David Carlson, Vice President, Americas, Quality & Customer Relations, Alcatel

"In this lively, well written book, Horibe helps us realize that we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. She wisely points out that great leaders seek out and encourage people who will challenge them and their rules. This book is full of great tips on how to be this type of leader so you, too, can help innovation flourish in your organization."
— Susan Robinson, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Manulife Financial

"Creating the Innovation Culture shows us how to manage the most creative behaviour in an organization— dissent. It accurately and effectively describes why the need for dissent is so important to stimulate innovation that we must promote, support, and manage dissent if our businesses today are going to survive and flourish."
— Geoff Smith, Vice President, Business Development, Mitel

Why dissenters can be an organization's most valuable asset and how to transform dissent into innovation

Innovation is essential to competitive survival in today's global marketplace. But in the majority of traditional organizations, innovators are perceived as counter-productive dissenters, single-minded troublemakers who are difficult to manage and politically naive. Written by a leading international expert on change management, this groundbreaking book explores the vital link between the need for innovation in the e-business world and the new role of dissenters as agents for constructive change. With the help of numerous case examples and anecdotes, Frances Horibe helps managers appreciate the value that dissent can bring to an organization, and she provides proven strategies and hands-on advice on how to encourage innovation and manage creative dissent, while avoiding paralyzing conflicts. Readers learn about the new role of managers as political handlers who help develop and support new ideas and sell them to senior management, and much more.

Leaders the world over would have no trouble agreeing that innovation is the single most important criterion for business success in the future. Organizations need to innovate to survive, and they know it. So why do most companies have such a dismal track record of trying to harness creativity?

While innovation is desperately needed to survive in the new economy. It doesn't necessarily fit well into traditional organizational cultures. Much as organizations often say they want and need innovation, they often reject it when it comes. In fact, some unintentionally kill it. They hire creative people and then prevent them from using their skills.

Encouraging true innovation is hard because, by definition, innovation is about different ideas that challenge traditional assumptions and ways of doing business. And, too often, being different is perceived as dissent, which leads to conflict.

Dissenters of any kind are generally unwelcome. They can be difficult to deal with, single-minded, and politically naï ve. But they also bring new ideas from the very fringes of the organization, and shake up the tried and true ways of doing business, sending ripples throughout the firm. They are the "wild ducks" in the organization, because they won't fly in formation. While this can be an exciting source of innovation, it can also cause many problems for managers who have to manage other people and processes. But dissenters are also an organization's greatest resource in the information economy.

Creating the Innovation Culture gives managers at all levels practical strategies and hands-on advice for encouraging and managing innovation and dissent, while avoiding too much conflict, which can paralyze the organization.

• Identifies the four main things managers need to do to encourage dissent and, therefore, innovation in their organizations.
• Illustrates the many ways in which managers and organizations stifle dissent— even the positive things that can inhibit it.
• Explains how to recognize when healthy dissent crosses the line and becomes undesirable conflict.
• Outlines the role of the middle manager as a broker of opportunities for innovation and collaboration.
• Shows managers how to identify and coach dissenters, and act as their "political handler" in getting their ideas accepted in the company.
• Deals with processes and mechanisms that support and sustain innovation.
• Includes numerous examples, sample dialogues, end-of-chapter summaries, and an "Underground Dissent Quiz."

Creating the Innovation Culture is not about suppressing conflict, but about how to surface, increase, and manage the level of healthy dissent. It's about how to foster an environment where innovation occurs because of the culture, not in spite of it.

Frances Horibe (Ottawa, Ontario) is President of VisionArts International, Inc., a firm that assists organizations to manage radical change. Her clients include: Bombardier, Environment Canada, Industry Canada (Strategis Marketing), Women's Teachers Federation. Previously she was Vice-President of Quality and Consumer Care for Achieve International, a management consulting firm. She speaks regularly to diverse groups, including: Ontario Society of Training and Development, Strategy Institute Conference on Knowledge Workers, American Society of Quality, Canadian Airlines, Canadian Association of Human Resource Planners, Texas AUniversity and Xerox. She is the author of Managing Knowledge Workers.