Dive in, the waters lovely:

working for the other side

An award-winning journalist traces
his journey from media to PR
Breaking down the gender
walls that divide
Female communicators still face
obstacles in developing their careers
Finding the right recipe
for your job skills cocktail
Getting the right balance of
leadership qualities is a ne art
COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
M a g a z i n e f o r C o r p o r a t e C o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s
www.communication-director.eu



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Take control
of your career
The many sides of successful
career development

Anzeige_21*28fin.indd 1 23.02.2007 14:59:15 Uhr
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04/2010 COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
TEAM PLAYER
How to improve personnel management and your career
I
ts 10 am at the company oces. Employees
are busy with emergencies of their own, each
one working on his or her own problems, and
does so as eciently as possible. Or at least
that is what they believe.
Although these people feel they are using
their creative skills to solve problems in the best possible
way, the truth is that there are several factors that pre-de-
ne the way they do it. Perhaps the two most inuential
factors are:
- Customs: For a long time the employee (and those who have
held similar positions in previous years) has solved problems
in a similar way and has been successful. This predisposes a
repetition of a standard solution which has already proven to
be effective. This constitutes what is known as the experi-
ence of the individual.
- The process: When someone joins a company, they usually
prepare for their new position through a training process.
During the training, the new employee is informed about the
style of the organisation and the different processes by which
the organisation carries out its activities. These processes
constitute the basis of quality and provide a framework for
internal relations, and everyone knows what to expect from
colleagues. The processes can be considered as the experi-
ence of the company.
Although the dierent experiences provide the necessary
eciency for any organisation to be competitive, they are
often an obstacle to the emergence of revolutionary ideas
that radically change the way an organisation has been op-
Accessing and harnessing the creative impulse of your team should reap
rewards in every direction. Here are just a few suggestions of how to
cultivate new ways of thinking at work.
by Guillermo Solano
erating and provide a real advantage
against its competitors. Tese expe-
riences inhibit innovation.
BUT WHAT IS INNOVATION?
Many organisations seek to gain
new customers with amazing prod-
ucts. Others want to nd new ways
to solve key problems in any of their
internal processes. Others seek to re-
solve challenges about the environ-
ment, or about wealth distribution.
To achieve these strategic objectives,
organisations must nd a viable
path; this means that they must nd
the brilliant idea that their competi-
tors lack. Tey must show their crea-
tive capacity.
For many companies, innovation
is the key to business growth. An in-
novative product or service provides
a powerful combination: the charm
of novelty, which attracts customers,
and the exclusivity, which creates a
convenient temporary monopoly.
But innovation does not only ap-
ply to products and services, many
companies base their competitive
advantage on innovative processes.
From the productive innovations of
Ford at the beginning of last cen-
tury to the innovative distribution
UNLEASH YOUR
CREATIVE POTENTIAL
41
TEAM PLAYER
04/2010 COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
system of Zara at the beginning of
the current century, innovations in
processes have been the key to the
success of many of the most emblem-
atic companies. Ideally, an innovative
company is capable of displaying its
creative capacity in all aspects of its
operation. As a result, in recent years
many organisations have sought ways
to stimulate creative thinking in their
employees. Tey want the creativity
to be applied to everything from the
solution of everyday problems to the
development of revolutionary product
concepts. Some of the actions that an
organisation can take to increase its
level of innovation are:
1. GENERATION OF INNOVATION
CULTURE One of the characteristics
of an innovative organisation is its
focus on experimentation. Te direc-
tives encourage employees to try new
things and are willing to support
them if things do not go as planned.
Knowing that innovation involves
risk, innovative companies under-
stand that experiments can go wrong
and they are prepared to accept the consequences and en-
courage the innovator to learn and keep trying. Without
expecting all oces to be like the famous Googleplex of-
ces, the work environment inuences the way employees
view innovation. It is easy to detect when employees are
afraid to be creative in some hierarchically rigid compa-
nies.
2. CREATIVITY SKILLS TRAINING It is possible to increase
the eciency of the creative work team. Many of the tools,
previously only available to creative advertising agency pro-
fessionals, are currently used in all types of businesses to
turn the typical sta meetings into eective brainstorm-
ing sessions. After many years of mind programming that
have led employees to think in a uniform manner, the in-
tervention of experts is required to enhance the creative po-
tential and to learn how to apply it in productive activities.
Te development of personal competencies related to crea-
tivity and innovation is now the priority of many human
resources managers. Once the employee achieves the mas-
tery of creativity techniques and understands the dynam-
ics of generating innovative ideas, they can react quickly to
problems and produce out of the box solutions. Tis means
breaking traditional patterns and paradigms.
Te creativity skills and competencies range from ap-
propriate management of brainstorming sessions to the
implementation of games to solve problems, as in the case
of Lego Serious Work, the methodology developed by
42
TEAM PLAYER
04/2010 COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
Lego which uses its traditional blocks to lead employees to
analyse organisational challenges in innovative ways.
3. IDEA CAPTURE SYSTEMS One of the characteristics
of creativity is its relational nature. Tis means that many of
the most striking ideas emerge in the most unexpected mo-
ments in response to external stimuli. It does not matter if
you are Albert Einstein trying to decipher the universal laws
of physics, or a manager looking for a new strategy, once the
brain starts to work on a specic challenge, the solution can
be reached by brainstorming with some colleagues or look-
ing out of the bus window to a church clock. Tese are mo-
ments of inspiration, these are A-ha! moments.
Artists know that when they have one of these moments
of inspiration, they must run for their guitar or their brush,
otherwise the idea will be lost. Similarly, companies should
strive to capture ideas that blossom in the brain of any of
their employees before these are forgotten. Idea manage-
ment systems range from simple mailboxes located in the
corridors of oces to complex, cloud-computing type in-
formation systems. Although idea management systems
are generally open to any kind of ideas, many organisations
prefer to launch campaigns inviting to propose ideas on
a specic topic. Te advantage provided by the campaign
strategy is that the challenge eect increases the quan-
tity and quality of the proposed ideas. Idea management
systems often incorporate policies of rewarding those who
make high-value creative contributions to the organisa-
tion. In this case, it requires that the team in charge of the
innovation programme set very clear ground rules for the
selection and rewarding of the best ideas.
4. IMPLEMENTATION OF INNOVATION: HAVING LOTS
OF IDEAS DOES NOT MEAN HAVING A LOT OF INNOVA-
TION One of the more outstanding features of companies
with high innovative eciency is their ability to move from
ideation to action. Although in this type of organisation the
creative contribution of the employees is valued, what really
matters is their ability to convert high-potential ideas into
nished products that benet the company. Many compa-
nies have chosen to oer incentives and rewards to those
who manage to successfully complete a project of innova-
tion, rather than those who proposed the initial idea.
One of the most interesting trends in innovation is the
one known as fast prototyping. Given that, when con-
ceiving an idea, it is not usual practice to take into account
all the factors that aect the ideas subsequent implemen-
tation, it is helpful to quickly conduct a pilot test, which
allows for a more realistic analysis of the ideas viability.
Unlike the traditional approach, in
which the implementation of a pro-
totype or a pilot test is planned care-
fully to simulate reality as closely as
possible, fast prototyping promotes
immediate tests that (even though
they are still far from optimal con-
ditions) provide a more complete
picture of all outcomes implied by
the idea. It allows failure in the early
stages of development, when the cost
is much lower. Te result of these
fast prototyping practices allows the
organisation to decide whether to
suspend the project or to proceed to
design a more complex prototype.
5. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Once an organisation understands
that the quality of the creative con-
tributions of its team is directly relat-
ed to the ease with which employees
Accessing the right-side of the brain
Innovation is key to buisness growth.
Idea capture systems should be put
in place to detect and catch ideas at the
right time, perhaps by offering rewards.
Low-cost fast prototyping of ideas
allows for failure in early stages of idea
development.
Informal communication spaces en-
courage ideas, as well as quick access to
experts.
Open innovation utilises third-party
help, best used for non-strategic projects.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Many of the most striking ideas emerge
in the most unexpected moments in resp-
sonse to external stimuli.
43
TEAM PLAYER
04/2010 COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR
companies who are looking for ways to foster innovation
can meet. One of the main arguments against open in-
novation is that it provides competitors with insight into
the inner workings of a competitor organisation. For this
reason, most companies using open innovation only do it
for projects that are non-strategic. Another argument is
that the organisation loses control over the development
process. Tis involves some loss of eciency as the outside
researcher is not concerned about taking advantage of the
productive capacity of the company.
Another form of open innovation is the one known
as co-creation, in which clients are involved in develop-
ing solutions. In this case, the company still controls the
research process but provides its customers the opportu-
nity to participate by proposing ideas and making tests.
AMBIDEXTROUS THINKING AND INNOVATION
Some experts on brain function propose a model in which
each hemisphere plays a role. Te left side is responsible
for analytical and structured thinking: it is the logical side.
Te right side uses thinking based on emotions and percep-
tions: it is the illogical side. If we use this model to explain
the functioning of an organisation, we can associate its
ability to dene and fulll the formal processes as thinking
of the left side. On the other hand, the ability to imagine
new ways of doing things is
thinking of the right side.
Companies that stand out
by their level of innovation
show ambidextrous thinking.
Tey are capable of breaking
with the usual; they can ide-
ate completely new things,
but are also capable of rigor-
ously analysing the viability
of these ideas, and turning
them into formal projects
running on deadlines.
What kind of thinking
prevails in your organisa-
tion? Chances are that if your
organisation has a tendency
to left-brain thinking, you
should reinforce some of the
elements outlined above in
order to stimulate innovation
and make real dierences,
and thus increase your mar-
ket competitiveness.
share and discuss their ideas, then
the way in which the organisation
operates can start to evolve. Knowl-
edge-driven companies:
- Value people because of their ability
to generate and share new knowledge,
not because of how much knowledge
they have at the moment.
- Promote informal communication
spaces, where it is much easier for
ideas to emerge and be improved in a
collaborative environment.
- Design knowledge yellow pages
tool, where someone who is develop-
ing an idea can easily nd experts in
any of the required subjects. Many of
these tools are forum type, where
you can post open questions that of-
ten get responses from collaborators
located anwhere in the world.
6. OPEN INNOVATION A highly in-
teresting alternative for organisations
looking to boost innovation is to leave
the development and research required
for any project to a third party. Tis
practice, known as open innovation, is
being increasingly used by companies
to reduce the risks involved in innova-
tion. In many cases, the organisation
only pays the ally when their research
and development work has resulted in
a viable product. Tis eliminates the
high costs associated with failed de-
velopment projects.
Organisations using open in-
novation could even propose open
contests in which researchers from
around the world compete for a
prize oered to whoever manages
to reach the desired result. Once
the company selects the winner
and awards the prize, it obtains the
rights to exploit the idea. Some web-
sites, such as InnoCentive.com, of-
fer a platform where researchers and P
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Guillermo Solano
Director,
Centro de Innovacon
Guillermo Solano is a resear-
cher and expert on organisa-
tional innovation and creati-
vity applied to business. He
currently heads the Centro de
Innovacin, a Colombia-based
company dedicated to sup-
port innovation processes in
organisations and improving
the human resource. Solano
has 15 years of experience
as marketing manager in For-
tune 500 companies.