In his book, Beyond the obvious: killer questions that spark game-changing innovation, Phil McKinney (2012) argues that most innovation efforts fail because the right questions are never asked -- people are taught and do not stray from the obvious. McKinney asserts that in a rapidly changing world, people ought to ask the right questions about their businesses -- they must stretch beyond the basic or usual. Indeed, asking the right questions is the heart of innovation (Berger, 2014). Asking the right questions causes a fundamental shift in how a business sees its products and customers, and the way the two interact. In addition to asking the right questions, innovation involves creating an environment that supports innovation and having the right leadership practices. These three themes constitute the focus of this paper. The paper particularly highlights important questions that drive the innovation process and the role of leadership in creating a climate that fosters innovation.McKinney (2012) outlines a number of "killer questions" that should be the basis of any innovation effort. One of the questions is: What rules and assumptions characterise my operation in the industry? Every industry is characterised by a set of rules and assumptions that often appear as the universal truth. This could be in relation to the needs of consumers, how industry players fulfil those needs, the interaction between manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, and so forth. McKinney (2012) posits that innovation results from challenging or moving beyond commonly held assumptions as they may not necessarily be the absolute truth. He uses the publishing industry as an example. Until a few decades ago, it was generally assumed that books could only be published in print. With the emergence of new media, however, this assumption has been challenged. Readers now desire a more unique experience, real-time interaction with the author, and multiple channels of delivery. Today, books are available in not only print, but also digital, audio, and video formats, offering readers a multidimensional experience.
The revolution of the publishing industry, according to McKinney (2012), closely mirrors that of the music industry. Indeed, the music industry posits as a valuable innovation paradigm for the publishing industry. The delivery of music in compact disks (CDs) is virtually becoming a thing of the past. With internet and powerful mobile devices, consumers now desire to listen to their music whenever and wherever they want. Digital formats fulfil this need. Therefore, businesses must continually challenge the existing industry rules and assumptions. They must consider how to change their offerings in the face of technological advancements and other industry shifts as well as the evolving desires of the consumers. Questioning the prevailing industry conditions often gives birth to breakthrough ideas (McKinney, 2012).
Another...
8. Gradual Adjustment, Adaptation and Improvement It is not an untold secret that no leadership or management training program is a success in the start. This is the reason why companies today tend to work towards the persistent modification of the leadership programs after receiving the feedback. This is exceedingly important to base new programs on the feedback that is not only provided by the participants but also from their supervising
There has to be room for instructor and instructional adaptation as well, as diversity in practices is generally good for any organization and in educational institutions in particular, and it is through ongoing learning in all leaders -- which means instructors and administrators alike -- that the best practices can truly be found and through which the students are most effectively served (Hirsh & Killion, 2009). The change in
Best Practices Almost every organization, from teachers to medical professionals, has what it calls a "best practices" paradigm. What these organizations really mean by "best practices" is using knowledge management to take what was learned by trial and error in the past and making sure the same mistakes are not repeated. This, of course, is logical -- who doesn't want to profit from past errors. Best practices are designed, in fact,
Best Practices Investment Promotion It's common knowledge in the business arena that eastern nations are developing at a rapid and wild pace. Countries like China and Japan have experience a tremendous amount of development in the past few decades and the growth has been steady, making them formidable opponent and allies on the world stage. But on closer examination one knows that growth is not the singular reason to invest in
When one considers the idea of personal expectancy into the reward system it would appear that the best fit model provides the framework to individualize reward systems in order to match the needs of and expectations of the individual employee. Expectancy theory supports that the one size fits all approach of best practices that does not result in the highest level of employee motivation. A system will only be
International, Multi-Service Tests and Best Practices of Weapon Systems International test and evaluation (IT&E) programs benefit the United States and its allied partners by allowing them to access facilities and environments to achieve joint force and coalition operational realism, sharing data, costs, and T&E technologies. Conducting international tests allow the weapons system to be tested in its operational environments and ensure it can perform as expected. International testing improves interoperability among
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now