Leadership and Change

As an example, improving current processes and introducing innovations are constantly being worked on within my IT organization. Within the overall organization that has over 600 fulltime employees, twenty-two staff members make our department. We work anywhere from 50 to 100 new projects in a given year. Most projects start the “innovation” process, although a few become obsolete or shelved for later review. With the hundreds if not thousands of projects that will occur in a given year, it appears we accomplish about a dozen overall innovations because the annual strategic goals stated by the IT President are the innovative ideas that have clear public value, they are the ones that are focused and publicized.

Creating public value in a nonprofit and government organizations is the bottom line. A vision can be created, shared and implemented but without regular innovation they would lose public interest, they would lose funding. Think of any organization that could implement something as the best most innovative product but then sit still. Unless they are a private organization willing to throw money at nothing, they are short lived. Viability exists by creating public value and continuously improving that value.

As in the case study on the Minnesota Zoo, I recall when the zoo opened and my dad took me and my sisters there. I was so excited. It was different. It was larger than Como Zoo. It had more natural homes for the animals. It had trails that took us through different worldly locations. As a child, I loved going there but it would seem forever before they had anything new-worthy to keep going back; yet, they did it over and over again with innovations as the monorail, the dolphin shows, the farm, etc. Surely these ideas were brought about by culminating many staff and public suggestions, but also by the leaders that were in place to make change happen.

Light goes into leadership detail on how the case studies were surviving natural innovation by starting the ten practices they basically followed. (134-166) Leaders should know when to get involved, to share a vision and also when to listen and follow, to allow the people that are knowledgeable doing the work to generate ideas. The commonality in the ten practices remind me of Kouzes and Posner’s leadership practices and commitments. I think if one would follow these key leadership concepts by keeping in tune with the creative staff and public interest, they will in turn generate public value that will produce a natural innovation process flow.

Of course not all organizations will succeed but that doesn’t stop them from trying new and exiting innovations. Light has a great closing example on leadership style by discussing the cartoon involving Wild E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Wild E. has many strengths that create undying devotion to capturing the Road Runner and yet has just as many weaknesses. In short, Wild E. may have what it takes to succeed but he appears shortsighted, stubborn and narrow-minded in how to do so.

What public resource do you part-take in, be it a community center, a library, a school or any other public organization would you like to see change in? Why and how would you see your idea create public value?