Seeds and Soils

Matthew 13

$1,000,000,000 to $6,000,000,000Wasted Annually on failed initiatives

Many Proposed Management Solutions – CHAOS Report 2014

• 1. User Involvement 15.9%• 2. Executive Management Support 13.9%• 3. Clear Statement of Requirements 13.0%• 4. Proper Planning 9.6%• 5. Realistic Expectations 8.2%• 6. Smaller Project Milestones 7.7%• 7. Competent Staff 7.2%• 8. Ownership 5.3%• 9. Clear Vision & Objectives 2.9%• 10. Hard-Working, Focused Staff 2.4%

Still Major Failures

• We know why projects fail; we know how to prevent their failure – so why do they still fail? (Cobb’s Paradox, 1995)

• It is not just a management issue.

• There is risk

The Four Soils

• The Path (Hard Soil)

– Did not take root

• Rocky Ground

– No depth of soil – started but did not take root

• Among the Thorns

– No issue with the soil – other things took priority

• Good Soil

– Good soil and no other issues (and good seed)

Organizational Culture

• Organizations are the ground on which innovations are scattered.

– Comment by president of company in a research interview by Rogers(2003) Chapter 10.

• We need to measure the organizational soil (the ph level) to ensure that the seed will flourish.

Cultures

• National Cultural Measurements Hofstede(2010)

• 6 major Correlations – Power Distance

– Individualism

– Masculinity

– Uncertainty Avoidance

– Long Term Orientation

– Subjective Well Being

National vs Organizational Culture

• Some aspects map well from a National culture to an organizational context.

• Individual or Organizational personalities.

• We are all individual (reflecting our culture) yet we are different.– Unique like everyone else!

• Organizational Personality– Organizational culture or ethos

– Also influenced by the host national culture

Organizational Culture

• Qualitative Measurement

– Artifacts

– Heros

– Stories

– Published Materials

– Interviews

• Bias

• Intentions

Quantitative Measurements

• Cameron & Quinn (2011)

• Competing Values Framework

• Six sets of four questions

• Validated with 100,000 responses

• Validated in 1991 with 3,406 higher education responses for 334 colleges & universities.

• Cultural strength, congruence and type as a predictor of effectiveness.

Dominant Cultural Types

• Two major perceived sets of effectiveness criteria:

• Flexibility, discretion & dynamism

• Stability, order & control

• Internal Focus & Integration

• External Focus & Differentiation

Four Cultural Soils

• Clan (Collaborate)

• Hierarchy (Control)

• Adhocracy (Create)

• Market (Compete)

Survey Results

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1

2

3

4

Clan Culture & Values (43)

• Flexibility & Discretion

• Internal Focus & Integration

– A Family Feeling

– A strong sense of belonging

– Personal Identification with the organization

– Increase collaboration and team work

Control Culture & Values (28)

• Stability & Control

• Internal Focus & Integration

– Structure & Standard procedures

– Order and predictability

– Efficiency

– Reduce cost & complexity

Thesis

• Introduction of the innovation must be consistent with the organizational culture.

• What is the expected outcome of the innovation?

• Is it incremental or a disruptive?

• What are the core values as exhibited by the organization?

• Review espoused values and intentions

Innovation – the seed

• Innovation – anything new for the organization.

• Incremental vs. Disruptive– You can not disrupt yourself

– Major change in product, policy or process

• Focus is on the adoption of innovation not the creation of innovation.– The movement from idea to action

• We need to find the right seeds.

The New Seeds ...

• Mobile

• Asynchronous

• Flat network (peer) topology

• Learner oriented

• Aspirational

• The internet of everything

• FREE

Intersection of Culture & Innovation

What is an intersection?

• An intersection is a place where one road meets with at least one other road, and is the most common place where collisions occur.

• Intersections do not necessarily have stop signs or traffic lights.

• http://bcdrivingblog.com/intersections/

• Intersections are also where we can run into innovations.

Culture and Innovation

• Culture puts up stop signs and traffic lights

• It is a green light if it fits the culture.

• It is viewed with suspicion if the expected outcomes are not consistent with the values of the organization.

Some Expected Outcomes

• Decreased Costs• Increased Revenues• Competitive Advantage• Improved teamwork• Improved Internal Controls• Increased Productivity• Introduced new capabilities• Introduced new offerings• Introduced new delivery of current offerings• Introduced new pricing of current offerings• Improved quality of current offerings

The Challenge

• Regardless of the resources, introducing a technology or innovation that does not fit the culture will fail.

• Options:

– Change the culture

– Adapt the innovation to fit the culture

– Use the innovation to change the culture

• FOCUS: On the job to be done

The Pony Express – an innovation

• The Problem: It would take weeks to months to get a letter from New York to San Francisco by stage coach.

• The Solution: Adapt existing technology by setting up a dedicated network of stations and riders to deliver the message (mail)

The Pony Express

• Riders would switch horses every ten to twenty miles.

• Well paid staff.

• Dedicated to the delivery of the mail.

• Delivery within 10 days of dispatch.

• Remarkable feat of management.

An incremental innovation

• Opened on April 3, 1860 and closed on October 24, 1861

• Replaced by the telegraph

• The message, not the mail, was important.

• The same “thing” just faster.

Cram.com• An idea floated by Clayton Christensen

• Shift of text book publishers from paper to eBooks and additional resources

• Over $100 million US$ wasted by publishers

• Students don’t want to spend more time researching the subject. Job number one is to spend as little time as possible cramming the material so they can pass the exam!

Competition at the intersection

• Online, non formal, books and conferences coming up from below

• Seminary Strengths in deep foundations• Weakness in the cost

– Time, moving

• Restructure delivery?• Repackage content?• Rethink what you sell?

– Education (Teaching or Learning)– Transformation– Does leadership or spiritual development happen in the class

room?

At the intersection

• What is job number one?

• How is Seminary like Law or Med School?

• How is Seminary like a fitness center?

• How is Seminary like the Evening News?

• How is Seminary like the Circus?

– What can lawyers learn from clowns?

• How is Seminary like Disneyland?

You are what you charge for?

• What are students (clients) paying for?

• Time in class– Service delivery to the client (Credit hours)

• Learning outcome– A memorable experience revealed over time to

your guest

• A transformative Experience– An effectual transformation guided and sustained

through time to the aspirant.

Design a transformative Experience

• Intentional design of the experience• Individualize the experience• Interactive

– beyond a mere transfer of information

• Interpreted – design the platform for the experience

• Inspirational– establish the context for the experience – Tells a compelling organizational story

• From: The Experience Economy

Implementing the Innovation:Planting the seed

• Aware of the cultural context

• Aware of the expected outcome of the seed

– Are we expecting wheat, corn or potatoes?

– Does the seed fit the soil?

– How do we prepare the soil for the seed?

Kotter: Leading Change

• Develop a Sense of Urgency – Now is the time!

– The seeds of failure are planted in the garden of success!

– Battle success and complacency

– Realistic assessment of the current situation

• Create a Guiding coalition

– These are the people to lead the change

Develop a vision and strategy

• I have a vision ... The promised land

• Related to the job to be done

• A clear view of the destination

• A map to get there

• Communicate the vision

– Model the vision

Action ...

• Get rid of obstacles

• Change systems that undermine the change

• Encourage risk taking, testing & experimenting

• Trialability leads to innovation acceptance

• Create short term wins

• Celebrate the wins

• Recognize & reward those involved

Solidify

• Use the short term wins to gain credibility to continue the change.

• Anchor the new innovation in the culture

Resources

Found at www.kdi.ca/ATS

• The Standish Group

• Cameron & Quinn

• Leading Change

• The Innovative University

• Blue Ocean Strategy

• The Experience Economy

Innovation and ideas are like the seeds cast by the sower—they are everywhere, but many don’t take root. Given the same technology, what makes one project successful and one not? The thesis is that it is due to the organization’s culture. The presenter’s background includes the implementation of technology as well as his role as a seminary CFO. He is currently completing his DBA with a focus on which organizational cultural factors inhibit the implementation of innovation. It is not that some organizational cultures are hopeless! The question is, how do you till the organizational soil so that it is receptive to the seeds of change and innovation?