Holly Green

How to Stop the Dreaded “Decision Drift”

 Posted by  Leadership  No Responses »
Jan 182012
 

a train side trackHave you ever had a meeting that didn’t work out quite as a planned? Where everyone agreed to a specific course of action and two weeks later you discover that what they’ve been working on doesn’t come close to your vision of what should happen?

When these situations arise, we usually blame poor communication. We didn’t communicate clearly. People weren’t really listening. We thought we had consensus when we really didn’t.

Faulty communications can certainly play a role, but there’s a lot more at work underneath the surface. This situation clearly illustrates how the way our brain works can undermine even our best intentions.

When we gain consensus on a decision or course of action, everyone agrees on the surface. But as soon as people leave the meeting and start making in-the-moment decisions, their underlying attitudes and assumptions get in the way. They typically don’t have the same attitudes and beliefs as you, so they make decisions that differ from the ones you would make.

As each new decision is made, this process builds until everyone ends up miles apart on the project. So you gather for the follow-up meeting and everyone wonders, “What happened?”

Fortunately, succession visioning comes riding to the rescue (cue “Lone Ranger” music).

Success visioning is based on the brain’s inability (on many levels) to distinguish between what is real and what it is told. Used by premier athletes around the globe, it relies on the brain’s ability to drive the body to action when it sees a clear endpoint or goal. There are many ways to use success visioning. In business, I recommend the following:

Start by using future, active, past tense questions to define winning or excellence. For example, “When we have achieved success in working well together, how often did we touch base? What decisions did you want us to make together versus having me inform you about? Who else is working with us and how did we keep everyone informed? What are the most important things we will have focused on first, and how will we make sure we all stayed on track?”

Note that these questions use a past tense voice, as if they have already occurred. Here’s why.

When we begin with the present tense, our brain typically fills in with all the reasons we can’t make something happen. But when we convince our brain we have already achieved success, it doesn’t know we have not. So it fills in the blanks between today and the target date with innovative solutions for achieving success. It focuses on winning rather than what is in the way.

Future, active, past tense questioning helps to paint the picture of success between the individuals involved, often uncovering expectations that would otherwise not see the light of day. Once a conversation uncovers what success looks like for a given timeframe, it becomes much easier to meet each other’s expectations and work together as a team.

Success visioning can also help to determine more effective ways of working during meetings. For example, start your meetings by asking:

  • When we have had a successful meeting, what decisions will we have made?
  • How will we have most effectively made those decisions?
  • How will we have gotten all the input we needed?
  • Whose input will have been most critical/important?
  • How will we have exposed any assumptions underlying what we decided?

For ongoing conversations, particularly around sensitive issues or areas where people have a lot of passion, make your thinking process visible. Explain your assumptions and the data that led to them. Give examples of what you propose, and explain who will be affected, how, and why. Encourage others to explore and question your assumptions and data. Reveal where you are least clear in your thinking, and stay open to different points of view.

To ensure alignment, ask others to make their thinking process visible. Explain your reasons for inquiring and ask questions like, “What leads you to conclude that? Help me understand how you got to that point. Tell me more about why you’re thinking that way.”

This process starts to uncover the underlying beliefs, assumptions and meanings others have about the topic under discussion. Only when we understand the why of someone’s belief or behavior can we make decisions that both parties understand and can adhere to.

At the strategic level, success visioning can be used in a process called ‘destination modeling’ to help organizations get clear on what winning looks like. Most companies have clearly defined financial objectives. Destination modeling involves going beyond the financial metrics and painting very clear pictures of what it will look like when you win in other areas of the business.

For example, when we have achieved our marketing goals:

  • What new products will we have brought to the market?
  • What new markets will we be serving?
  • How will we be known in those markets?
  • What new competitors will we be competing against?
  • What new team members will we have brought on board?
  • What new systems, processes and technologies will we be using to serve those markets?

Again, use future-active, past tense questions that position the goal as if you have already achieved it. Your brain, in many ways, can’t distinguish the difference between mental imagery and reality. So when you paint a picture of winning, it actively seeks out ways to make that picture happen.

Of course companies need to track financial metrics such as revenues, cash flow and margins. But these only don’t typically motivate, inspire or engage employees. Use destination modeling to paint detailed pictures of what it looks like to win in other areas of your business and you will be amazed at the alignment that occurs.

Use the power of the brain to get clear on excellence. Expose your thinking to each other. And use destination modeling to define winning in every area of your business. You’ll find that everyone in the organization is running the same race, and you’ll never again have to start a follow-up meeting by wondering, “What happened?”

About the Author:
Holly Green has a BA in behavioral sciences and Master of Science degree in organizational development from American University in Washington, D.C. She is currently on staff at Webster University where she teaches courses in the graduate program. Holly also teaches for the University of California San Diego, Rady School of Management in the executive education program.Ms. Green is the CEO of THE HUMAN FACTOR, Inc. ( www.thehumanfactor.biz ) She has over 20 years of executive level and operations experience in FORTUNE 100, entrepreneurial, and management consulting organizations. She conducts more than 50 workshops annually for Vistage, the world’s largest CEO membership organization. She is also a frequent keynote speaker for numerous corporate and professional associations. Her book, More Than A Minute: How To Be An Effective Leader & Manager In Today’s Changing World ( www.MoreThanaMinute.com ) lends voice to her corporate experience and goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical action oriented information.

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Time For a Project Premortem?

 Posted by  Innovation Management, Leadership  No Responses »
Dec 292011
 

business team planningIn most organizations, it’s common practice to conduct “postmortem” or lessons learned review sessions upon completion of major projects.

If the project achieved its goal, management questions typically focus on what went right. What did we do well? How can we sustain this success? What could we improve to make the outcome even better?”

If the project failed to meet expectations, the postmortem tends to focus on what went wrong. Where did we get off track? How and when should we have adjusted? What can we learn from this experience?”

Postmortems play an important role in improving our businesses. But in today’s world, they may not be enough. I believe the time has come for leaders and managers to start engaging in “premortems.” In other words, to conduct the review process before embarking on major projects or initiatives.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I confess to borrowing the term “premortem” from a McKinsey Quarterly Report article entitled “Strategic Decisions: When Can You Trust Your Gut?” In the article, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and psychologist Gary Klein debate the risks and rewards of senior executives using their intuition to make key strategic decisions.

Not only is the article a fascinating read, it also supports one of my core beliefs that today’s leaders and managers need to slow down in order to go fast. One good way to do that is by asking postmortem-type questions before, rather than only after, the fact.

Klein recommends gathering the project team and saying, “We’re looking into a crystal ball, and this project has failed miserably. Everyone take two minutes and write down all the reasons why you think the project failed.” This gets people to voluntarily engage in devil’s advocate thinking before the project gets started.

What’s the value in conducting a premortem?

For starters, it can identify potential problems that otherwise would not have surfaced until they caused major damage to the project. It can also change the dynamics of the decision-making process for the better. Rather than trying to avoid conflict and reach consensus as quickly as possible (a common cause of ill-fated decisions), people actively look for contrarian ideas to bring to the table.

In most cases, problems identified during the premortem won’t cause the demise of the project. More likely, they will cause the project to get tweaked in ways that will improve its chances of success. For the amount of time invested, a premortem is a low-cost, high-payoff activity. It is a simple way to slow down (just enough) to get it right versus go fast and do it over.

The article also suggests going through a checklist before approving any major strategic decisions. This may seem like focusing on the details rather than the big picture. But in this case, the checklist focuses on process rather than content, thereby keeping it at a high-impact level.

According to Kahneman, the checklist should include:

· Quality of the information. Is the data coming from multiple independent sources or just one source saying the same thing in different ways?

· Decision-making process. Did the team engage in honest, open debate, or did it engage in “groupthink” in order to avoid conflict?

· Leadership deference. Did the leader’s opinion unduly influence others in a certain direction?

· Group mindset. Did the group accept the data without challenging it? Was there a rush to achieve consensus that might have caused key elements to be overlooked?

To this I would add:

· Assumption testing. What assumptions about our customers, our market and our industry did we bring to this project? Are they still valid? Do we need to update any of them?

· Environmental scan. What has changed in our industry/the world/with our competitors in the past three to six months? What has changed outside our industry that might impact how we serve our customers?

· Making stuff up (MSU) test. What are we making up about this project? What voids of information are we filling in? What decisions are based on our MSU’s (making stuff up) rather than on hard data?

In today’s business environment, customers, markets, and entire industries can change overnight. If you get it wrong the first time, you may not get another chance.

Obviously, you can’t have all the information every time you make a strategic decision. But by taking the time to identify what could go wrong before launching a project, you can have contingency plans in place before you need them. You can practice the thinking that might be required quickly if challenges arise.

“Slow down to go fast” may sound counterintuitive, but it works. You can (and should) still conduct postmortems after the fact. But you will get a lot more bang for your buck by adding a premortem into the mix.


About the Author:
Holly Green has a BA in behavioral sciences and Master of Science degree in organizational development from American University in Washington, D.C. She is currently on staff at Webster University where she teaches courses in the graduate program. Holly also teaches for the University of California San Diego, Rady School of Management in the executive education program.Ms. Green is the CEO of THE HUMAN FACTOR, Inc. ( www.thehumanfactor.biz ) She has over 20 years of executive level and operations experience in FORTUNE 100, entrepreneurial, and management consulting organizations. She conducts more than 50 workshops annually for Vistage, the world’s largest CEO membership organization. She is also a frequent keynote speaker for numerous corporate and professional associations. Her book, More Than A Minute: How To Be An Effective Leader & Manager In Today’s Changing World ( www.MoreThanaMinute.com ) lends voice to her corporate experience and goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical action oriented information.

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Are You Overdue For an Assumption Inventory?

 Posted by  Innovation Management  No Responses »
Dec 212011
 

Questions for mind mappingAre You Overdue for An Assumption Inventory? It’s been said that in today’s chaotic markets, the only sustainable competitive advantage may be the ability to learn faster than your competitors. I disagree.

The ability for leaders and managers to learn quickly is certainly a critical advantage. Especially in industries where new technologies and/or rapidly changing customer expectations can disrupt the status quo overnight. But the ability to learn quickly is not nearly as important as the ability to unlearn faster than your competitors. The market leaders of the future will be those companies that not only learn quickly, but can shed outdated ideas and ways of thinking faster than their competitors.

Think of it like a dusty old attic, full of stuff that had some intrinsic value at one point in time, but now does little more than gather cobwebs. If we want to put anything new in the attic, we first have to get rid of some of the old stuff. In business, our brains operate the same way. If we want to embrace new ideas about how to add value to our customers, we must first get rid of old ideas and old ways of running our businesses. Not all of them, mind you; just the ones that are no longer working or should have been updated.

How do we know which ideas to keep and which to relegate to the discard pile? Therein lies the problem.

Often, old ideas that are no longer working are the same ones that contributed the most to our current success. Because of their success, these ideas became a fundamental part of our basic assumptions regarding what we know to be true about our customers, our markets, and our industry. Over time, they changed from assumptions to ‘facts.’ Eventually they became so ingrained in our thinking that to question these ‘facts’ is considered heresy. But even for those who dare to challenge these “sacred cows,” it seems counter-intuitive to throw out what has worked so well for an extended period of time.

The solution lies in taking a regular assumption inventory in order to separate the old from the new, the good from the bad, and the still working from the everything changed, so have to update ones.

Companies do this all the time with physical inventories. Once or twice a year we go through everything that’s sitting on the shelves, take stock of what we have, and get rid of outdated or obsolete products by marking them down or writing them off. This clears the way for new products that can be sold for a higher price or better profit margin (hopefully).

I’m suggesting we do the same with our ideas and assumptions. Only we need to do it more often than once or twice a year. Considering the speed at which the world moves, things we knew to be true as little as six months ago may no longer be valid. And the sooner we find that out, the better. So I recommend an assumption inventory at least once a quarter, and even monthly for industries undergoing profound change.

What does an assumption inventory look like? Gather your management team and ask questions like:

  • What has changed with our customers, our markets, our industry and the world at large since our last inventory?
  • What assumptions are we continuing to make simply because we “know them to be true”? Of these, which are no longer valid? How do we know that?
  • What processes, systems and ways of behaving are we continuing to hold onto because “we have always done it that way?”
  • What ideas for new products or services have we come up with recently but didn’t follow through because “that will never work”? What has changed that might now make them feasible?

While going through this process, its essential to use hard data to support your decisions about which assumptions to keep, update, or let go. That’s why it’s so important to stay in close contact with customers and other key stakeholders in your industry. Find out what is changing in their worlds, and integrate that information into your updated assumptions about how they determine value. At the same time, don’t limit your research solely to customers and obvious competitors. In today’s markets, disruptive change often comes from outside your industry.

After conducting a thorough inventory and determining which ideas and assumptions need to be updated, my favorite exercise involves the “what if?” session. Again, gather your management team and ask a series of “what if……?” questions. For example:

  • What if it was okay with our customers if we increased prices?
  • What if we could deliver our product at half its current cost?
  • What if we could get the product out the door in half the time it currently takes?
  • What if we became the first company to do X in our industry?
  • What if we were starting this business over from scratch? What would we do differently (and why)?
  • What if we put the employees in charge for a day? What would they do differently?

The main purpose of this exercise is to allow people to pause, step back from their day-to-day focus, and think about new possibilities. Most of us have so much on our plates that unless we deliberately schedule time to engage in possibility thinking, it will never happen.

The key is to make our thinking as transparent as possible. As humans and as organizations, we tend to be very invested in what we know to be true. We unconsciously seek to prove what we think is right, and as a result we miss critical data that might indicate the time has come to discard our outdated viewpoints. To unlearn, we must constantly challenge what we know to be true, and then open our thinking to new and different possibilities.

Taking assumption inventories on a regular basis will go a long way toward building a sustainable competitive advantage for your organization. Isn’t it about time you started doing some unlearning?


About the Author:
Holly Green has a BA in behavioral sciences and Master of Science degree in organizational development from American University in Washington, D.C. She is currently on staff at Webster University where she teaches courses in the graduate program. Holly also teaches for the University of California San Diego, Rady School of Management in the executive education program.Ms. Green is the CEO of THE HUMAN FACTOR, Inc. ( www.thehumanfactor.biz ) She has over 20 years of executive level and operations experience in FORTUNE 100, entrepreneurial, and management consulting organizations. She conducts more than 50 workshops annually for Vistage, the world’s largest CEO membership organization. She is also a frequent keynote speaker for numerous corporate and professional associations. Her book, More Than A Minute: How To Be An Effective Leader & Manager In Today’s Changing World ( www.MoreThanaMinute.com ) lends voice to her corporate experience and goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical action oriented information.

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The Complexity Wakeup Call

 Posted by  Innovation Management, Leadership  No Responses »
Dec 072011
 

man looking at graphs and chartsHave you responded to the wakeup call that has been sounding for business leaders? For the past few years I’ve been talking about and sharing with anyone who will listen – clients, seminar and learning session attendees, keynote audiences – the world is moving faster and getting more complex all the time. I see people nod their heads in agreement, but I am not sure any of us does a lot about it. When I work directly with clients, I know the logical conclusion has been drawn that it is harder than ever to keep up and takes more time to understand the ecosystems of our own business as well as all the forces that impact it.

And I read a lot and see quite a few books about innovation and doing things differently today, but I don’t see much of it happening. Many companies or leaders just aren’t set up or able to process how fast changes are occurring. The problem is, a few, nimble individuals and organizations are and if others don’t come to grips and behave differently in today’s harsh reality, they will soon find themselves desperately trying to catch up with those that do.

Here’s some convincing evidence to support this position.

IBM just came out with a fascinating report entitled, “Capitalizing on Complexity: Insights from the Global Chief Executive Study,” a summary of findings from interviews with more than 1,500 CEOs around the globe who run companies in the finance, distribution, communications, industrial manufacturing, and public sectors. The report lists four key findings:

1. Three-fourths of the CEOs polled said they anticipate even more complexity in the near future.

2. Most now consider creativity (thinking differently) as the most important leadership quality.

3. The top companies are outperforming others with the help of their customers. Specifically, they’re integrating customers into their core processes to aid in the development of new products and services.

4. Other companies are leading their markets by figuring out ways to manage complexity for their organizations, customers, and partners.

What do CEOs mean when they refer to “complexity”?

According to the report, it’s not just that opportunities, threats, and changes in the marketplace are happening faster or with less predictability. It’s that they are becoming increasingly interconnected and interrelated in ways we have never had to deal with before. The result is a significantly more volatile and uncertain world. One that is highly susceptible to tectonic change on a moment’s notice, and one where incremental change may no longer be enough to survive.

The report goes on to say that in order to position their companies for success in the 21st century, CEOs now feel that they and their teams must “lead with bold creativity, connect with customers in imaginative ways, and design their operations for speed and flexibility.” Easy stuff to say.

What really stood out for me was the feeling among many of the CEOs that their organizations were not prepared to effectively cope with current levels of complexity. Despite these concerns, however, a small group of companies was learning to meet complexity head-on and turn it into an opportunity rather than a threat.

How? Through three distinct strategies.

Employing creative leadership. This was defined as “inviting disruptive innovation while encouraging people to drop outdated approaches and take balanced risks.” I call it thinking differently day to day and it includes challenging assumptions, getting clear on winning, developing new perspectives, focusing on targets and re-focusing frequently. It requires a skill set that enables individuals to pause and ask questions to trigger their brains versus just running constantly.

Reinventing customer relationships. Around the globe, CEOs are increasingly seeing the value in developing intimate relationships with customers. Many companies are now making concerted efforts to actively engage customers in helping them differentiate their products and services. This also requires a new set of thinking skills. Individuals and organizations must be willing to suspend beliefs about what has always worked, what they are absolutely, positively sure is so, and constantly question themselves to forge new relationships in new ways.

Building operational dexterity. This is similar to a term I have been using for several years now – ‘strategic agility’. It refers to the ability to act swiftly and with focus when unexpected challenges or opportunities present themselves. It includes the ability to make change happen on your terms rather than sitting back and waiting for it to dictate how you will react. It requires an organization that can shift appropriately when necessary and focus relentlessly all the time.

Ultimately, says the report, CEOs must “shake up their portfolios, business models, old ways of working and long-held assumptions.” More important, they need to get a better grip on what customers really care about, and get rid of outdated ideas about how their organizations create and deliver value.

Pause and consider your business environment today. Practice thinking instead of just running. Ask yourself if you are dealing with the pace and complexity well. Ask others what they have recently learned that surprised them. Consider what you need to unlearn. It is not going to slow down or get simpler. You have to learn how to deal with it effectively in new ways!


About the Author:
Holly Green has a BA in behavioral sciences and Master of Science degree in organizational development from American University in Washington, D.C. She is currently on staff at Webster University where she teaches courses in the graduate program. Holly also teaches for the University of California San Diego, Rady School of Management in the executive education program.Ms. Green is the CEO of THE HUMAN FACTOR, Inc. ( www.thehumanfactor.biz ) She has over 20 years of executive level and operations experience in FORTUNE 100, entrepreneurial, and management consulting organizations. She conducts more than 50 workshops annually for Vistage, the world’s largest CEO membership organization. She is also a frequent keynote speaker for numerous corporate and professional associations. Her book, More Than A Minute: How To Be An Effective Leader & Manager In Today’s Changing World ( www.MoreThanaMinute.com ) lends voice to her corporate experience and goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical action oriented information.

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Does Your Culture Support Innovation?

 Posted by  Innovation Management, Leading Innovation  No Responses »
Aug 192011
 

circle of peopleThere’s a lot of people talking about innovation these days, myself included.

The good news is that business leaders seem to be sitting up and taking notice of this important subject. The bad news is that once a topic becomes popular in the media, people have a tendency to see it as the next “management flavor of the month.” In other words, they perceive it as a quick fix solution rather than a long-term change in the way they do business.

Remember a few decades ago when everyone jumped on the continuous improvement bandwagon? Very quickly, companies of all shapes and sizes began implementing six sigma, lean manufacturing, and other types of process improvement programs. Many had no clue what they were doing or worked hard without a link to overall strategy and success. And most had very unrealistic timelines and expectations for the results they hoped to achieve.

Not surprisingly, the continuous improvement movement failed to produce any overnight successes. Companies that approached continuous improvement as a quick fix soon discovered the error of their ways, usually ending up worse off than before they started. Those that invested the time and effort in making continuous improvement a way of life are still reaping the dividends.

The same thing needs to happen with innovation. To succeed, it needs to become an integral part of how you do business. Innovation requires ways of thinking that must underlie all the process, systems, and management behaviors in an organization. Creating ongoing innovation in an organization needs to be thought of as a long-term process, especially if you are used to reacting to change rather than creating it. Most of all, innovation requires an organizational culture that nourishes and supports it as a way of life rather than as a short-term band-aid for current business problems.

To create a culture that encourages rather than inhibits innovation:

Create a Powerful Context
The strategic planning process starts with defining what winning looks like for your organization. Creating a culture that supports innovation begins the same way. Start by explaining why innovation is important and how it will help your organization win. Paint a picture of what your organization will look like when innovation becomes a way of life and how it will benefit all your key stakeholders. Always address the “why” before moving on to the “what” and the “how.”

Help People Learn to Think Differently
Most of us don’t really know how to pause to challenge our own assumptions, change perspectives, or even how to consider different angles. We are not used to slowing down just a little to consider options, balance the big picture with the details, or seek new data. As adult humans, we are not naturally prone to constantly test and update our mental models about our world, our customers, our peers, and our organization. Most of us need tools and support to learn these critical new skills and abilities. Make sure you set your organization up for success by providing the necessary support in the form of learning sessions, tools, and techniques to help people think differently.

Link Individual Effort to the Big Picture
Not only do employees need to understand why innovation is critical to the organization, they must also understand how the work they do fits into the overall effort. After giving employees the big picture, tell them how and where they fit in. Ask for their input on how to improve products, processes and workflow, and let them know they will have some degree of autonomy in how they perform their jobs. In addition, stress the importance of open communication up and down the management chain as well as across teams, departments, and work units.

Build and Encourage Diversity
One of the quickest ways to kill innovation is to surround yourself with people who think the same way, make decisions the same way, and tend to avoid conflict. Ask yourself questions like: Do we develop teams with diverse skills and analytical styles? Do we accommodate all styles in meetings and conversation, or do we favor one style over the others? As an organization, do we value contention, debate, and tension or do we constantly rush to consensus? Conversely, do we get stuck in analysis paralysis and avoid making decisions for fear of failure?

Use Supportive Language and Behaviors
Many organizations have built-in language patterns and behaviors that do not support innovation. Seemingly innocuous phrases like “Don’t bother, we’ve already tried that” or, “Nice idea, but management will never go for it” can instantly shoot down any good ideas that may arise. Instead, use language that encourages employees to contribute ideas and stay open to new possibilities. Do not tolerate gossiping, politicking or ridiculing new ideas, no matter how far-fetched. If employees don’t feel safe voicing their ideas and opinions, innovation will never happen.

Acknowledge and Reward Innovation
It’s one of the oldest axioms of human nature – people repeat behaviors they get rewarded for. Does leadership in your organization give employees continual feedback on the results of their efforts? Do you privately acknowledge the efforts of individuals? Do you recognize them publicly? Do you continually communicate your commitment to innovation at all levels of the organization? Most important, do you demonstrate that commitment by your actions and behaviors as well as the words you say?

Talking about innovation is good. Putting it to work in your organization is even better. For best results, link innovation to your strategy and think of creating ongoing innovation as a long-term process rather than a short-term goal. And make sure your culture provides the necessary context for it to thrive.


About the Author:
Holly Green has a BA in behavioral sciences and Master of Science degree in organizational development from American University in Washington, D.C. She is currently on staff at Webster University where she teaches courses in the graduate program. Holly also teaches for the University of California San Diego, Rady School of Management in the executive education program.Ms. Green is the CEO of THE HUMAN FACTOR, Inc. ( www.thehumanfactor.biz ) She has over 20 years of executive level and operations experience in FORTUNE 100, entrepreneurial, and management consulting organizations. She conducts more than 50 workshops annually for Vistage, the world’s largest CEO membership organization. She is also a frequent keynote speaker for numerous corporate and professional associations. Her book, More Than A Minute: How To Be An Effective Leader & Manager In Today’s Changing World ( www.MoreThanaMinute.com ) lends voice to her corporate experience and goes beyond the theory of leading and managing by providing practical action oriented information.

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Are You Killing Innovation in Your Company (Without Even Knowing It)?

 Posted by  Leading Innovation  No Responses »
Apr 122010
 

In today’s world, innovation is a business imperative. You either find new and better ways to add value to your customers, you play follow the leader with those who do, or you go out of business as others change the game and you lose.

Most business leaders intuitively know this. Which is why more and more are making sincere efforts to encourage innovation in their companies. Unfortunately, these efforts rarely produce the desired results. Continue reading »