Jan Dillis

KILL.
In my presentations on innovation one of my key messages is that the innovation funnel is a real innovation killer. I.e. disruptive innovations, innovations threatening current cash cows or even very simple innovations with a ROI difficult to demonstrate (or with a too long realization period) will never survive the innovation funnel. And you bet that you will see over time another (most of the time a smaller) company realizing your idea.

HELP.
Further elaborating on this opinion with the disruptive innovation model (brilliantly described in the Clayton M. Christensen’s book  “The Innovator’s Dilemma”) my vision is for the audience sometimes difficult to accept.

PROBLEM.
It became clear there was a missing link in my story.

BINGO.
Reading the article “A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making” by David J. Snowden and Mary E. Boone I found the missing link. The article describes a framework providing a typology of contexts, problems, situations and systems. The framework sorts the issues into five contexts defined by the nature of the relationship between cause and effect: simple, complicated, complex, chaotic, and disorder.

EUREKA.
If you put the simple and complicated contexts together (both assume an ordered universe, where cause-and-effect relationships are perceptible, and decisions can be determined based on the facts) you get the world is more or less controllable. In other words, the environment in which managers feel comfortable. Let us call this the manager’s playground.  Combining the complex and chaotic contexts (for which there is no immediately apparent relationship between cause and effect) you have an environment which definitely cannot be controlled or managed. Actions trying to control such an environment work contra productive and create unpredictable outcomes.  This world needs another approach: that of guides, catalysts, facilitators, artists and leaders. Welcome to the leader’s playground.

SOLVED.
This brings me back to the innovation funnel.  The innovation funnel works well in the manager’s playground.  Continuous improvements and straightforward innovations. But it is contra productive in the leader’s playground. There you need other tactics like Play&Learn gardens, beer felt planning, wave surfing, etc.

Well, here starts the real story …