Building A Culture of Innovation With Your Staff and Board

12th Annual Dewey & Kaye Nonprofit Symposium
in partnership with The Pittsburgh Foundation

January 13, 2011
Building a Culture of Innovation with your

Staff and Board
Leslie Bonner,
Senior Consultant
Our Panelists
Barb Conniff – CEO, Milestone
Aradhna Dhanda – President and CEO, Leadership

Pittsburgh
Our Mission: To Strengthen Regional Leadership through Programs,

Partnerships and Connections
Leaders must learn how to create an organizational
climate where others apply innovative thinking to
solve problems and develop new products and
services. It is about growing a culture of innovation,
not just hiring a few creative outliers.
• How can you help others to think differently and work in new
ways to face challenges?
• What can be done to innovate when all resources are stressed
and constrained?
• How can you stay alive and stay ahead of the competition?
Center for Creative Leadership: Innovation Leadership

WHAT is Innovation?
Innovation comes from the Latin innovationem, noun of action from innovare.
stemming from the Latin innovatus, pp. of innovare "to renew or change," from
in- "into" + novus "new". Innovation can therefore be seen as the process that
renews something that exists and not, as is commonly assumed, the introduction
of something new.
 Innovation = the creation of the new or the re-arranging of

the old in a new way. Innovation and creativity can mean
doing new things with old ideas.
 Innovation = creative problem solving
 Innovation = transformation and change
Why is innovation so important?
The "new normal" of

constant change requires
mastering perpetual
transformation.
Scott Anthony
Studies have shown that 20 to
67 percent of the variance on
measures of the climate for
creativity in organizations is
directly attributable to
leadership behavior. What this
means is that leaders must act
in ways that promote and
support organizational
innovation.
Innovation Competencies/Attributes for
Senior Leaders
Managing Vision and Purpose: Communicates a
compelling and inspired vision or sense of core purpose;
talks beyond today; talks about possibilities; is optimistic;
can inspire and motivate entire units or organizations.
Innovation Management: Is good at bringing the creative

ideas of others to market; has good judgment about
which creative ideas and suggestions will work; has a
sense about managing the creative process of others; can
facilitate effective brainstorming; can project how
potential ideas may play out in the marketplace.
Innovation Competencies/Attributes for
Senior Leaders
Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift
gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total
picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; can comfortably
handle risk and uncertainty.
Perspective: Looks toward the broadest possible view of an
issue/challenge; has broad-ranging personal and business interests
and pursuits; can easily pose future scenarios; can think globally; can
discuss multiple aspects and impacts of issues and project them into
the future.
Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a
relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both
successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will
try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks;
quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.
Why is innovation so hard?
Most organizations are

designed to execute, not to
innovate
Scott Anthony
Organizational Culture is hard to change but key
to innovation and creativity
Innovation and Change Management are
linked through Vision and Agility
Agility = able to adapt and change direction rapidly.

The individuals in leadership roles must be agile in
order to build/support an agile organization.
Kotter’s classic 8 steps for Implementing Change center

on creation and communication of a vision that serves
to focus and direct change (and innovation). And then
he says, “Empower others to act on the vision by
removing barriers to change and encouraging risk
taking and creative problem solving.”
How do I encourage innovation in my
organization?
A culture that encourages innovation is one whose leaders actively remove

organizational barriers to innovation. Internal political problems, harsh
criticism of new ideas, destructive internal competition are minimized or
eliminated. Other impediments to innovation include: an avoidance of risk,
a fear of failure, an overemphasis on the status quo and existing processes
that crush new ideas.
Center for Creative Leadership: innovation Leadership
Reward success and (intelligent) failure,

but punish inaction.
Robert Sutton
WHAT stands in the way of innovation
for nonprofits?
External
Unrelenting turbulence, unending shocks
Constant guessing about the next crisis
creates fear and risk aversion
There are scarce dollars for
experimentation
for nonprofits?
Internal factors
1. No clear vision or focus or constantly changing
priorities result in a constant state of crisis
management. Organization becomes reactive versus
proactive.
2. Organization divided up into small fiefdoms populated
by specialists who protect their turf.
3. Leaders/staff lack big picture perspective of
organization.
for nonprofits?
Internal factors
4. No diversity of thought, style or experiences in staff,
leaders, and boards. Never seek out alternative
perspectives.
5. Leaders who see innovation solely as a tool of self
aggrandizement or “not invented here” syndrome.
6. Climate in which mistakes and failure are not
tolerated, or even worse, punished.
7. New ideas or solutions are not recognized or
rewarded.
for nonprofits?
Internal factors
8. Scarce resources consumed by long standing but poor
performing programs or individuals.
9. Information treated as a precious secret,
communication up, down and sideways is impeded.
10. Too many layers of management so that ideas can’t
bubble up.
for nonprofits?
Not hiring people with innovation or creativity
competencies.
 Hiring individuals who are likely to be innovative
fosters an innovative culture.
 Robert Sutton suggests that you should hire people
who make you squirm.
 Four key traits of Innovative People:
1. Openness to frequent change.
2. Active championing of change.
3. Unstructured approaches to work.
4. Preference for trying to do things differently.
WHAT else stands in the way of
innovation for nonprofits?
Chasing Rabbits and Killing Lots of Good Ideas!
“What is really hard – and a hallmark of great companies – is that

they kill at lot of good ideas. Sure, this is tough on people who
have come-up with the good ideas as they love them and don’t
want to see them die. But that for any single good idea to
succeed, it needs a lot of resources, time, and attention, and so
only a few ideas can be developed fully. Successful companies
are tough enough to kill a lot of good ideas so those few that
survive have a chance of reaching their full potential and being
implemented properly.”
Robert Sutton
for nonprofits?
Board of Directors that:
Are risk averse as ultra-conservative stewards of
organizational resources.
Don’t understand the organization’s big picture or
complexity.
Don’t have a shared vision or focus.
Have no term limits or turnover which limits new ideas,
experiences or perspectives.
Micro-manage the organization.
Have not been presented with a compelling well-
researched business case, business plan or measurable and
realistic outcomes.
How to get buy-in from your Board to
new ideas
In his new book John Kotter describes 24 types of attacks on good ideas such as…
We tried that before –
Money is the only didn’t work.
real issue.
What about this,

and that, and this, It’s just too much
and that…? work to do this.
No one else does

this! We’ve been
successful, why
change?
You’re implying that You are abandoning

we’ve been failing. our core values.
4 Basic Attack Strategies for New Ideas
Fear Mongering
Death by Delay
Confusion
Ridicule and Character Assassination
Need for a sound business case and/or
plan especially in the absence of trust
or prior experience
Clear and well researched summary of the idea with
realistic projections.
Mission, Financial, and Capacity (staff) implications
outlined.
Proven need and funding plan.
A strategy for saving a good idea
1. Gain people’s attention by allowing the attackers in

and letting them attack.
2. Then win the minds of the relevant, attentive audience
with simple, clear and commonsense responses.
3. Win their hearts by, most of all, showing respect.
Don't fight, or collapse, or become defensive.
4. Constantly monitor the people whose hearts and
minds you need: the broader audience, not the few
attackers.
5. Prepare for these steps in advance.
Communication is key
 Review what communications (if any) have already gone out about the
plan (one-on-one talks, meetings, memos, e-mail), and evaluate how much
buy-in has already been achieved. Be careful here. People tend to
overestimate how much others understand, much less embrace, a good
idea. Do you really know who needs to buy-in and how much they already
have? What concrete evidence is available?
 Have you made sure your idea is crystal clear. Can you explain it to someone in an elevator
ride up to the top of the Empire State Building?
 Has anyone talked to likely supporters about the material before going into a broader
discussion with the relevant community. (or board)
 If some supporters are in a more logical position to address some of the attacks, have they
been asked to do so.
 Never forget that a good rule of thumb is that it's impossible to over-communicate, using
different settings and using different modes of communication.
Questions?
For more information or to discuss your
change management, board development,
and cultural/team issues please contact:
Leslie Bonner
Dewey & Kaye
[email protected]
412-434-1335
References and Resources
Leslie Bonner, Building Healthy and Effective NonProfit
Leadership Teams and Nonprofit Leadership Development
John Kotter,
Buy-In: Saving Your Good Ideas from Getting Shot Down and
Leading Change
Scott Anthony,
The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times and
31 Innovation Questions (and Answers) To Kick Off the New Year
Robert Sutton,
Leading Innovation: 21 Things that Great Bosses Believe and Do and
Weird Ideas that Work, How to Build a Creative Company
Center for Creative Leadership study: Innovation Leadership

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12th Annual Dewey & Kaye Nonprofit Symposium

in partnership with The Pittsburgh Foundation

Building a Culture of Innovation with your

Aradhna Dhanda – President and CEO, Leadership

Our Mission: To Strengthen Regional Leadership through Programs,

Center for Creative Leadership: Innovation Leadership

 Innovation = the creation of the new or the re-arranging of

The "new normal" of

Innovation Management: Is good at bringing the creative

Most organizations are

Agility = able to adapt and change direction rapidly.

Kotter’s classic 8 steps for Implementing Change center

A culture that encourages innovation is one whose leaders actively remove

Center for Creative Leadership: innovation Leadership

Reward success and (intelligent) failure,

“What is really hard – and a hallmark of great companies – is that

What about this,

No one else does

You’re implying that You are abandoning

1. Gain people’s attention by allowing the attackers in

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