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AUGUST 2009

The Paradox of Innovation and Constraint

I have to admit it. I have arrived at a stage in life where I need a good night's sleep on those long haul flights to overseas clients – and that means a flat bed, not one that feels like a hike up Mount Everest. Of course most business class seats have been designed to maximize airline income vs. providing restful sleeping spaces. Until now. Continental Airlines has just announced their new “flat and longer” seats. And how did they do that?ⁱ It appears they asked their “innovation team” to freely imagine the possibilities of passenger comfort without reducing airline income. How do both freedom and constraint (and other seeming paradoxes) act as enablers of innovation? Let's explore further.

“Common” sense suggests that telling people to “dream without boundaries, as if anything were possible” is the way to great innovation. And yet, our clients fairly consistently indicate (through the Appreciative Inquiry process) that the times when they have experienced their organization’s greatest moments of collaborative innovation were not when things were going well and “anything was possible”, but rather at times when their very economic sustainability was at risk - times when innovation (in strategy, mission and organization) were essential.  

So, does this mean we have to wait for times of crisis to expect great things from our people? No, of course not! But whether your challenge is to improve physician hospital relations, turn around an ailing business model or simply shift the way work is done in your social service agency, using what we call both/and thinking is a huge start but only a start. Three other ingredients (line of sight leadership, design constraints and positive emotion) can create an innovation soup that tastes quite good!

1. Both the big picture and the little picture matter! Establishing a clear “line of sight” between the value your company has to the world, the core work of your institution, and finally the “innovation challenge” you are inviting people to tackle helps to create one of the most important intrinsic motivators – a sense that what I’m being asked to do is “socially meaningful”.
2. Providing both clarity about those things which are off-the-table (“design constraints”) and the invitation to let their imaginations roam freely is essential. One without the other is like jam without the bread or bread without the jam – not nearly as tasty!
3. And of course, there is the power of positive emotions,ⁱⁱ this doesn’t mean giving everyone a “smiley face” sticker. It's actually much more practical than that. Creating positive emotions in an organization's innovation teams can be as simple as starting with a quick inquiry into both what is worth preserving about the status quo AND ideas and opportunities for change

Innovation – both a buzzword and an achievable reality. We hope this short article helps with the latter. Good luck!

Bernard J Mohr
Partner and Consultant in Strength Based Innovation & Design in Complex Systems

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ⁱThe innovation in this case was to offset the seats. Rather than the traditional one- behind-the-other model, the offset created the same number of seats but with more bed room within the same overall cabin space.

ⁱⁱFor additional information about how positive emotions drive individual and group creativity, please see our May 2009 IPI Newsletter “What Good Are Positive Emotions in the Real World”

 

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Of Special Interest:

2009 World Appreciative Inquiry Conference:
Creating a Positive Revolution for Sustainable Change

Free Newsletter Subscription! Email:

AUGUST 2009

The Paradox of Innovation and Constraint

I have to admit it. I have arrived at a stage in life where I need a good night's sleep on those long haul flights to overseas clients – and that means a flat bed, not one that feels like a hike up Mount Everest. Of course most business class seats have been designed to maximize airline income vs. providing restful sleeping spaces. Until now. Continental Airlines has just announced their new “flat and longer” seats. And how did they do that?ⁱ It appears they asked their “innovation team” to freely imagine the possibilities of passenger comfort without reducing airline income. How do both freedom and constraint (and other seeming paradoxes) act as enablers of innovation? Let's explore further.

“Common” sense suggests that telling people to “dream without boundaries, as if anything were possible” is the way to great innovation. And yet, our clients fairly consistently indicate (through the Appreciative Inquiry process) that the times when they have experienced their organization’s greatest moments of collaborative innovation were not when things were going well and “anything was possible”, but rather at times when their very economic sustainability was at risk - times when innovation (in strategy, mission and organization) were essential.  

So, does this mean we have to wait for times of crisis to expect great things from our people? No, of course not! But whether your challenge is to improve physician hospital relations, turn around an ailing business model or simply shift the way work is done in your social service agency, using what we call both/and thinking is a huge start but only a start. Three other ingredients (line of sight leadership, design constraints and positive emotion) can create an innovation soup that tastes quite good!

1. Both the big picture and the little picture matter! Establishing a clear “line of sight” between the value your company has to the world, the core work of your institution, and finally the “innovation challenge” you are inviting people to tackle helps to create one of the most important intrinsic motivators – a sense that what I’m being asked to do is “socially meaningful”.
2. Providing both clarity about those things which are off-the-table (“design constraints”) and the invitation to let their imaginations roam freely is essential. One without the other is like jam without the bread or bread without the jam – not nearly as tasty!
3. And of course, there is the power of positive emotions,ⁱⁱ this doesn’t mean giving everyone a “smiley face” sticker. It's actually much more practical than that. Creating positive emotions in an organization's innovation teams can be as simple as starting with a quick inquiry into both what is worth preserving about the status quo AND ideas and opportunities for change

Innovation – both a buzzword and an achievable reality. We hope this short article helps with the latter. Good luck!

Bernard J Mohr
Partner and Consultant in Strength Based Innovation & Design in Complex Systems

---

ⁱThe innovation in this case was to offset the seats. Rather than the traditional one- behind-the-other model, the offset created the same number of seats but with more bed room within the same overall cabin space.

ⁱⁱFor additional information about how positive emotions drive individual and group creativity, please see our May 2009 IPI Newsletter “What Good Are Positive Emotions in the Real World”

 

---

Of Special Interest:

2009 World Appreciative Inquiry Conference:
Creating a Positive Revolution for Sustainable Change