Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Meeting the Innovation Challenge offers a new way to look at creative leadership that integrates both leadership and management. This book also provides the student key insights into a new and more systematic way to manage transformation. As a result, the student will be able to discover a full range of potential outcomes from their change efforts - from radical new to the world transformation to incremental improvements.

Since people are at the heart of any transformation issue, Meeting the Innovation Challenge includes helpful information on the various roles required to initiate and sustain change efforts. Many change initiatives use teams, so specific tools are outlined to create and manage teamwork for transformation.

Those who lead and manage organizations have too many change methods from which to choose. This book offers practical advice on how to select and manage a variety of change methods, as well as a helpful selected list of many of the methods available from which to choose. An example is drawn and explained from the area of new product or service development.

An often-overlooked element of climate and context is also addressed. Successful innovation, change and transformation require an environment in which people are ready, willing and able to initiate and sustain change. Meeting the Innovation Challenge addresses this area by clarifying the differences between culture and climate, and then offering practical ways to understand and create the climate for transformation.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xv)
• About the Authors (p. xxi)
• Acknowledgments (p. xxiii)
• 1 Taking a Systemic Approach to Change (p. 1)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• Most change programs aren't worth the effort (p. 1)
• Exhibit 1.1 Fashion statements versus behavioral change in organizations (p. 3)
• Why do organizations need to guide change? (p. 4)
• Increasing pace and volume (p. 4)
• Growing complexity (p. 5)
• Intensifying competition and globalization (p. 5)
• The example of downsizing (p. 14)
• A survey of high performers (p. 15)
• Deliberate process (p. 16)
• Creative climate (p. 16)
• Inclusive leadership (p. 17)
• Our systemic approach (p. 17)
• People (p. 19)
• Context (p. 22)
• Outcomes (p. 24)
• Method (p. 27)
• Conclusions (p. 28)
• Top 10 barriers to effective change: a recipe for failure (p. 29)
• References (p. 31)
• Part 1 The Outcomes of Transformation
• 2 Building the Janusian Organization (p. 37)
• Who is Janus? (p. 37)
• What is Janusian thinking? (p. 38)
• What is a Janusian organization? (p. 39)
• Crisis and renewal (p. 40)
• Focusing on what will and will not change (p. 40)
• Incremental and discontinuous change (p. 41)
• Increasing support for 'yes-and' approaches (p. 41)
• Why do Janusian organizations need to lead for change and transformation? (p. 42)
• Link insight with action (p. 43)
• Spectrum of change (p. 44)
• Spectrum of change-management strategies (p. 46)
• Exhibit 2.1 (p. 47)
• Conclusion (p. 48)
• References (p. 49)
• 3 Creativity and Innovation for Transformation (p. 53)
• New challenges, old responses (p. 54)
• From 'doing better' to 'doing different' (p. 55)
• Searching and scanning (p. 60)
• Exhibit 3.1 Identifying potentially disruptive innovations (p. 65)
• Creativity in searching and scanning (p. 68)
• Strategic decision-making and problem-solving (p. 71)
• Exhibit 3.2 Leadership and transformation at Polaroid and Kodak (p. 74)
• Business investment (p. 79)
• Strategic positioning (p. 79)
• Knowledge-building (p. 79)
• Creativity in strategic decision-making and problem-solving (p. 80)
• Understanding the problem (p. 80)
• Generating ideas (p. 81)
• Planning for action (p. 81)
• Changing organizational routines (p. 82)
• Creativity in changing organizational routines (p. 86)
• Personal orientation contingencies (p. 86)
• Situational outlook contingencies (p. 86)
• Task contingencies (p. 87)
• Creative process contingencies (p. 88)
• Desired outcomes (p. 88)
• Conclusion (p. 89)
• References (p. 89)
• 4 Creating Blockbusters (p. 93)
• What are blockbusters? (p. 94)
• Characteristics of creative products (p. 95)
• Novelty (p. 95)
• Resolution (p. 96)
• Style (p. 96)
• How are blockbusters developed? (p. 97)
• Commitment of senior management (p. 98)
• Clear and stable vision (p. 101)
• Improvisation (p. 102)
• Information exchange (p. 104)
• Collaboration under pressure (p. 105)
• What about more radical products? (p. 106)
• Who develops blockbusters? (p. 108)
• Persistence to overcome resistance (p. 108)
• Toleration of ambiguity and lack of control (p. 109)
• Intrinsic motivation for the task (p. 109)
• A creative personality (p. 110)
• Do blockbusters require a special environment? (p. 112)
• Implications and conclusion (p. 114)
• References (p. 115)
• Part 2 The Part People Play
• 5 Leading and Managing for Transformation (p. 119)
• Introduction (p. 119)
• Historical approaches to leadership (p. 119)
• One-dimensional approaches (p. 120)
• Two-dimensional approaches (p. 121)
• Multidimensional approaches (p. 123)
• Contemporary approaches to leadership (p. 129)
• Bennis and Nanus - leadership strategies (p. 129)
• Kouzes and Posner - leadership practices (p. 130)
• Ekvall's leadership and change (p. 131)
• Servant leadership (p. 133)
• Collins' level-five leadership (p. 133)
• Leading versus managing (p. 134)
• Challenges of leading and managing change (p. 136)
• Managing change methods (p. 137)
• Beyond simple prescriptions (p. 138)
• Ownership and change roles (p. 139)
• Creative leadership (p. 142)
• Linked to learning (p. 143)
• Includes the whole system (p. 143)
• Linked to facilitation (p. 144)
• A model for creative leadership (p. 145)
• Management competencies (p. 146)
• Leadership practices and strategies (p. 147)
• Leading at the edge of chaos (p. 148)
• Conclusion (p. 150)
• From old to new (p. 151)
• From chaos to community (p. 151)
• From confusion to clarity (p. 151)
• References (p. 152)
• 6 Owning up to Change (p. 159)
• Introduction (p. 159)
• Ownership (p. 162)
• Interest (p. 163)
• Influence (p. 164)
• Imagination (p. 164)
• Clientship (p. 165)
• Group clientship (p. 166)
• Clear task priority (p. 167)
• Decision-making responsibility (p. 169)
• Open to diverse perspectives (p. 170)
• Other characteristics of effective clients (p. 171)
• Sponsorship (p. 172)
• Commitment (p. 173)
• Power (p. 174)
• Setting the context for creativity and change (p. 176)
• Instilling ownership (p. 178)
• Conclusions (p. 178)
• Appendix 6.1 (p. 179)
• Levels of commitment (p. 179)
• References (p. 181)
• 7 Teamwork for Transformation: Applying VIEW to Help Make Teams Productive (p. 183)
• Deciding to use a group (p. 184)
• All teams are groups; but not all groups are teams (p. 185)
• Characteristics that promote teamwork (p. 186)
• A clear, common and elevating goal (p. 186)
• Results-driven structure (p. 186)
• Competent team members (p. 186)
• Unified commitment (p. 187)
• Collaborative climate (p. 187)
• Standards of excellence (p. 188)
• External support and recognition (p. 188)
• Principled leadership (p. 188)
• Appropriate use of the team (p. 189)
• Participation in decision-making (p. 189)
• Team spirit (p. 189)
• Embracing appropriate change (p. 190)
• Challenges to watch for with teams (p. 190)
• Group versus team (p. 190)
• Ends versus means (p. 191)
• Structured freedom (p. 191)
• Support structures and systems (p. 191)
• Assumed competence (p. 192)
• Problem-solving style differences (p. 192)
• Orientation to change (p. 193)
• The explorer style (p. 194)
• The developer style (p. 194)
• Manner of processing (p. 194)
• The external style (p. 195)
• The internal style (p. 195)
• Ways of deciding (p. 195)
• People-oriented deciders (p. 196)
• Task-oriented deciders (p. 196)
• Team development (p. 197)
• A model for team development (p. 198)
• Conclusion (p. 203)
• References (p. 204)
• Part 3 Transformation Methods
• 8 Managing Change Methods (p. 209)
• Introduction (p. 209)
• What is a change method? (p. 210)
• Why so many change methods? (p. 211)
• More change challenges (p. 211)
• More complexity (p. 211)
• Increased speed (p. 212)
• Changing the way we change (p. 212)
• We don't have the time for this! (p. 213)
• We've tried that before! (p. 213)
• My method's better than yours! (p. 214)
• Different kinds of change (p. 214)
• The need for navigation (p. 216)
• Planning your approach to change (p. 217)
• Key historical CPS developments (p. 217)
• Contingencies for appraising tasks (p. 218)
• A task appraisal model (p. 219)
• Personal orientation (p. 221)
• Situational outlook (p. 223)
• Desired outcomes (p. 224)
• Methodology (p. 225)
• Designing Process (p. 226)
• Determining scope of application (p. 227)
• Level of involvement and interaction (p. 229)
• Meeting the need (p. 231)
• Constraints from the context (p. 231)
• Process contingencies (p. 232)
• Making the change happen (p. 235)
• Implementing the plan (p. 236)
• Minding the store (p. 236)
• Deliberate planning for acceptance (p. 237)
• Ways of interacting (p. 240)
• References (p. 241)
• 9 Alternative Change Methods (p. 245)
• A vocabulary for understanding methods (p. 245)
• Method versus model (p. 246)
• Process and procedures (p. 246)
• Tool versus technique (p. 246)
• An example of the 'muddle' (p. 246)
• Our approach (p. 247)
• The change methods (p. 248)
• Coaching (p. 248)
• Conflict resolution (p. 249)
• Creative problem-solving (p. 250)
• Goal setting and performance improvement (p. 251)
• Kepner/Tregoe (p. 251)
• Lateral thinking, six thinking hats (p. 252)
• Neuro linguistic programming (p. 253)
• New product development (p. 253)
• Preferred futuring (p. 254)
• Project management (p. 255)
• Quality methods (p. 256)
• Simplex (p. 257)
• Six Sigma (p. 258)
• Strategic planning (p. 258)
• Synectics (p. 259)
• TRIZ (p. 260)
• Theory of constraints (p. 261)
• Value engineering (p. 261)
• Visualization (p. 262)
• Holistic systems thinking (p. 263)
• 10 Applying Creative Problem-Solving to New Product Development (p. 265)
• Meeting the innovation challenge (p. 265)
• Pathways to growth (p. 267)
• Riding two horses (p. 268)
• Some common approaches to the discovery and the fuzzy front end (p. 272)
• Defining the boundaries of the marketplace (p. 273)
• Understanding market dynamics (p. 273)
• Trend-spotting (p. 274)
• Monitoring technological trends (p. 274)
• Forecasting (p. 275)
• Working with lead users (p. 276)
• Creative problem-solving: our current framework (p. 277)
• Planning your Approach (p. 278)
• Appraising Tasks (p. 279)
• Designing Process (p. 281)
• Planning your Approach - applied (p. 282)
• Understanding the Challenge (p. 282)
• Understanding the Challenge - applied (p. 283)
• Generating Ideas (p. 284)
• Generating Ideas - applied (p. 285)
• Preparing for Action (p. 285)
• Preparing for Action - applied (p. 287)
• Key lessons learned (p. 287)
• 1 The more successful efforts focus on an intimate understanding of consumer needs (p. 288)
• 2 Faster, better and more cost-effective NPD requires cross-functional involvement (p. 289)
• 3 Most successful launches have had good sponsorship (p. 289)
• 4 A clear and compelling strategy must guide NPD efforts (p. 289)
• 5 Meeting the innovation challenge demands deliberate management of creativity (p. 290)
• 6 Sustainable NPD success requires an investment in people (p. 290)
• References (p. 291)
• Part 4 The Context for Transformation
• 11 Transforming the Culture and Climate (p. 297)
• What is culture? (p. 298)
• What is organizational culture? (p. 299)
• What does culture include? (p. 302)
• Values, beliefs and deeply held assumptions (p. 302)
• Can leadership change culture? (p. 303)
• What is climate? (p. 307)
• Culture versus climate (p. 308)
• Different levels of analysis (p. 308)
• Different disciplines involved (p. 309)
• Normative versus descriptive (p. 309)
• More easily observable and influenced (p. 309)
• A model for organizational change (p. 309)
• The external environment (p. 311)
• The transformational factors (p. 312)
• The transactional factors (p. 316)
• Resources and technology (p. 316)
• Task requirements (p. 316)
• Individual skills and abilities (p. 317)
• Management practices (p. 319)
• Systems, policies and procedures (p. 320)
• Individual needs, motives and styles (p. 320)
• Conclusions (p. 321)
• References (p. 322)
• 12 The Climate for Innovation and Growth (p. 327)
• The Situational Outlook Questionnaire (p. 328)
• Climate dimensions and sample strategies (p. 329)
• Challenge and involvement (p. 330)
• Idea time (p. 331)
• Freedom (p. 333)
• Idea support (p. 334)
• Exhibit 12.1 Idea support at Nortel Networks (p. 336)
• Conflict (p. 337)
• Risk-taking (p. 338)
• Trust and openness (p. 341)
• Debate (p. 343)
• Playfulness and humor (p. 344)
• Conclusions (p. 345)
• References (p. 346)
• 13 Creating the Climate for Transformation (p. 351)
• What do we know about leadership behavior? (p. 353)
• Challenging the process (p. 353)
• Inspiring a shared vision (p. 354)
• Enabling others to act (p. 354)
• Modeling the way (p. 354)
• Encouraging the heart (p. 355)
• Case 1 A symphony orchestra (p. 356)
• Case 2 A medical technology company (p. 358)
• Case 3 An electrical engineering division (p. 360)
• General themes across cases (p. 365)
• Leaders and managers accepted their key role (p. 365)
• Focused on interpretation and integration (p. 365)
• Targeted key dimensions (p. 366)
• Demonstrated follow-through (p. 366)
• Used external resources (p. 366)
• Climate creation enables a systemic approach to change (p. 367)
• Conclusions and implications (p. 369)
• References (p. 370)
• Index (p. 373)

Author notes provided by Syndetics