Books
Leadership through innovation
Innovation to the Core
Peter Skarzynski and Rowan Gibson
Harvard Business Press, £18.99/ $35
Organisations are far better at executing strategies than encouraging innovation, say Peter Skarzynski and Rowan Gibson, who explain how to “move innovation from a buzzword to a core competence”.
Skarzynski, chairman of international growth and strategy firm Strategos (which he founded with strategy guru Gary Hamel, who writes the introduction), and business strategist Gibson, draw on the likes of IBM, Nokia and Procter & Gamble as examples of how innovation can lead to long-term success.
Readers are guided through turning rhetoric into reality, enlarging the innovation pipeline and maximising the return on innovation, before concentrating on how to make it a core aspect of the business (the authors stress this is a long process). Case studies and checklists highlight the challenges – realigning bonuses and budgets to encourage innovation, for example – and the essentials of implementing such a programme.
Pros: Easy read with clear focus
Cons: Certainly not a quick fix
Uniting the Virtual Workforce
Karen Sobel Lojeski and Richard Reilly
Wiley, £15.99/$29.95
Part of the Microsoft Executive Leadership series, this book reveals how organisations have to transform the way they lead and innovate to cope with “virtual distance” – the era of working with remote employees and outsourced partners based all over the world.
Under this umbrella come three areas that have fundamentally altered the way companies must set themselves up for success, argue Karen Sobel Lojeski and Richard Reilly, partners in the Virtual Distance International consultancy. These are the physical and geographical barriers; operational distance, such as communication and technical difficulties; and affinity distance, covering cultural and social barriers.
By highlighting the negative implications of virtual work environments, the authors force leaders to consider their own strategy in an area it would be easy to enter blindfold. But those who strike the right balance can expect greater productivity and innovation that can ultimately lead to success.
Pros: Confronts hidden challenges
Cons: Theories can overcomplicate
Innovation Leaders
Innovaro (edited by Caroline Jones)
Infinite Ideas, £20/$39
The leading innovators in 25 fields, according to research by innovation strategy consultancy Innovaro, are profiled in Innovation Leaders.
They are judged on how effective their strategy is and the impact it has on the top and bottom line, using scorecards to illustrate how the profiled businesses perform in key areas such as new products, investment in innovation and innovation culture.
The result is a broad snapshot into innovation today, with less familiar brands – Starwood Hotels, Reckitt Benckiser and Eli Lilly – sitting comfortably alongside more obvious examples such as Google, Apple and Virgin Atlantic. Following the profiles is a useful round-up of what these organisations share – strategic focus, collaboration and organisational culture – before the book provides further insights around key themes.
Pros: Useful snapshot of innovation
Cons: Inevitably brief on each one
The Six Secrets of Change
Michael Fullan
Jossey Bass, £13.99/$24.95
The key to business success, argues Michael Fullan, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, is the ability to adapt to changes in customer tastes, political climate and economic opportunity.
Drawing on his background in organisational change, and company examples including Toyota, General Electric, Xerox and Southwest Airlines, Fullan develops six crucial “secrets” that allow companies to change. These are: allowing for unexpected opportunities in long-term planning; cultivating a culture of collegiality; developing and nurturing employees; offering learning opportunities regularly; developing leadership potential at all levels; and creating an inescapable positive pressure.
Successful leaders, he argues, are able to integrate innovation and continuous improvement with consistent performance.
Pros: Readable and challenging
Cons: Highly theoretical in parts
