Everybody is Responsible…Except Us?
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Who’s responsible for a company’s fate? Take Enron. All of us saw the valuation of this company skyrocket without explanation during the drunken euphoria of the bubble days. We loved Enron because our stock was making us rich. The shareholders were sleeping by not demanding answers. The board was bought and sold. The employees were in a coma. The SEC was asleep at the switch. Are we vindicated because the founder is dead, the CEO is serving time and the CFO and his wife swapped prison sentences? No. Nobody is off the hook.
Disruption is critical to innovation and there are many players in a Culture of Disruption. The leadership of a company, the board, the investors, the staff, the customers, shareholders, the global market—all play a role in stimulating game-changing ideas. The Culture of Disruption is a culture of always asking questions. “Why?” “How can we make things better?” “What can we do to make it better, faster or cheaper?” Innovation needs an environment where voices can speak up, and one where they are heard and respected. Everyone’s first responsibility is to speak up when things are wrong as well as when opportunity is in the air.
Often we feel helpless. Why? If your idea is rational, if you feel your company stopped innovating a long time ago, if you are frustrated, then why hold back? When did we stop championing change and start collecting paychecks? Intelligence should prevail over ignorance.
Consider Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry. The employees, management and board must have seen the iPhone coming. Many probably own iPhones, iPads and so on. So why the paralysis? Why didn’t the company introduce a smart phone three or four years back? Would that have not been better than staff reductions? Someone needs to speak up. We all need to understand that we all have the power to disrupt. If we don’t do it, who will? In the infamous words of Steve Colbert, “Nation, what the hell is going on here? Why are we all sleeping?”
Of course everyone at RIM saw the iPhone coming, they just felt they were protected. RIM operates on a secure network while the iPhone does not. Many companies will not allow their information on open networks.
That said, while every employee has the opportunity and responsibiltiy to innovate and create new opportunites for the company; ultimately it is the executive leaders who are responsible for the fate of the company. It’s up to the executive team to listen, observe, and understand the significance of their employees ideas.
I disagree, executive management is not always responsible for the fates’ of companies. While they steer the ship it is the countless technical, support, and management staff that drive ground up change and innovation in their respective companies. These inidividuals can influence sweeping reforms and new ideas, while not as easily as executives, within a company’s core. As these individuals also perform their respective tasks everyday, their suggestions should hold a great deal of weight. The problem in many cases is the lack of persistance to influence change. For many, a great idea may gain steam for a week or two and then die out. It’s the constant refining and follow up that is needed to get great ideas heard an enacted. Look at Alaska Airlines for example. The idea onboard movie players came from a baggage handler who effectivly used communication channels and deveped his idea internally.
Granted, enacting change in especially a large company is difficult and executive leadership is by far more influencial. That being said, patience and hard pressed stubborness to move a great idea foward that aligns with the company’s core competencies is needed the further down the food chain you are.