Leading innovation: Know when it’s time to change (Week 19)

robots with tools experimenting

Creative agility allows for periodic adjustments based on data and sound decision-making

Week 19: Know when it’s time to change

Traditional leadership:

The convention has been to stay the course in spite of warning signs that change is needed. This hesitation reflects a bias toward the status quo, an inability to change, or a lack of desire.

A fresh approach:

New-era leaders should be open to identifying next steps in seeking a solution, then adjusting subsequent actions and choices based on data and sound decision-making. Create the necessary space for the pursue-reflect-adjust cycle.

Bring it to life:

    • Foster experimentation and expect progress. Anticipate periodic course corrections when facing new information, opportunities, or problems.
    • Encourage people to reconsider their points of view when presented with new information.
    • Understand that projects may benefit from pivots or adjustments; be flexible.
    • Assess whether to stop experiments early if they appear unsuccessful, allow more time and patience if warranted, use results to reassess the original problem, or roll out or scale up successful experiments.
    • Look out for opportunistic moments to expand experiments.
    • Ask, “Is the problem really what we thought it was, or do we need to understand it in a new and different way?”

Next week: Creative Resolution – Right Pace.