Thoughts and Notes on ‘Leadership and Innovation’ from the Readings for class
Sternberg, R. J., Kaufman, J. C., & Pretz, J. E. (2003). "A propulsion model of creative leadership". The Leadership Quarterly, 14(4), 455-473.
“Immediate universal applause for an idea usually indicates that it is not particularly creative.”
Types of creative leaders:
(The first two do not seem that creative)
Sandford Borins, (2002) "Leadership and innovation in the public sector", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 23 Iss: 8, pp.467 - 476
Perceptions: private sector believes in bottom up and public sector believes in top down innovation.
Surveys, however, show the perception to be incorrect.
Innovations require advocates.
In times of crises and turn arounds, innovation comes top down.
Le Storti, A. J. (2006). Leadership for innovation: What leaders must do for innovation to happen. Home School Alliance for Technology Management,2(10), 1-5.
This article also talks about the various roles of a leader in bringing innovation to reality.
When is educational specialization heterogeneity related to creativity in research and development teams? Transformational leadership as a moderator. Shin, Shung J.; Zhou, Jing Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 92(6), Nov 2007, 1709-1721.
“Diversity is one of the most important variables for team creativity.” (Njistad &Paulus 2003)
Zheng, W., Khoury, A. E., & Grobmeier, C. (2010). How do leadership and context matter in R&D team innovation?–A multiple case study. Human Resource Development International, 13(3), 265-283.
Leaders were hands off, focused on non-competitive individual success. They buffered team members from external pressures and promoted the team externally touting expertise and creating external contacts.
Boehlke, S. (2008). The Politics of Creativity™: Four Domains for Inquiry and Action by Leaders in R&D1. Creativity and innovation management, 17(1), 77-87.
Relationships are key.
“Creativity is the primary impulse that spawns innovation. ‘Breaking the rules’ is a generally accepted ‘norm’ of the creative process.”
“Business processes, which address cost-reduction and increased efficiency, do not necessarily generate new value.”
Humans are not machines. Pacing can kill creativity and thus innovation.
“Connections and relationships are not the same thing.”
Chen, M. H. (2007). Entrepreneurial leadership and new ventures: Creativity in entrepreneurial teams. Creativity and Innovation Management, 16(3), 239-249.
Leadership style positively correlates to creativity of employees under that leader.
Sternberg, R. J. (2003). WICS: A model of leadership in organizations. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2(4), 386-401.
Wisdom, Intelligence, Creativity Synthesized
(Do we create terms because our vocabulary is lacking or because the lexicon is lacking?)
“People decide to be creative.” (Sternberg 2000)
Creatives –
Creative idea types –
(See The Propulsion Model of Leadership, also by Sternberg, above)
Transformational leaders are crowd defiers.
In intelligence, people sacrifice flexibility for comfort.
In creativity, “the first decision is that one is willing to defy the crowd.” Must have courage. “willingness to persevere.” “take sensible risks.”
(Creativity is a decision)
In wisdom, use intelligence, creativity and experience for common good. Balance self-interest, other’s interests and the organizations interest over the long and short terms. Understand other people’s points of views.
Mumford, M. D., Scott, G. M., Gaddis, B., & Strange, J. M. (2002). Leading creative people: Orchestrating expertise and relationships. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(6), 705-750.
“Creative people explore first and confirm later.”
“Creativity and innovation appear to occur more frequently in organic, as opposed to mechanistic, organizational contexts.”
Inhibitors of innovation –
“Immediate universal applause for an idea usually indicates that it is not particularly creative.”
Types of creative leaders:
- Replicators – keep the company where it is; stationary
- Redefiners – create a new viewpoint; ride in a circle
- Forward incrementors –
- Advanced forward incrementors – going further than people want to go
- Redirectors –
- Reconstructive redirectors – move back to a previous point to get a do over
- Reinitiators – start from a new point
- Synthesizers – the intersection
(The first two do not seem that creative)
Sandford Borins, (2002) "Leadership and innovation in the public sector", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 23 Iss: 8, pp.467 - 476
Perceptions: private sector believes in bottom up and public sector believes in top down innovation.
Surveys, however, show the perception to be incorrect.
Innovations require advocates.
In times of crises and turn arounds, innovation comes top down.
Le Storti, A. J. (2006). Leadership for innovation: What leaders must do for innovation to happen. Home School Alliance for Technology Management,2(10), 1-5.
- Establish and maintain a vision
- Develop competencies for innovation
- Establish and maintain a culture for innovation
- Facilitate access to thought leaders and co-creators
- Ensure information flow
- Establish systematic innovation processes
- Develop innovation strategies
- Invest in an innovation portfolio
- Build dedicated communities
This article also talks about the various roles of a leader in bringing innovation to reality.
When is educational specialization heterogeneity related to creativity in research and development teams? Transformational leadership as a moderator. Shin, Shung J.; Zhou, Jing Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 92(6), Nov 2007, 1709-1721.
“Diversity is one of the most important variables for team creativity.” (Njistad &Paulus 2003)
Zheng, W., Khoury, A. E., & Grobmeier, C. (2010). How do leadership and context matter in R&D team innovation?–A multiple case study. Human Resource Development International, 13(3), 265-283.
Leaders were hands off, focused on non-competitive individual success. They buffered team members from external pressures and promoted the team externally touting expertise and creating external contacts.
Boehlke, S. (2008). The Politics of Creativity™: Four Domains for Inquiry and Action by Leaders in R&D1. Creativity and innovation management, 17(1), 77-87.
Relationships are key.
“Creativity is the primary impulse that spawns innovation. ‘Breaking the rules’ is a generally accepted ‘norm’ of the creative process.”
“Business processes, which address cost-reduction and increased efficiency, do not necessarily generate new value.”
Humans are not machines. Pacing can kill creativity and thus innovation.
“Connections and relationships are not the same thing.”
Chen, M. H. (2007). Entrepreneurial leadership and new ventures: Creativity in entrepreneurial teams. Creativity and Innovation Management, 16(3), 239-249.
Leadership style positively correlates to creativity of employees under that leader.
Sternberg, R. J. (2003). WICS: A model of leadership in organizations. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2(4), 386-401.
Wisdom, Intelligence, Creativity Synthesized
(Do we create terms because our vocabulary is lacking or because the lexicon is lacking?)
“People decide to be creative.” (Sternberg 2000)
Creatives –
- Redefine problems
- Recognize that knowledge can help and hinder creative thinking
- Take sensible risks
- Surmount obstacles
- Believe they can accomplish the task
- Tolerate ambiguity
- Find extrinsic rewards for what they are intrinsically motivated to do
- Continue to grow intellectually
Creative idea types –
- Replication
- Redefinition
- Forward incrementation
- Advanced forward incrementation
- Redirection
- Regressive redirection
- Reinitiation
- Synthesis
(See The Propulsion Model of Leadership, also by Sternberg, above)
Transformational leaders are crowd defiers.
In intelligence, people sacrifice flexibility for comfort.
In creativity, “the first decision is that one is willing to defy the crowd.” Must have courage. “willingness to persevere.” “take sensible risks.”
(Creativity is a decision)
In wisdom, use intelligence, creativity and experience for common good. Balance self-interest, other’s interests and the organizations interest over the long and short terms. Understand other people’s points of views.
Mumford, M. D., Scott, G. M., Gaddis, B., & Strange, J. M. (2002). Leading creative people: Orchestrating expertise and relationships. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(6), 705-750.
“Creative people explore first and confirm later.”
“Creativity and innovation appear to occur more frequently in organic, as opposed to mechanistic, organizational contexts.”
Inhibitors of innovation –
- Short time frames
- Strong financial control
- Strong process control
- Top management viewing innovation negatively
- As administrative communication goes up, innovation goes down.