Work In Colour - Work. Think. Live. In Colour
Sunday 12th September 2010 | 4 comments
Last week, I went to the Creative Innovation 2010 conference in Melbourne. In one of the workshops we discussed whether all innovation has to result in big, game-changing results, or whether sometimes a smaller, incremental change might work better. I raised the question of risk appetite, which proved a bit provocative (fine by me).
I talked about a matrix that brilliant social innovator Charles Leadbeater used when he was in Sydney earlier this year. As he was expounding on the importance of knowing your risks, I found it so interesting that I scribbled down the matrix as he was talking. It looks like this:
Leadbeater said that different outcomes come from different innovations - so if you go for sustaining and formal change, you are likely to get improvements, but if you encourage informal and disruptive activity, it is more likely to lead to transformative change (or chaos...I reckon that would be a 50/50 bet!).
No rights or wrongs here - different projects and different business will have different needs and risk appetites. What's important is that you know the risks of innovation, and you know the appetite of your organisation for risk and change. You will also need to clarify the motive for change, so you can calibrate the goal, the process and the outcome.
What's your appetite for risk?
Hi Joanna! Sole traders can informally disrupt themselves like no-one else!
This was the case when I concluded that newspaper job ads were the past and blogs were the future.
Changing specialties after two decades saw the baby go and only a few cups of bathwater remain.
Lots of doubt, chaos, experiements, dry wells and worry. But it's all coming together now.
A more timid approach would've left me in the dust of braver souls. A more formal approach is hardly possible when it comes to social media.
So, I locked in D.
Thanks for this provoking post! Best regards, P. :)
Thanks Paul, how brave...I am working up to a couple of D-style innovations in my life, I like the 'transform' idea, not sure my appetite is quite sharp enough for it though yet!
Paul is so right Joanna, and it is brave! Even as a sole trader, it is easier to stay in your comfort zone and make those small improvements to something that isn't working.Sure it will now not work better, but you need really to do Paul's quantum leap.I have to pull those back of mind ideas forward and have a go.I realise that isn't quite what your article was about but that's where it immediately took me. Cheers, Alan
I think it's exactly on topic, Alan, thank you! Especially as a busy sole trader, it's easier to keep doing what you know, and not step back and pull out a new and risky idea. It's absolutely about having a go...