How can you manage risk and uncertainty when innovating in a performance culture?

Ensure that psychological safety is high up on your agenda and mission within your organisation. Staff need to feel safe enough to be able to take risks, but also safe enough to be able to voice their concerns should they have any.

Managing risk and uncertainty in an innovative performance culture involves fostering a mindset that embraces calculated risks. Allow a culture of open communication and idea-sharing. Establish clear goals, assess potential risks, and implement mitigation strategies. Foster a learning environment where failures are viewed as opportunities for growth. Invest in data analytics to inform decision-making and continuously monitor performance metrics. Cultivate agility and adaptability within the team to navigate uncertainties effectively. Strong leadership is crucial, providing guidance while allowing room for creativity and experimentation. Emphasise collaboration, allowing teams to collectively navigate uncertainties and drive innovation.

Hohes Tempo birgt hohe Unsicherheit. Folgende Stabilitätsanker helfen um in einer leistungsorientierten Kultur sicher und erfolgreich agieren zu können. Klare eigene Ziele definieren, diese helfen in unsicheren Phasen den Fokus auf das Gesamtergebnis zu halten. Zweitens den Mut haben kalkulierte Risiken einzugehen, dies aber bewusst und transparent zu entscheiden. Kommunikation mit den Teammitgliedern und Vorgesetzten ist entscheidend, regelmäßig über gemeinsame Ziele und Erwartungen sprechen. Drittens ein stabiles Netzwerk aufbauen, Informationen teilen und vor allem verschiedene Perspektiven beleuchten und so zu einer abgerundeten Meinung kommen. Zusätzlich im agilen Arbeiten üben, iterativ agieren um Veränderungen einbeziehen zu können.

A clear vision for innovation projects is crucial for strategic alignment and effective communication. It's essential to establish measurable goals and metrics upfront, as they serve as a compass for decision-making and resource allocation. These metrics not only guide progress but also enable a systematic evaluation of the innovation's impact, fostering a performance culture that is both risk-aware and results-oriented.

Love Lucy's "psychological safety!" Risk Management starts with leadership providing a safe environment (for themselves & their people) whenever "trying to do the right thing". It is then prudent to have a simple "corporate risk matrix" for people to follow when they are making business decisions (Impact vs Likelihood). On the Impact Axis it's best to identify the consequences in terms of "specific business" (what is negligible in one field might be catastrophic in another). Risk is "disconcerting" as a noun/verb, but making it part of every-day-work makes it less so. No better way to do this than to give people a tool to use on a daily basis and encouraging (rather than demanding) it's use.

Innovative cultures must be ready to actually succeed. Many times, companies are simply not prepared to implement the new idea in a timely manner, provide the proper investment, and steward the change process. Everyone knows that it’s a good idea. However, dynamics such as culture and silos limit implementation. To avoid this, organizations should set aside an innovation budget and authorize a qualified and lean group to approve projects. Less hierarchy should be involved. If projects succeed an initial gate, then additional investment could require more scrutiny. However, launching the idea should be fairly straightforward and delegated to those closest to the customer.

Um eine Lernkultur aufzubauen, muss es möglich sein, Experimente zu machen und dabei Fehlschläge zu erleiden. Solche Fehlschläge dürfen nicht als Makel betrachtet werden, sondern als gesunder Teil einer lernenden Organisation. "Fuck Up" Events sind ein interessantes Format, um dies in der Organisation zu etablieren. Bewusst und gezielt werden Fehlschläge im Plenum vorgestellt, inklusive den Lerneffekten, die der experimentelle Fehlschlag hatte. Solche Experimente müssen der Regel "safe to fail" folgen, sie dürfen also kein (irreversiblen) negativen Effekte haben. Gerade das Führungsteam sollte sich bei solchen Events exponieren, um durch gutes Beispiel die Kultur zu prägen.

Innovation thrives in a culture that values learning over perfection. Encourage a mindset akin to a scientist in a lab, where each attempt, successful or not, is viewed as a valuable lesson. This approach helps in mitigating the fear of failure, which is often the biggest hurdle in a performance-focused environment. Cultivating a culture that sees every setback as a step forward can transform the very fabric of your organization, making it more resilient and adaptable.

When considering innovation and performance, one of the most challenging mindsets is 'We have always done it that way and it has worked out so far.' Getting stuck in the way things are is a limiting approach and can cause a company to be left behind with the rapid advancement of technology. It is important to foster a learning mindset especially in the leadership. This will increase confidence for others on their team to share in that mindset and continue to explore their creativity and seek innovative approaches.

Creating a psychologically safe environment is crucial for managing risk and uncertainty when fostering innovation in a performance culture. Encouraging open communication and ensuring that individuals feel secure in sharing their ideas and concerns with leadership is fundamental. Leaders can achieve this by promoting a culture that values diverse perspectives, constructive feedback, and experimentation. Leaders play a key role in establishing and maintaining such an environment by being approachable, listening, and appreciating the value of different viewpoints. This approach fosters a collaborative and adaptive culture that is essential for successfully managing risks in the pursuit of innovation within a performance-oriented setting.

Comecei a trabalhar com métodos ágeis em 2017. Aprendi muito com os times de tecnologia e com o time de produtos digitais e foi muito legal adaptar rituais, indicadores e processos ágeis para liderar times de recursos humanos. Muitas pessoas associam a metodologia ágil e Lean aos times de tecnologias, mas elas vieram de industrias de manufatura e podem ser adaptadas e implementadas em qualquer área o empresa. Como principais benefícios posso citar a velocidade para ajustar os erros, a constância no contato com o time, a visibilidade que todos possuem sobre todas as áreas, o maior compromisso dos funcionários com as suas entregas, a adaptabilidade aos times remotos e a cadência de entregas constantes.

In Hinblick auf Risiken und Unsicherheiten, wenn man in einer Leistungskultur innovativ ist, ist ein agiler Ansatz besonders nützlich, weil er kundenzentriert auf schnelles Feedback abzielt. Gleichzeitig wird nur genau so viel implementiert, um dieses Feedback erhalten zu können, also die kleinsmögliche "Scheibe" des Scope, die und Aufschluss gibt, ob und wie wir weitermachen sollen. Eric Ries nennt das im Lean Startup ein MVP.

Make sure the right voices are in the room and being listened too. Set up workshops to explore a problem and find resolutions. Value input and give spaces to listen, explore risk then make a decision. Ensure the right information is being provided ona timely basis to enable decisions to be made and flag warnings when things are starting to go awry

Use data analytics to measure the impact of explorative initiatives against the performance of established processes, finding the right mix to drive growth.

Wichtig ist auch, dass die Erfolgsmetriken in Exploitation und Exploration recht unterschiedlich sind. Während im Bereich Exploitation klassische Metriken aus Prozess-Kontrolle und Accounting greifen, gelten für Exploration andere Kriterien für Erfolg, mämlich Qualität und Geschwinedigkeit des Lerneffekts. In der Lean Startup Bewegung hat sich hierfür der Begriff "Innovation Accounting" etabliert.

A wise person learns from the mistakes of other. Whilst it is not innovative to copy, there is no sense in completely recreating the wheel. Build on the learnings of others and be informed by guiding principles and benchmarks. However, if you are truly innovating, sometimes you have to break the mould and prepares to learn from your own failures. If you are creating new and better ways of doing things, you will need to measure risk, success and impact against something but it might not have to be other organisations, it could be against your organisation’s previous way of doing things.

Während Benchmarks und Best Practices anderer Unternehmen informativ sein können, bergen sie eine Gefahr: Best practice is by definition past practice (Dave Snowden). Für Innovation ist das nicht immer der beste Ratgeber.

Manter-se atualizado com as novidades da tecnologia é muito importante para o processo de inovação, mas olhar para os concorrente e para o que outras empresas estão fazendo sobre o assunto é fundamental para se manter competitivo e inovar mais rápido. Benchmarkings são excelentes soluções para explorarmos o que já foi testado antes, o que teve sucesso e o que foi necessário ser ajustado. Aprendemos muito com os erros e descobrir através de outros casos quais são os melhores caminhos para a criação de novos produtos, vai acelerar o lançamento de suas ideias ou serviços. Aprendemos muito todos os dias e além da teoria, precisamos conhecer as melhores práticas de implementação e execução para lançar novas ideias.

Conocer de las experiencias sobre un tema, en otras latitudes u organizaciones, y en especial con temas que pueden involucrar situaciones de riesgo, ayuda a comprender de manera mucho más amplia como enfrentar las situaciones, ya sea a partir de esas experiencias o generando, a partir de otras parecidas, situaciones hipotéticas que nos faciliten las rutas para su solución, prevención y gestión oportuna.

The best way to mitigate the risk of loss in productivity when looking to innovate is by understanding the company culture and its appetite for change; then build a strategic innovation objective(s) that allocates an appropriate amount of time as to not disrupt the business while creating an opportunity for advancements. The key to this process is buy-in from the business on the front end.

To thrive in an innovation-driven performance culture, you need to cultivate a failure-friendly mindset, welcome different viewpoints, and experiment fast. Learn from failure, use diverse teams for rich feedback, and iterate to adjust to new situations.

Here are few tips for managing risk in innovation and improving performance: - Cultivate Diverse Teams: Form varied expertise teams to enhance problem-solving and mitigate risks through diverse perspectives. - Promote Psychological Safety: Build trust by creating an environment where team members feel safe to voice ideas, reducing fear associated with uncertainty. - Encourage Continuous Feedback: Establish a feedback loop for prompt adjustments, minimizing the impact of uncertainties. - Invest in Skill Development: Equip your team with agile problem-solving skills for navigating uncertainties in the evolving landscape. Fostering a culture of continuous learning empowers your team to tackle uncertainties in the pursuit of innovation.

Performance culture can strive in a long run only if it accepts innovations and adapts to new and changing environment. When a performance culture refuses any changes then the risk lies ahead for such organisation. Agile, changing and adapting organisation should not punish risks and uncertainty - the opposite - it should welcome and embrace risks and ucertainty and ecourage innovative behaviors.

Risk and uncertainty management in innovation also involves understanding the external environment. Stay attuned to market trends, customer needs, and technological advancements. It's like being aware of the weather and sea conditions on your voyage. Additionally, fostering a diverse and inclusive environment can bring in a multitude of perspectives, enriching the innovation process.