Clues from the "Most Innovative Companies"

The most creative business magazine out there, Fast Company, published its annual "World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" list this month, mainly singing the praises of the widely-sung bohemoths, including Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, Walmart and HP (all in the top ten).

A few smaller and newer companies made the list, including the two-year-old online clothes seller, Gilt Groupe; the "empowering" and medical-information-rich Patients Like Me; and the not-for-profit (yes it's true) IT/engineering firm Mitre, which works on national issues ranging from electronic health records to homeland security. Most of these innovation leaders play in the technology, energy or entertainment space, with some surprises, like my once-detested utility company PG&E, which has evidently so impressed FC editors by its enlightened energy practices that they ranked it number seven.

Interviews and overviews provide some clues as to what has distinguished these companies as innovators. A few highlights:

Facebook: "Older and wiser," FC writes about the Facebook founder (pictured on cover, left), "[Mark] Zuckerberg has nonetheless managed to preserve a culture of experimentation and fearlessness." "It's about being unafraid to break things in order to make them better...what we make won't last, but we make things fast and get to test our ideas quickly with real users."

Novartis: Describing this Swiss pharmaceutical giant as in "a fever of invention," FC asked Chairman Daniel Vasella about his "risky and expensive" choice to pursue drugs for rare diseases. "That how you get breakthroughs," says Vasella. "We're used to failures...in order to build the brighter future, you have to sacrifice some of the short-term benefits."

Gilt Groupe: CEO Susan Lyne attributes Gilt Groupe's fast retail success to the "promise of discovery" and its willingness to help its designers and brands. "It's more about 'Let us help you take risks again'," she explains. "You have the permission to experiment."

HTC: Tawainese technology company Chair Cher Wang says, "Every day we're trying something new. We have labs that our employees can use to work on their own ideas, to brainstorm with a group, to test things. We encourage everybody to innovate--even people who don't usually work in the labs."

For a little more innovation insight, check out Fast Company online series "Why You Should Start a Company in...," which looks at different hubs around the country. While we here in Chicago still struggle with certain obstacles I've mentioned previously, a recent interview explores reasons why Chicago is and can continue to be an innovation hotspot, which include lots of Midwest company customers, federal research dollars for universities, local connectivity and family trees of entrepreneurs. Check it out here: Chicago.

Moving the Elephant of Change

"Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives?" asks the Heath brothers in their new book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. Dan Heath swung by Chicago last week to promote the book and left us with a lasting image: Trying to change is like you as a rider trying to steer an elephant. You can use the reins perhaps to effect some short-term adjustments in directions (i.e., exert a little willpower) but ultimately the elephant can go wherever the heck he wants.

You are also the elephant, Dan made clear, and that's the great challenge of change: to align your Rider (head, plans, goals) with the Elephant (emotions, desire, body). As I've discussed previously, with the speed of change continuing to increase, we have no choice but to get better at the skills of change, which are also the skills of creativity and innovation. And perhaps the most important skill is how to balance our heart with our mind, align our right brain with our left, make peace between our emotion and our reason.

The Heath brothers, with their previous bestseller, Made to Stick, which explored what makes certain ideas have more impact and "stickiness" than others, have emerged as new thinking stars in the popular intersection of business, psychology and self-help. Just like Malcolm Gladwell and others, their writing uses research and real life examples to help nudge us toward better understanding our own behavior. In Switch, their goal is to help us change, which they acknowledge is not easy. Their advice comes down to this:

1. Direct the Rider. While the Rider has limited power over the Elephant, the more you can provide crystal clear directions for the long-term change you want, the better.
2. Motivate the Elephant. While the Elephant's hunger for instant gratification can be your downfall, its emotion is actually what gets things done. You need to get in touch with the feeling
that motivates the change.
3. Shape the Path. You can tweak the environment and build habits that assist both the Rider and Elephant so that change is more likely.

As we head into spring, it's time to feel the urgency--to motivate the Elephant--so that we can make the changes we truly want. What does your head know and your heart desire for yourself this year? What do you have to do to harness the lazy, short-attention span Elephant into the real mover who can transform your life?

"It's Not a Waste of Time"

After taking some creative--and successful--risks last year, the Oscars didn't break much new ground this time around. I did appreciate Sunday night's return of two of last year's new features:
>For best screenplay, the visual overlay of the actual screenwriter's words and read narration while we see the movie action in real time (nice!), and
>For best actor/actress, the heartful individual introductions onstage from other famous collaborators. While last year it was past award winners doing the introductions (and in some cases their connection to the honored actor was slight), the Academy made the adjustment of bringing on those truly suited to share insight and praise upon a newly minted nominee. Well done, Oprah.

Otherwise, Oscar did little creative experimenting, and the proceedings fell pretty flat. I enjoyed the comedy duo of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, but they, too, took few risks, and the result was an Academy Awards that will not be memorable for its moments, despite the first time selection of a woman as best director.But there was one main highlight for those of us seeking creative inspiration, and that was provided by Michael Giacchino (above, click for video), in his winning speech for best musical score from the animated feature, Up.

Most of us are constantly confronted with creativity killers, both subtle and overt from a young age, stopping us from fully pursuing our passion and talent: Why are you doing that? The odds are not in your favor. That's nice for a hobby. That's not practical. You need to focus on making a living. You need to grow up and get serious. You need to pick something more marketable. That seems like a waste of time (Add your own).

As Giacchino tells of first experimenting with a movie camera, he knows he was lucky: "Never once in my life did my parents ever say, 'What you're doing is a waste of time.' Never." Somehow he had the rare blessing and assurance from others that pursuing his creative side was worth it.

His simple message was offered to kids but it applies to all of us, of any age:
"I know there are kids out there that don't have that support system so if you're out there and you're listening, listen to me: If you want to be creative, get out there and do it. It's not a waste of time. Do it."

So let's be each others' support system. Let's do more than just be careful of our subtle creativity killer comments--let's ask about, encourage, listen and prod others to pursue their own creative expression or enterprise. It may not lead to the Oscars but it will definitely lead to a life of more possibility and fewer regrets.

Creation and Evolution...at its generative best

It was an avalanche of creativity that fell all over me Saturday night as I unsuspectingly walked into a local theater production of Quest Ensemble's provocatively titled "Evolution/Creation" here in Chicago.

Some people will define creativity as simply the act of creating--the ability to generate ideas, make things up and put it all out there. Most researchers, as explained throughout this blog, argue that just generating is not enough; the ideas must fulfill the requirements of both being new (or unusual) and having value (it "works").

"Evolution/Creation" had both and more--the most unbelievably generative work imaginable, with props/masks/set pieces alone numbering in the hundreds, and truly creative in its unusual format and unique rendering of two great human dramas: the biblical creation story and the scientific story of evolution. Somehow the staging managed to be provocative without pandering to any political view, creating an experience both entertaining and educational, appropriate for all ages and attention spans without a single word of dialogue.

Here was the wonderfully creative format: Both stories were performed simultaneously on either side of a shared full orchestra, with you in the audience experiencing only one performance--Creation or Evolution--for about 45 minutes. Then after intermission you entered the other side and had a completely different experience, even though the score was the same.

What Quest did, thanks in large part to the papier mache miracles of founding member and set/prop designer Nick Rupard, was create visual eye candy on stage, using the cheapest of materials (mainly paper, wire, wood and color) to convey larger-than-life images as evocative as the best CGI effects of any movie. And with the magical storytelling gifts of artistic director Andrew Park, who also wrote the latin lyrics that narrated both stories and were sung throughout by ensemble members, we got a visual crash course in Genesis, Adam & Eve and Noah on one side--and the Big Bang, atoms and protons, and apes and humans on the other. The unauthorized iphone pictures here don't really do justice but will give you a little glimpse of the huge animals, light shows and surprises that will meet you if you make it to this one-of-a-kind show.

This production should immediately tour schools and communities across the country to foster real conversation about these not-really-competing stories. But it probably won't. Andrew, Nick and the other Questers are much more interested in creating than commercializing, and their mission to be the "People's Theatre of Chicago," making theater accessible to all, means that the dozens of performers get paid very little and there are no plans to market the production elsewhere or sell a video to the masses. But they will continue to do something that gratefully is not just a relic of a past generation--offer an opportunity for all nearby to step into an avalanche of creativity, free of charge.

Evolution/Creation plays at the Blue Theatre, 1609 W. Gregory Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60640, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm & Sundays at 2:00pm until March 28. FREE! DONATIONS APPRECIATED! RESERVATIONS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Visit www.questensemble.org or Go Here to make reservations TODAY!