The Door to Innovation Swings Both Ways

My role in helping leading innovation at my agency can be a tricky one.  On one hand, there is the out-of-the-box, big dreamer, inspirational, anything is possible, cheerleader side of what I have to do in order to get staff engaged and involved in the process.  On the other hand, there is absolutely no point to wasting time coming up with ideas that never see the light of day.  So I also have to be the realist, hard-nosed, deadline-setting, “No, we can’t wait any longer” project manager as well. It can be hard to balance those roles and not come across as disingenuous when I’m in “We can do it!” mode or as abrupt and uncaring when I’m in “Get it done” mode.
I came across a quote the other day though that struck a cord with me – possibly because I was finding myself a little frustrated with the opposition to a few ideas we were trying to role out from our idea management program.

Although it helped with my frustration in the moment, I also realized that sometimes I’m the one interrupting or slowing down innovation at our agency, even if it’s for good reason, as I’ve been equally frustrated a few times this week when I wish someone would have put the brakes on a new idea so that we could have collaborated to make the end result a little better.  No wonder this innovation stuff can be so hard to nail down.  In any given situation it could be equally valid to stop and listen as it may be to tell someone to (respectfully) get out of the way.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

When you are rolling out a new project, initiative, or innovation and are faced with some sort of opposition or never-ending input/suggestions, how are you supposed to know which response is appropriate to make sure that you get the best possible result?  The two most likely scenarios that you will face include the following:

1. You had an original idea in mind and agreed upon, but once it got moving, suddenly everyone had something to add to it.  In Project Management, we call that “scope creep,” which results in extra work that usually requires additional time or extra money to implement.  Your options are to agree to the additional ideas in hopes that they make the final project better, or put a stop to them, which in the real world we refer to as “dream crushing.”
2. You had an original idea in mind, but once it got moving, suddenly everyone had something negative to say about it.  There’s no official term for this in Project Management other than “reality.”  Your options are to try to assuage them which could completely derail the project or move forward despite their concerns.

Luckily, the best course of action to either situation, whether to be open to the new perspective or move forward without it, can be determined by answering the following questions:
Did I do an adequate job of getting input from all of the stakeholders at the beginning? Stakeholders aren’t just you and your boss. They should also include the users of the final product, the people responsible for management/maintenance of it, etc.  Did you remember to consult IT?  Did you actually take the time to talk with the future users beforehand or did you assume that providing training after the fact would be enough? If the answer is no, then take the time to listen to their ideas and concerns and be prepared to delay the project to implement a few of them. This will go a tremendous way in increasing buy-in for the innovation and success of the project once it’s rolled out. If however, you did your due diligence in providing stakeholders the opportunity for input and have communicated any changes along the way (and assuming the idea isn’t a fantastic one worth delaying for), gently thank them for the input, but move on.
Does the person offer a perspective vastly different from mine?  Even if you will be a user of the innovation just like the rest of your co-workers, if you differ in position, department, education, gender, race, family status, place of residence, or other way, it may be worth hearing them out. Of course, you’ll always be able to find some difference between yourself and everyone else, but your ideas will be better if they’ve been vetted by a more diverse group of people.  I hate to admit it, but when I’m rolling out new innovations for our customers, I find that it’s really important for me to get the “mom perspective” since I’ve never experienced the joy of trying to use our services with three little kids pulling on my sleeves. It’s a good lesson for me to make sure that I include the perspective from the beginning, but if not, it’s on me to delay things a bit if they make a valid point.
Is the idea or concern related to the original goal for the innovation?  Let’s say that you’re rolling out software to assist with the hiring process.  When you’re about to put on the final touches, someone has an idea to add an extra feature to the mix that allows you to also use it for a staff satisfaction survey.  Should you stop? Depending on the amount of work necessary, probably not, since it really won’t help you would with the original intent of the project.  But that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t make a fantastic addition to version twice!  Likewise, let’s say that you’re purchasing a new piece of equipment and running into some resistance from a staff member who will be responsible for using it. Determine if their cause for concern is related to the reason for purchase (for example, they’ve used that brand in the past and found it less reliable than other manufacturers) or is it something unrelated to the goal that you’re trying to accomplish (they are scared that they will have trouble using the new equipment or are annoyed that they have to add an extra responsibility to their plate).  If the concern is directly related to the goal for the project, you may want to hear them out.  Otherwise, it’s important to acknowledge and show that you understand their concerns and can work with them to address them, but not at the expense of delaying the project.
Coming up with a well-defined set of objectives for any project is critical to avoid these types of issues.  For example, when I was leading our website redesign, we decided it was most important to focus on 1) driving sales, 2) making basic info about our programs and facilities as accessible as possible, and 3) having a content management system that make updating the website much easier for staff.  Anytime new ideas that we presented that may have cluttered the website, we asked ourselves if it would help us accomplish one of those three objectives.  If the answer was “no,” then we left the idea to possibly tackle after our initial re-launch.
Does the new idea undo work or just make completing the work less convenient for you?  Or, if the concern turns out to be valid, it is easily addressed after the innovation has been rolled out? We all know that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to undo work that’s already been completed unless necessary. But we also know that the cost of fixing something that wasn’t done correctly in the first place is equally wasteful. For this reason, it’s important to take a good hard look at yourself and determine whether or not your own resistance to others’ new ideas or concerns is because it would be inconvenient for you.  Sometimes when you’re leading an innovation and are in the homestretch, it can be easy to keep your gaze fixed on the finish line and ignore what could actually be some quick last-minute improvements or last-minute opportunities to avoid a big mistake.  Don’t become one of the naysayers that you claim to be annoyed with simply because it wasn’t originally in your timetable.

How This Applies In Real Life

Sometimes when we think of project timelines and delays, we think that it has to involve a massive initiative like constructing a building or creating an entirely new product.  But in reality, sometimes it seems like the small tiny innovations can be as easily derailed by endless ideas and concerns.  Here is a real-life example from my world:
The Innovation: Staff noticed that we had many parents with small children sitting in the lobbies of our recreation centers while they were waiting for the older siblings to complete a lesson of some sort. Wouldn’t it be nice to offer some activity kits to help occupy the small children while they waited?  Easy, right?
Along the way towards implementing this, we spoke with facility and customer service staff in order to try to address any ideas or concerns that they had.  Out of that, we decided to start slow with coloring sheets that visitors could grab straight off of the counter so that no one would need to wait in line during busy periods (it is summer at a recreation center, after all). There would be no stickers, glitter, or other super messy items.  Most concerns were noted and addressed and one of our staff even went the extra mile to create an activity sheet featuring our mascots.  We were nearing completion of the project though and the following concerns and new ideas were presented by various staff:

• New Idea: Why don’t we add coloring sheets for adults too?  Parents need a break too and some of the top selling books on Amazon are adult coloring books. (Seriously!) Result? We took the time to add it. It went right along with the goal for the innovation (doing something nice for our customers by providing some passive recreation while waiting) and even though it required me spending my lunchtime searching for “adult coloring pages” online, it didn’t slow us down by much.
• Concern: Crayons could be too messy with small children.  What if they color off of the page?  What if they use them to color on the walls?  Result? Keep moving forward. The concerns are related towards extra cleaning that staff may have to do, not about better serving our customers. And, if it does turn out to be valid and the crayons result in too much additional mess, the work required to fix the problem (remove the crayons and stick with colored pencils only) is very easy to address.
• New Idea: Because the crayons that we are using are the little 4-packs that we’re expecting (and totally okay with) parents and children possibly taking them with them, why don’t we put a cute sticker on them with our logo and something like “Making Your World a More Colorful Place” for marketing purposes. Result? Keep moving forward.  Cute idea!  But it really doesn’t add anything to the original intended goal for the project.  Plus, that could easily be added at any point.  There is no reason to delay the project to wait for this to happen.

So how did it turn out? Here’s a photo of the final product!

Okay, I get it. This type of project is almost certainly not what you think of when you think of “innovation” or even of project management. But no matter what you’re implementing, you’re bound to face these exact same struggles of managing constant new ideas and concerns throughout the life of any innovation. Whether it’s about crayons or construction, people want to have input, and want to be understood.

The Door to Innovation

As I work to reinforce a culture of innovation at our agency, I designed the following little reminder for our staff regarding this, in the form of a door hanger.

 
The search for perfection can be one of the greatest hindrances to innovation. We always need to be open to new ideas and perspectives and admit that we don’t know everything. But there also comes a point that we need to press on, whether from concerns or an endless list of possible additions to your project.  And if you’re truly dedicated towards implementing new ideas at your organization, you’ll find yourself opening and closing the door on input about as often as you open and close your own office door.
Have you had any other similar situations?  How did you address them?  Any questions or considerations you’ve found helpful in these circumstances that I should add to the list?