The Chair by Any Other Name.

I saw this message at a quaint little cafe called the Haroo Cafe and Bar on Langkawi island last year and copied into my hand set and forgot all about it until last night when I was reflecting on what Malaysia's New Economic Model is going to look like. It read " A comfortable chair isnt revolutionary. But it gave people a place to sit, read or strike up a conversation. Something as simple as a chair changed the way people drank coffee...".

I was thinking about the new darling phrase of Malaysian policy makers : Creativity and Innovation. The New Economic Model is supposed to take us out of the middle income trap and move us up unto the stratosphere of high earning developed nations. And, the engine that will drive this transformation is the services industry with creativity and innovation as it's fuel. That's as much as I can understand from the little pieces of information that are availbale on the NEM so far.

My colleague told me that there was already a forum held to discuss this issue. The meaning of what exactly 'creativity' and 'innovation' are were apparently discussed. I am no expert on this and I will leave the semantics out and just focus on what I do know .ie. the workplace ecosystem and by extension, the business ecosystem.

For me, innovation is the ability to find new uses to existing creation (a result of creativity). It is the knack for fnding new uses for established processes. It is the capacity to look at things (already existent)inside out. It is not about constantly inventing new chairs but finding new uses for them.

It is easy to rattle of examples of innovation (and creativity). It is also quite nice to hear these examples as it gives us a warm feeling to know what unimaginable power exsits among our employees. Stories of how 3M came up with the post-it, anecdotes of how Google'ians develop new ideas, the feats of engineers building structures at locations not 'designed' for such structures and others are testimony to the inherent innovative ability of people. If you go to the jungles of the Amazon and the villages of India or to the remote hamlets in central China, you will see how indigenous innovation have long been a hallmark of the people's ability to live in and with their natural environment. Everything from cheap flood mitigation, pest control to traditional medicine are in essence a result of innovation The things needed for these efforts were already there. Somebody just found a new use for them.

Herein lies the enigma : Why is that some companies (and socities) seem to be more innovative than others? What makes them so?

This is my attempt to answer these questions. I believe the following must be present before a company or for a group of employees can become innovative:

1. Freedom of thought AND action
2. Generosity with knowldge sharing
3. Free flow of information
4. Dedicated experts within the organisation (something like Chief Innovation Officer)
5. A reward system that recognizes creativity and innovation regardless whether it has immediate returns for the organisation
6. Dedicated experts within the organisation who are trained to bring together the various generations in the workplace. Say, a Chief Inclusivity Officer! Her job is to facilitate the interaction between the Gen Ys with the rest in the organisation. I believe there are critical untapped competitive edge in our Gen Ys at the workplace. Unfortunately these are drowned out by the noise from the 'this is how we do it here' generation.
7. Leverage on technology. When Gary Kasparov was defeated by the Deep Blue in 1996, we thought it was only a fluke. A machine can never be superior to the human intellect and intuition. Then, the machine beat the grandmaster again. It has been doing so since then and today we play chess with AI for fun. The ability of some of the more advanced chess AI is mind-boggling. So, technology is a tool for innovation.
8. Innovation culture requires a Leadership that is 'innovation-friendly'.


On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, I will give Malaysian organisations in general as score of 4 when it comes to having a suitable workplace evironment that can foster innovation.

There is much work to do to realize the promises of the NEM and I hope I can play a role in making it a reality.


NOTE : A few postings ago, I questioned whether I am keeping true to the essence of this blog. After much thought, I have come to realize that I have been. As I reflected back on my previous postings, I realized that I have not been as 'blinkered' as I thought I have been. I have indeed commented on the social and political set up of this nation and how it helps or hinders our business ecosystem. After days of observing, reading and listening from others I have made this conclusion : Prosperity begets peace. Poverty begets bigotry. I am on the side of prosperity. So, for me the NEM has a far deeper importance to the future of this nation. As a consultant, I will do my part: Thinking Fresh, Being Real, Doing Right.