Page 17 - IFV_Issue 3_March_2022

Business

So every time that we make progress
because we’ve got another thing ‘done’,
we get lovely brain chemistry, we get
dopamine hits coming that actually
create more resilience in our people and
in our organisations.
The focus on ‘done’ also promotes
a culture of experimenting which
inevitably leads to innovation. What I
like to do with leaders is really encourage
them to use that concept beyond
products, think about minimum viable
policies, minimum viable processes.
Can we take that same concept and just
make things able to be released and
shared and get feedback? And that way,
we keep moving at speed.
The second horizontal line on your
piece of paper gauges are you a
perfectionist? Are you stopping things PHOTOGRAPH BY GREEN CHAMELEON, UNSPLASH
being released because in your view
they aren’t perfect? Mark the second they’re always being punished. Australian-Israeli Innovation Summit, a
line ‘Perfectionist’ and note where you I work a lot with leadership teams. question was asked of one of the vice
think you might be, to identify how far When you get them behind closed doors, presidents of Intel in Israel: What is
you’re shifting. they tell you that they do not enjoy the secret sauce of Israel’s innovation
being a command and control type of ecosystem, because they’re amazing,
SHIFT 3: FROM COMMAND leader, it exhausts them. Ultimately, they’re incredible with what they do.
AND CONTROL TO TRUST AND it disempowers people and reduces And she said quite simply, “We are
TRANSPARENCY autonomy, and if we want to be effective rewarded to fail. We have a culture of
Our third shift is the move from at moving at speed in this disruptive failure-seeking. We fail fast, we learn
command and control to trust and environment, we need autonomy. High fast. Failure equals success, it teaches us
transparency. And again, I often see trust and clear accountability create lessons, it shifts our perspective and it
command and control given a really bad conditions for new ideas, new products gives us courage to experiment.”
name. We demonise people or leaders and new services. One of the ways that leaders really
who use command and control. So let’s ask the question, where are struggle is that they believe we’re asking
However, I think it’s important to you on the command and control, trust them to fail in front of customers. And
acknowledge that command and and transparency line? And here’s a fun they say, “But we can’t fail in front of the
control served us well, once. These little exercise I get my CEOs to do. I get customers, we will lose our customer
strategies worked best in highly them to mark where they are on this base. We will lose revenue, we will lose
predictable environments. Leaders line in terms of command and control, the confidence of the Board.” But that’s
were rewarded for their ability to but then they have to share it with not what we’re talking about here. The
command and control. So to get in a their leadership team and get them to shift that leaders need to make is to “How
position now to say it’s the wrong thing mark where they think their boss is on do I encourage failure-seeking within
to do might be right but may not be command and control. There can often my teams, within our organisation?”
kind and I think we need to think about be a gap and it’s really worth exploring This is not an “It’s okay to fail when we’re
that as we encourage leaders to make why there is a gap and what we can do on the outside of the organisation”- it’s
shifts. to get across it. keeping it internal. To what extent are
The interesting thing is, when you you currently trying to avoid failure and
talk to employees who are operating in SHIFT 4: FROM FAILURE-AVERSION to what extent are you seeking failure?
a command and control environment, TO FAILURE-SEEKING Write down on your page on the fourth
they will tell you that it feels like Our fourth shift is from failure- line ‘Failure’ and note where you would
punishment to them. They feel like aversion to failure-seeking. At the put yourself on that continuum.

The Villager • Issue 3 2022 • 15