Best practices have become a catchall phrase for sharing knowledge and experience throughout an industry. They are about improvement and efficiency, not innovation. Use them for that reason, but don’t expect new ideas..

Treating everybody equally is interpreted as treating everyone the same. It’s easy to write a rule that applies to everyone. By omitting individual needs or wants, people can’t feel they are a valuable resource and won’t feel the company encourages a diversity of thought, dissent, and innovation.

Design a “process” to capture good ideas. Sharing knowledge, generating good ideas, and innovation cannot be boiled down to a formal process. Instead of structure, provide some freedom for people to daydream or to do research on their own.

Hiring and working with only those who have the same values as you cuts both ways. While you need to have people around you who believe in the same goals you do, you also need some people who question the goals you’re working so hard to attain. Otherwise, when the time is right for change, you’ll be so committed to a certain path; you won’t recognize that it’s no longer taking you where you need to go.

Innovation consists of two vital ingredients, a great idea, and the ability to put it into action. Jack Paluszek, President of Advanced Management Associates, Inc. and facilitator of Bullet Proof Manager training said; “Two of the top innovation killing attitudes include, why not leave well enough alone and let the competition try it first.”

Most innovators lack the political skills needed to implement the idea and are often proud of their refusal to “play politics.” Yet, political skills are crucial to success.

Innovators are often dissenters and often offend powerful people. Hudson Valley Organizations need to help innovators gather support and in most cases coach them on what to say and do.

Because innovators usually have little political savvy, they often fail to read the signals around them, even when everything indicates that they won. Innovators often feel the only acceptable outcome is to get their proposal adopted exactly as stated.

To manage innovators, implement an effective reward system utilizing the “SMART” technique.

Specific and clear relationship between rewards and actions taken by the dissenting innovator.

Meaningful in that innovation rewards should provide an important return on investment to both the innovator and the organization.

Achievable is difficult to judge with innovative ideas and the willingness to accept and reward failure is essential. When a new idea can work it’s critical for the individual or a team to achieve the performance goals that are set.

Reliable means the innovation program should operate according to its underlying principles and purpose in good times and bad.

Timely means that recognition and rewards should be provided frequently enough to make sure good performers never feel forgotten.

Hudson Valley Organizations must lead innovation efforts by encouraging and supporting dissenters who will often challenge everything you believe in.

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