Linda Hill is Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. In this TedX talk she argues that when it comes to leading innovation we must unlearn the conventional view of leadership. She has used an ethnographic approach to the study of leadership in innovative organizations. Her studies show that highly successful leaders, such as Ed Catmull, President at Pixar, do not focus on vision and clear direction. Instead they work to create a space in which talented people can co-create. They ‘unleash the power of the many by loosening the stranglehold of the few.’
She goes on to say that highly innovative organizations display three key capabilities:
1. Creative abrasion – the ability to enable debate and discourse. They amplify rather than hide differences of opinion.
2. Creative agility – the ability to test and refine ideas. They use experiments to learn and discover (rather than pilots which often lead to failure and blame).
3. Creative resolution – a decision making capability which copes with differences and allows for combination and selection.
Innovative leaders create this sort of environment. Their job is to encourage debate and inject honesty. They share credit. They are effectively leading volunteer organizations where bright people do not want direction – they want the freedom to innovate.
Nice summary talk here. Somewhat resonant of previous material about creative leadership and their roles in creating “benign structures” as the conditions, environment and permission for creativity.
Not seen this speaker before, thanks for highlighting Paul.