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www.HartfordBusiness.com September 19, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 29 BIZ BOOKS 14 tips for creating an innovation culture "T he Innovation Formula: The 14 Science-Based Keys for Creat- ing a Culture Where Innova- tion Thrives" by Amantha Imber (John Wiley & Sons, $21). The "Innovation Culture Audit" that begins the book divides innovation's per- spective into four interrelated levels — individual, team, leader and organization. Here's a look at the levels: Individual deals with challenge and talent utilization. When jobs are set up so people can complete tasks without much thought, the same old, same old minimizes creativity and productivity. Routine margin- alizes everyone's ability to use their talent. Autonomy and recognition play roles, too. When people are always told how things are to be done, they believe that suggesting changes will fall on deaf ears, and stay quiet. Those who don't are viewed negatively as boat rockers and wave mak- ers. Given an opportunity to explore and pursue ideas, employees will develop "new and improved" and solve problems created by situations that aren't part of the routine. Team involves the appreciation of the perspectives of others. Without diverse view- points, it's difficult to determine the cause(s) of a problem. In such situations, the silo- dwellers often fight their win-lose turf wars. This leads to a solution that treats symptoms not causes, and often creates more problems (i.e. unintended consequences) — and builds higher silos, not longer bridges. When people openly express their ideas/perspectives and dis- cuss them, they see a bigger pic- ture. They see their connection. They realize that divergent (rather than "what's in it for me" or convergent) thinking provides the path to finding the causes of problems, devel- oping and analyzing alterna- tives and making decisions. Collaboration rules. Leader creates goal clarity for individuals and the team. In its narrowest sense, goal clarity states "just do your job." Imber sees clarity as defining challenges and expected outcomes and then allowing the individuals and teams latitude in figuring out how to achieve the goals. Developing their "how" involves creating a path to progress — a series of small goals and milestones that help people identify achievement clearly. She stresses the need for a constant flow of two- way communication about "how." This allows for celebration of small wins and timely identifica- tion of obstacles and their workarounds. Management and employees stay engaged throughout the process. This formal "clarity" structure lays the foundation for "unstructured time (UT)," which allows employees to explore their own ideas. On the surface, allowing UT can be a difficult choice when man- agement and employees see overloaded inboxes and shifting priorities. Below the surface, UT provides employees with some control over what they do; they make sure they do their jobs and make time for UT. Employees inform supervision on their UT initiatives and man- agement helps them connect dots to others with similar interests. Big fish like Intuit (10 percent UT), Google and 3M (20 percent UT) found that UT yields ongoing achievement in process improvement, customer service and individual skill development. Organization embraces risk-taking from the top down. The firm sees failure as "failure for success." Fear of failure always limits options. With limited options, you can't optimize results. Accepting failure without stigmatizing it pushes people to do things they didn't know they could do. When it comes to success, failure is an option. Wieden-Kennedy advertising has a "Fail Harder" program; Pfizer and The Tata Group have "Dare to Try" programs. FailCon (the- failcon.com) presents one-day conferences for technology entrepreneurs, investors, developers and designers "to study their own and others' failures and prepare for success." Takeaway: Before reading the book, share the "Innovation Culture Audit" with the team and the higher-ups. The results create a 360-degree evaluation of innovation's place in the priorities of the firm, and identify the levels on which to focus your attention. n Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer. Jim Pawlak THE RAINMAKER State must match education, job needs By Ken Cook I have the opportunity on a regular basis to talk with the senior leadership of small and middle market manufacturing firms. While our conversations cover a wide variety of topics, one that consistently rises to the top is the lack of skilled people to fill a wide variety of job vacancies. I took a very unscientific poll recently, asking a half-dozen manufacturing business leaders what current openings they have where they cannot find talent to fill them. The short list includes: • Electronic assembly technician — $28/hour • Mechanical assembly technician — $28/hour • Mechanical inspector — $24/hour • Lab technician — $15/hour • Field service engineer — $60,000 - $80,000/year • E1 or E2 licensed electrician — $50,000 - $70,000/year • Control systems engineer — $90,000/year Each these jobs require a specific skill set and experience. Each of the business lead- ers said they get a lot of applications for the positions. What they do not get are qualified applicants who can meet the skill and experi- ence requirements to do the jobs. I then saw a video by Kevin Fleming and Brian Y. Marsh (www.brianymarch. com) titled "Success in the New Economy." In a little over 10 minutes this video clearly demonstrates the underpinnings of the problem manufacturers are having finding qualified people. There is a distinct misalign- ment between education and the workforce requirements in demand today. For years we have been told that there is a correlation between level of education and high- er income. If you want to make more money, you need a higher-level degree. The truth is the cur- rent economic workforce requirements don't support this premise. The education-for-all philosophy is underly- ing the misalignment between job require- ments and workforce capabilities. Consider, in 1960 13 percent of high school graduates went on to four-year degree programs. Now, 64 percent of the graduates go on to four-year degree programs. In today's economy though, the requirements are different. In the Fleming and Marsh video they illus- trate the difference with the ratio 1:2:7. For every one job requiring a master's degree, there are two jobs requiring four-year degrees. Most signifi- cant, there are seven jobs requiring a one-year certificate or two-year associate's degree. The misalignment is clear. If 64 percent of high school grads go on to four-year degree programs, yet seven of 10 jobs require more focused training, you can see why so many employers have openings going unfilled. Today's college graduates are finding them- selves underemployed. They need jobs, if for no other reason than to pay off the onerous debt they've incurred getting that college degree. They work in jobs that usually do not leverage their skills and training. The new employees are frustrated, and their employers have a dif- ficult time with their lack of motivation. State economic development agencies have been responding of late with an increased emphasis on community colleges and the cer- tificate and degree programs they offer. These programs are more focused in their curricu- lum, aligning the education with the economic need. That's a great step in the right direction. Another positive step would be for those soon to graduate high school students to think in terms of their interests and alignment with a career path. Go through a self-exploration pro- cess. Understand their likes and where their passions lie. Then look for career paths that align with those passions. In many instances students may find that the education require- ments are more focused, more specific. Success in today's economy screams for alignment between education and economic need. When the workforce becomes more aligned with job requirements, employees are able to pursue their passions and employers find the skilled talent they need. n Ken Cook is the co-founder of How to Who and co-author of "How to WHO: Selling Personified," a book and program on build- ing business through relationships. Learn more at www.howtowho.com. Ken Cook ▶ ▶ Accepting failure without stigmatizing it pushes people to do things they didn't know they could do. When it comes to success, failure is an option. ▶ ▶ If 64 percent of high school grads go on to four-year degree programs, yet seven of 10 jobs require more focused training, you can see why so many employers have openings going unfilled.