3 Ways To Protect New Ideas In Large Companies
“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.”
Like a newborn child, the earliest stages of an idea’s life are when it's most fragile.
And there’s nowhere more dangerous to the survival of a new idea than in a large company.
Imagine you work in one of these organisations and have a sudden flash of inspiration.
Your lightbulb moment could transform the way your company operates.
The only problem is that you haven’t fully formed your idea yet.
Think of it like a spikey ball, with each ‘spike’ representing the direction the idea could take; the many possible avenues to explore.
However, as you pass it through the hands of each colleague, a spike is removed.
You’re told things like, “That won’t ever work”, “We’re just not set up to operate like that”, and “Are you crazy?”.
This process continues until all that’s left is a smooth, safe-to-touch sphere.
Others have plucked away anything potentially interesting.
Why?
The answer is that each spike represents a new way of doing things.
And the culture of large organisations views this as threatening. They dislike veering too far from the well-trodden path and discourage bold ideas.
When viewed from their perspective, their logic is reasonable. Why change what’s worked so well up until now?
The answer is ‘because what’s worked in the past might not work in the future.’
So how do you overcome this challenge? How do you protect new ideas long enough to grow them into promising realities?
There are several different ways to deal with the situation.
Separate Them From The Herd
The first approach involves separating those working on the new idea from the rest of the organisation.
Whilst this might sound extreme, it allows the pioneering group the freedom to work on their ideas without interruption.
The earliest example harks back to 1943 when the terror of WW2 showed little sign of ending.
On both sides, those in charge employed the greatest minds to develop new technology to get an edge on the enemy.
In aircraft design, propeller-powered engines were reaching their performance limits.
A more powerful and reliable form of propulsion was urgently called for.
Soon, specifications for a new type of ‘jet’ engine were circulating in the aircraft engineering departments of Messerschmitt in Germany and Lockheed in the US.
So secret were these briefs that they called for a new approach to working.
They required smaller, more dynamic teams left unencumbered by company rules and regulations.
The engineer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson pioneered Lockheed’s ‘Skunk Works’, allowing America to build its first fighter jet from scratch in just 143 days.
Johnson used a fraction of the usual number of engineers for the top-secret project and worked from a rented circus tent as no other space was available.
Many other industries have adopted the practice.
Take IBM, for example.
When the company created its PC division in 1980, it deliberately located it in Boca Raton, Florida, over 1,200 miles from its head office in New York.
Why?
Because IBM had built its reputation on creating large, mainframe-style computers, the idea of having a computer at home didn’t fit its ethos.
By packing them off to sunnier climes, others were less likely to interfere.
Hewlett-Packard did something similar when it launched its internet business.
They put the project team in a different building, making it feel small and dynamic, like a start-up.
It was also the case with Microsoft when developing their first video game console.
The Seattle-based giant was famous then for its buttoned-down conservative corporate culture and for producing software for ‘serious’ office use only.
So when those high up saw the spectacular growth in the video game industry and wanted a piece of the pie, they knew they had to assemble a new team and let them get on with it.
The result was the Xbox - a successful product which has added significantly to the company’s coffers over the last two decades.
Make Them Feel Safe
A second approach is creating an environment where employees feel ‘psychologically safe’.
In other words, they feel free to challenge management decisions and suggest better alternatives.
A famous example of this is Pixar Studios, makers of popular animated movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, under the leadership of Ed Catmull.
Catmull understood that creativity is a collaborative affair that requires extreme honesty.
As he said, “A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is that its people feel free to share ideas, opinions, and criticisms.”
Employees at Pixar feel empowered to speak up and put forward new ideas because they know management won’t judge them for doing so.
And it works.
Pixar has achieved what many studios fail to accomplish: A lengthy run of highly profitable movies.
The Japanese car maker Toyota is another excellent example.
Post-war Japan was a mess.
Their manufacturing industry had to start from scratch effectively.
To rebuild quickly, the management team at Toyota knew they needed a bottom-up innovation approach.
Workers on the line had to feel empowered to make suggestions instead of waiting for their bosses to instruct them.
This led to a policy of openly encouraging employees to flag problems or suggest improvements to how the company did things.
The result was a product that was extremely reliable, efficient to make and priced competitively.
It’s no coincidence that Toyota’s sales took off over the following decades.
In 2008, they became the world's largest car manufacturer, overtaking the American company General Motors, a position GM had held for nearly eight decades.
Get Support From Above
Last but not least, get some air support.
Evolving an idea from an initial spark to a fully formed thing isn’t easy.
That’s why you need a sponsor who wealds power and influence within your organisation.
The more powerful, the better, so the CEO, if possible.
The reason?
Getting momentum behind a bold new idea is almost impossible without endorsement from the company’s most senior leaders.
Middle management is there to cover their backs and anything that seems risky they will shut down before it’s given half a chance.
The trick is to find your sponsor in the C-Suite who can give you cover when your idea is under attack.
This is easier to do when you have a clear vision for what you hope to achieve and a strong business case for how it’ll add value to the company over time.
If you’re struggling to get new ideas off the ground in your organisation, you might find our Intrapreneurship course helpful. It’s packed full of practical ways you can help fragile ideas survive their stages and become an exciting new reality.
