Valuing Human Effort

Young and handsome Ananda become the leader of a monastery when Buddha left his physical body. The townsmen were skeptical. They felt he was too young and frivolous. They went in a group and asked him what the old bed sheetswere to be used for as the monastery had just been given new ones. Ananda said, ‘I had them cut into towels for the monks. ‘When those get worn out, what will you do?’ they asked. ‘I will fold them, stitch them and use them as doormats for monks coming in from the rain.’ Still they persisted. ‘What will you do when those too get worn out?’ ‘I will have them cut into strips to use in the kitchen to handle hot vessels.’ ‘Why do you take so much trouble over old bed sheets?’ they asked. Ananda reflected for a while, then he said, ‘The life blood of some mother, some human being has been poured into making those sheets. That human effort should be treated with respect,’ he said. The townsmen left satisfied that Buddha had chosen well.

Innovation in the various stages of organizational development

The metamorphosis model of organizational development, passing through the cycles of growth and decline, describes the organizational life cycle of companies: Emergence-Growth-Decay-Death Focus on innovation, may rescue an organization in the declining phase of the organizational life cycle. Re-innovation or renovation becomes important when an old, traditional company goes into decline. The first phase is often entrepreneurial and innovative with a sudden burst of energy capturing a new space in the market. This creative phase is terminated in a leadership crisis. It was Schumpeter who said, “It is rare for anyone always to remain an entrepreneur throughout the decades of his active life.” This cycle progresses from entrepreneurship to an organization that becomes slow and complacent.

Customer-Centric Processes

Customers need to be engaged and involved in the process of constant innovation. Market research alone cannot do it. Here are a few suggestions: • Involve everyone in the quest for ideas • Involve customers in your process of generating ideas • Involve customers in new ways. • Focus on needs that customers don’t express • Focus groups provide feedback only on existing ideas. • Seek ideas from new customer groups Harvesting ideas is good. But using them is critical. Tapping customer innovation is a process that can help customers give creative ideas.