One of the biggest challenges we have as leaders is to create a culture where innovation flourishes. The counterintuitive thing about innovation is in seeing it as something that is a natural human trait.  Many times innovation is “killed” by the culture of an organization rather than not existing in the first place.

Healthy things grow. As leaders, we want to make sure we aren’t getting in the way of our organization’s ability to do so.

Our company’s observation is that 85% of what you and I do someone else can do better. I’m very happy to pass that work to those who love to do it. We can train others to do 10% of what we do. But there is a remaining 5% that only you can do.

When you have that opportunity to flow in your 5% either by circumstance or because you developed these talents into strengths – you experience passion and enthusiasm. Others experience a high level of excellence in what you do.

We know that about 50% of our talent comes from nature and the other 50% from nurture. The secret is to discover early nature’s contribution so you can nurture those talents in the direction they want to go.

Watch this video of a very young boy whose 5% is very clear – AND – who experiences passion when he does his thing.

Paul Potts sold mobile phones at a retail outlet after college. Growing up he was bullied but found shelter in his singing. When he walked out on the stage of Britain’s Got Talent in March of 2007 the world discovered his 5%.

We’re all a bit like Paul Potts. We pursue life with hidden talents and wonder if the world will ever see the one thing that makes us unique and special. That discovery doesn’t have to happen by luck. We can seek it, find it and grow that 5%. Watch Paul’s audition. I’d be curious to hear what you felt AND what you think your 5% might be.

He describes why its so hard to get work done at work – and ways to improve that.

This presentation is a great companion to Daniel Pink’s book, Drive, The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us.

Our work increasingly requires thought, discretion and creativity. As Jason Fried says, our work is a series of work moments with interruptions in between.

Daniel Pink makes the point that the new nature of work is less “algorithmic” (simple and pre-determined) and more “heuristic” (exploratory and experimental). The motivation that works best for one becomes counter-productive for the other.

According to Pink, extrinsic motivation works okay for straight forward tasks. Intrinsic motivation (autonomy, mastery and purpose) are required the more the work is around thinking, decision making and creativity.

When we align Fried’s and Pink’s ideas we find that most organizations are out of sync with both the environment and reward structures for productivity in the 21st century.

This also fits with my early research on the nature of Print based organizations that use extrinsic rewards and punishments assuming that workers need to be monitored. Broadcast based organizations that use extrinsic rewards as incentives to tap into human potential and emerging Digitally oriented organizations that focus on the intrinsic value of the work as motivation.

Our work at TAG Consulting helps organization’s migrate toward intrinsic alignment with mission and work.

What kind of incentive structure does your organization offer: rewards and punishments, incentives for achievement or meaningful work?

How many undistracted hours of work a day to you get, on average?

I would love to see your answers to these questions.

If you want to understand the formula behind successful movies, Dr. Baehr lays this out very clearly.

Aristotles Elements of a Great Story (in this order)

1. Plot
2. Character
3. Dialogue
4. Idea
5. Music
6. Spectacle

The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri – considered one of the best.

What movies have you recently seen that follow his formula?

Slideshare is the Youtube for PowerPoint presentations.

Youngme Moon is the Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.

In one of his sessions and in the book “Think Outside the Box” he describes 4 paths to creativity:

• Invention/Invention: the thing(s) before the thing is invented – i.e. silicon chips (with integrated circuits) before portable computers.
• Invention/Extension: plusing or enhancing the original concept – i.e. laptop computers.
• Invention/Devention: an invention that “uninvents” another – i.e. cloud computing may one day make accessing information in a dedicated hard drive obsolete
• Functional Substitution: an invention that replaces another with a better application – i.e. texting as a preferred means of communication over email for those under 30.

I like to listen to musicians because the good ones embody all 4 of these paths. The video below presents two artists, Rodrigo y Gabriela. Their new album Eleven Eleven is a tribute to 11 different heavy metal artists. If you are a fan of Hendrix, Santana, Pink Floyd or Shakti – this is a variation on a theme worth listening too. And if you’re not a fan – all the better – you’ll enjoy it.

Each paths brings a fresh new experience to a product, service or idea. Those new riffs create high returns; enjoyment, results, revenue!

This video is a great example of Invention/Extension – extending heavy metal creativity to new domains. It is also a great example of Functional Substitution – classical Spanish guitar fusion.