Posts tagged Adaptor
Can your team deliver innovation? Find out with my Christmas Gift to you.

Are you hop-skipping delightfully from one good idea to another but never getting things done? Or are you perfecting the present, making a great sailing ship while the rest of the world moves to steam?

I have seen businesses that are so innovative, nothing ever gets completed. They flounder as they flail excitedly from one awesome idea to another. They may not run out ideas, but do they do run out of cash.

Conversely, I have worked with highly adaptive organisations who grow, painstakingly, by tweaking past successes. They make few mistakes, but one day they end up with perfect sailing ship, while the rest of the world has moved to steam.

The Holy Grail is, of course, Delivered Innovation. This requires the best of both approaches but each extreme often sees the worst of each other thus making mutual collaboration difficult.

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Curing growing pains with Cynefin
How does a successful entrepreneurial organisation deal with operational growth pains without losing its ‘soul?’ I have been working with an Asia-based family owned business that markets health products through retail outlets. The business has grown considerably since starting 15 years ago (revenue of $2bn), and has ambitions to grow further. However, certain aspects of the operation are failing to keep pace with the market opportunities and the ‘rapid and flexible’ decision making processes of senior management. Application of the Cynefin framework in concert with the Kirton Adaptor Innovator (KAI)Theory provides useful insight into the possible contributors of the conundrum, and some possible practical choices about its resolution.
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