Without collaboration, innovation stalls

How we can bring Edison’s world-changing collaboration process into the digital age.

English: Thomas Edison Lightbulbs 1879-1880 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When we call Thomas Edison to mind, our first thought is of a brilliant inventor and innovator whose creations transformed modern life. We often think of him toiling away in a laboratory all by himself, long into the wee hours of the morning.

And yet, we rarely consider the role that collaboration played in Edison’s world-changing success. Tangled in the lore of the lone American inventor, our mind’s eye conjures Edison’s spray of white hair, his signature bow tie, and we quickly ascribe his 1,093 US patents to innate genius.

Tempting as it is to sustain this image of Edison, it is inaccurate. In an age when we speak of Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs in the same breath, it’s important to refresh our understanding of the pivotal role collaboration played in Edison’s innovation prowess. He viewed collaboration as the beating heart of his laboratories, a sustaining resource which fuelled the knowledge assets of his sprawling innovation empire.

Thomas A Edison

Rising from humble beginnings, Edison was largely self-educated, pursuing his relentless passion for learning well into his 70s, when he taught himself botany. Deeply skilled in chemistry, telegraphy, acoustics, materials science, and electro-mechanics, Edison’s thirst for discovery began in his early teens and never ceased. Like a magnetic force all its own, Edison’s brainy leanings drew others to his quests, attracting bright colleagues with a huge diversity of skills.

From his earliest years renting space in workshops and small laboratories, Edison collaborated with others. Realizing the value of sharing his inspirations with people who held different skills than he did, Edison felt a unique bond with those who labored with him. In establishing his famed Menlo Park Laboratory at the age of 29, Edison journeyed from the failure of his first patented invention at age 22 to becoming a world-renowned inventor in just 7 years, establishing collaboration practices which came to be a signature of his campus-style operations.

Midnight Lunch  -  Published in hardback by Wiley Dec 17  >  http://ow.ly/fj4R3 > ebook 2 weeks later, is a new book from his descendant Sarah Miller Caldicott. It challenges each reader to examine the ambitions they’ve set for themselves, re-imagining what one person is capable of producing when they work in true collaboration.

The linkage between innovation and collaboration underscores why Edison’s collaborative approach becomes such a relevant subject for us now. Given the increased scrutiny placed on the role of innovation as a driver of growth for every economy – whether emerging or developed – we must ask whether collaboration is also engaged. Like a symbiotic organism which can only thrive when its host is present, innovation can only gain sustainable traction when true collaboration also exists.

I have had the privilege of a pre-publication read of  Midnight Lunch  (Edisonian employee ritual) and can’t recommend it highly enough for any that see innovation and collaboration as the way to future business success and a higher purpose.

©  Wiley Publishing and Author Sarah Miller Caldicott  

Twitter: @WileyBiz and @SarahCaldicote

Trevor B. Lee  -  EP International  -  www.ep-i.net

In an age of corporate transparency be careful with pay differentials.

A recent study in the American baseball leagues suggests that the greater the difference between the pay of the stars and that of the rest of the team, the less impressive is the performance of the stars and the team as a whole.

Allowing the gap between executive and average worker compensation to grow provides fertile ground for what Professor Robert Simons calls rationalization. He suggests that this is an essential ingredient for turning the pressure of alienation into the opportunity of unethical behaviour.

In other words, if individuals can convince themselves that their contemplated behaviour is not wrong – using excuses such as “Everybody does it,” “The effect is immaterial,” “No one is hurt” or “I’m doing it for the good of the company” – then there is little to prevent the type of behaviour that puts both the individual and the organization at risk.

Trevor B. Lee, EP International

http://www.ep-i.net

With acknowledgement to my friends at: http://www.bbrt.org 

Mavericks

Those that know me often attach a ‘disruptive’ or ‘counter-intuitive‘ label.

So this is for them:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

— Apple Computers Advertisement

and a couple of quotes to go alongside that fabulous statement:

“Subordinates need to challenge in order to follow, and superiors must LISTEN in order to lead” ~ The Boundaryless Company

Servant Leaders are tough and explicit about core values, including respect for diversity. They tend to listen rather than talk. 

Trevor Lee

http://www.ep-i.net

Panel Interviews

A Great Way to Learn More and

Naturally Control Emotions 

If you want to save time, learn more and eliminate your emotional biases, try a Panel Interview.

If done correctly, it can be one of the most effective tools for assessing competency. Shorter interviews test chemistry and fit, but tend to be superficial.

Remember, “interview” personality is not the same as “on-the-job” personality.

Here is some basic advice on conducting a panel interview:

▸ Make sure each interviewer has reviewed the resume and performance profile before the interview.

▸ Tell the candidate beforehand that there will be a panel interview – No surprises

▸ Avoid intimidating the candidate by limiting the panel to 3-4 people. Use a round table.

▸ Assign a leader.

The leader is responsible for:

□ Keeping the group on topic – Only leaders can change the topic. Other interviewers should be observant and ask fact-finding and follow-up questions for clarification

□ Making sure each important topic is explored completely. Don’t change subjects too quickly. Explore each topic thoroughly and weave a thread around the topic with follow-up questions, fact-finding, and examples.

□ Keeping the discussion moving. Once a topic is fully explored, move on to another topic quickly.

□ Making sure other interviewers don’t come in with a list of prepared questions.

▸ Ask the candidate to visualize how they would solve a specific job related challenge. Get into a give-and-take discussion using the “visualize” question (i.e., How would you handle the task or solve the problem, if you were to get the job?).

▸ Give the candidate a take-home problem to present in the panel session. This fosters a “real life” discussion about the job and makes the interview more of a working session.

Trevor Lee – EP International

http://www.ep-i.net

To Hire or not To Hire – Wait Thirty Minutes

The Candidate looked good on paper, he even impressed the hiring manager during the interview, but two or three months into the new job they suddenly realize that what they got isn’t exactly what they ordered! What went wrong?

It happens all too frequently. Just a few simple steps can help you avoid this painful and costly situation.

Here’s just one tip that will make a world of difference:

▸ Wait 30 minutes into the interview before making any judgment about the candidate‘s fit for the position!

Here’s why:

▸ The traditional interview is actually not much better than a simple coin toss for selecting a good future employee. Some managers boast that they can tell in an instant if a candidate is a good fit or not. This arrogance often leads to rejecting good candidates and accepting fast talking, amiable but often less competent candidates.

Why wait 30 minutes?

▸ It psychological! If you have a good rapport with the person right away, they’re well dressed, articulate and amiable, you end up asking easier questions and not probing as deeply. You will likely let things slide and give them the benefit of the doubt.

▸ On the other hand, If you immediately dislike the person based on appearance or mannerisms, you end up being negative, asking harder questions, cutting the interview short and not really listening.

▸  Learn to control your emotions.

▸ Measure performance first, wait 30 minutes and you’ll eliminate many hiring mistakes.

Trevor Lee – EP International

http://www.ep-i.net

Interviewer: Stay the Buyer – from the beginning to the end

RECRUITING is much more like buying than selling – although you wouldn’t know it from the way most recruiters go about it. They stop the evaluation and begin the selling process as soon as they find someone they like!

Once you start selling, you stop the part of your brain that makes vital judgements. You talk more and the candidate talks less. NOT a good idea as from this point you won’t learn anything new about the candidate, other than what she wants you to know! In short you have given up control of the interview.

Strong recruiting is necessary but it’s much more effective as a marketing tool than a sales pitch. Talking about the great merits of your company after you’ve already interviewed and assessed a candidate can come across as a classic hard-sell. But when you say exactly the same thing before you know much about the candidate, it is shrewd marketing.

There’s much less pressure, since you obviously make this same speech to all candidates!

If you present your job, without hype, as a significant long-term and exciting opportunity, candidates will want to sell you. They will, I assure you, tell you everything you want and need to know (and more).

Finally, remember if you make it too easy for a candidate to get a job, she won’t want it as much. Make it a challenge and harder to get and she’ll work harder herself to convince you she is the PERFECT CANDIDATE.

Trevor Lee, EP International

http://www.ep-i.net

Conversations with Candidates

From my early days I recognized an underlying power-play when interviewing candidates and applicants (the difference is a piece for another day). Alongside this I thought (and still think) how totally divorced this process is from the real world of day-to-day management and leadership.

The very word ‘interview’ should replaced (in my own mind at least) with the phrase ‘conversation with a purpose’.

So what to do?

Fortunately I came across (can’t remember where) a way of equalizing the relationship and in doing so helping to arrive at better outcomes. Essentially this was by removing (even out of this non-operational activity) fear and replacing it with trust which should be the aim of all leaders.

My mind-set now views the ‘candidate’ as a ‘consultant’.

It’s amazing how that small change in perspective can make an interview more successful.

As an interviewer (that word again!) you have an enormous amount of power over a candidate – especially if you’re also the hiring manager.

It’s true that we tend to listen more and be less judgmental of people we consider to be our ‘betters’. This is why we are more deferential towards customers and supervisors than we are to suppliers and subordinates. In fact we still do this almost instinctively when we talk with lawyers and doctors. Is it any wonder therefore that when we treat candidates with this same degree of respect, they open up more quickly and their answers are longer and more insightful?

So what I advise is that when we sit down with candidates for the first time:

• be sincerely interested in their answers

• ask follow-up questions that demonstrate active listening

• ask for their advice on job-related problems

• be ready with positive feedback

Unless you talk too much – this is will not result in oversell.

If all else fails, imagine yourself actually paying the candidate for advice. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well this simple change of attitude can open the floodgates of communication. A two-way conversation that is more likely to result in truth and a contribution to better outcomes.

If nothing else this less confrontational approach will also lead to an altogether more pleasant and satisfactory meeting between two resourceful humans rather than one being viewed as a human resource.

This has helped me. I hope it at least gives you food for thought.

Trevor Lee, EP International

http://www.ep-i.net