RETHINKING LA - Common wisdom says that the experts are the ones who know best and that the ones who have been on the job the longest have valuable institutional memory that can’t be replaced by newcomers.
This is one of the arguments used by insiders as they grapple to maintain their position, whether it’s political office, or departmental seniority, or work assignments.
It’s also a concept that is challenged by those who study innovation and growth.
Companies that are celebrated for a particular innovation or accomplishment such as Netscape, AOL, and Atari, typically have a short lifespan. On the other hand, groups such as Apple and 3M continue to invent and create, picking up speed as they go forward.
How does a company such as 3M continue to churn out innovation for over 75 years?
Successful organizations put a premium on creativity and they cultivate it by encouraging and sometimes requiring two specific behaviors that are in contrast with the norm.
First, they embrace a flexible attention policy. Companies such as Google and Clif encourage their people to make time for activities that at first glance might seem unproductive. Some folks call it the 15% rule while 3M calls it bootlegging. Either way, it contradicts the notion that people need to be managed and the evidence demonstrates that it works.
Second, they embrace conceptual blending, the notion that a fresh perspective will uncover new possibilities that the experts continue to miss. Some of the everyday inventions that we take for granted were discovered by accident, often overlooked by the experts but innocently revealed when a bystander said “What if...?”
Companies with a culture of innovation and growth encourage cross-pollination and free time, notions that drive traditional style managers crazy, yet the evidence supports the notion that people who concentrate for too long or stay at the same job for too long become less productive and far less innovative.
Jonah Lehrer, author of Imagine - How Creativity Works, was recently in town, talking about Fortune 500 giants and the difference between those who embrace new notions of innovation vs. those who practice traditional “rise to your level of incompetence and then stay there until retirement.”
The difference between the two styles is dramatic and anyone who has used products that range from Scotch Tape and Post-Its to Gmail and Touch Screen Computers has benefited from the work of people who wandered away from their cubicle and ended up in a department that was new to them.
Perhaps it’s time to take a look at the culture of City Hall. Why do we do things the way we do them? How does a good idea find a home in City Hall? Is there even a suggestion box to be found? Does City Hall encourage innovation over tradition? Does City Hall encourage departmental silos or concept blending?
What would happen if transportation engineers spent more time moving people and planners spent more time moving vehicles? What would happen if cultural affairs spent more time designing public space and parks administrators spent more time addressing public safety?
It may seem silly to think of Animal Services handling Ethics and Sanitation taking responsibility for Communications but it’s not.
In fact, it’s a time-tested method for shaking things up, for ending the malaise, and for embracing a future of innovation that will move Los Angeles forward.
(Stephen Box is a grassroots advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at: [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter and on Facebook.) –cw
Tags: Stephen Box, Rethinking LA, City Hall, City Hall Culture, Los Angeles
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 34
Pub: Apr 27, 2012