The Secret Sauce of Business Innovation

A. Leadership is changing as the old command and control mode.

Probably the biggest factor challenging conventional management is the massive Gen Y or Millennial generation of young people entering the workforce. They outnumber their helicopter Baby Boomer parents. Younger workers bring with them a new ethic of openness, participation, interactivity and cannot imagine a life without Google and Facebook always within reach.

They are willing to work hard but also insist on work|life balance. They yearn to be coached with constant feedback rather than an annual performance review. They don't respond well to traditional forms of supervision or even hierarchies, preferring to work in collaborative teams. Note: For how coaching is different from consulting and how management needs to change to effectively lead Gen Yers, listen to this interview:

The rise of unstructured work, collaboration, a new generation of knowledge workers, and new suites of collaborative tools are changing the business process. The challenge is to orchestrate intelligence. Companies must customize relationships with customers, suppliers and others, detecting and responding to market and environmental shifts.

Think of a shared canvas where every splash of paint contributed by one artist provides a richer tapestry for the next artist to modify or build on. Whether people are creating, sharing, or socializing, the Web is now about participating. This is leading to a profound change in the architecture of the corporation and how we orchestrate capability to innovate. The mantra "focus on what you do best and partner to do the rest" is serving most leaders of the global economy well. Rather than offloading a process, companies now collaborate.

Products are now mass customized, service intensive and infused with the knowledge and the individual tastes of customers. Because companies must constantly innovate, product life cycles collapse.

It is easier to identify trends and to not only respond to them but to achieve and shape them. Reflect on early signs of change in three core categories: 1) technology, 2) societal shifts and economic change, and 3) customer experience. The goal is to create an informal dashboard to map trends that could translate into competitive threats.

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