Project Management
Get a copy of our newest ebook - Practical Project Management in a Nutshell.
In simple terms, the stages of project management are described and we give you several tips to implement today!
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Greetings!
Organizational culture is a multi-headed beast. In this issue of The Village, our monthly thought leadership paper examines Three Ways Organizational Culture Influences Innovation. Our popular Recommended Reading section focuses on the book Gung Ho! which gives three tips used to enact a turnaround at a factory.
And just for fun, we look at how tires are made in our monthly feature, Innovation Fun Facts.
In case you missed it, you'll want to read our popular article 2 Functions, 3 Ways to Implement Innovation.
And don't forget, at your request, we're offering a special discount on three reader favorites - a bundle of strategy thought leadership papers for only $15.95 - a discount of over 10% from the cover price. Buy Now
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Organizational Culture | | |
Three Ways that Culture Influences Innovation
You are probably involved in a lot of organizations - work groups, religious and community congregations, hobby associations, and family units. Each of these is an "organization," in the loosest definition of the term. Each organization also has its own culture, or personality - who is accepted as a member, how tasks are accomplished, and what behaviors are expected.
 First, teams must be cross-functional throughout the NPD life cycle. It is important to trust the teams to make the right decisions on their own. Autonomous teams tend to be more creative, so don't handcuff your innovations with pyramids of hierarchy.
Next, team and organizational leadership need to acknowledge and respect their cross-functional work groups. We all have smart people working on new product development, so we'll discuss how to manage the geniuses in your organization. (Hint: stay out of their way!) We'll also discuss how relational leadership builds more effective cross-functional teams than a directive management style.
Finally, NPD teams need to find creative technical solutions to address market needs. Cultural norms, such as performance rewards have a direct impact on both individual and group creativity.
GNPS Premier Members can access this dynamic thought leadership paper in pdf format. All GNPS Premier members SAVE on NPDP Certification courses.
Otherwise, you can download a pdf copy of Three Ways Organizational Culture Influences Innovation for just $8.95 (tax included). |
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Recommended Reading | | |
Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles
A classic story of organizational turnaround, Gung Ho!  by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles gives three quaint management tips to motivate your creative workforce.
- The Spirit of the Squirrel provides tips on making work enjoyable and beneficial for the organizations' employees. Innovation workers are inspired by meaningful work.
- The Way of the Beaver describes team empowerment and autonomy. Cross-functional innovation teams need autonomy to make decisions for new product development.
- The Gift of the Goose finally offers techniques to reward and recognize workers. Innovation team members are rewarded by challenging work itself. Make sure you reward teams for their performance whether the project goes to commercialization or not.
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Innovation Fun Fact | |
Racing Tires
By 1800, the wheel had become the central component of technology in northern Europe as the Industrial Revolution took off. .
With the advent of the pneumatic tire in 1887, invented by John Boyd Dunlop, replaced the iron or steel rim, giving the wheel a new lease on life and many new applications.
Click on the image of the tire at the right for a short video to see how racing tires are made. (An 8-minute video.) |
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