Innovation Revolution: DON'T VEGETATE INNOVATE.

Employees today look for work environments that perpetuate a learning culture, one in which they can develop their skills and enjoy independence in their work.

Good things happen to innovative and creative-thinking organizations. Organizations that operate creatively show superior long-term financial performance. Additionally, innovation continues to be more and more critical in our high-speed society. The need for innovation in parks and recreation is extremely vital to our future success as an industry.

Customers demand innovation. New technologies continue to enable innovation. Think about how customers registered for programs a decade ago. Can you imagine offices without fax machines or e-mail? Private sector companies commonly design their organization around innovative techniques. Government organizations have a tendency to move much slower. What used to work no longer works. Yet we somehow remain wedded to the status quo.

Employees today look for work environments that perpetuate a learning culture, one in which they can develop their skills and enjoy independence in their work. Employees want involvement and the ability to participate in their future. Innovation only results when all employees are encouraged to use their minds.

Many times, employees suggest that they are simply not creative. According to innovation and creativity research at Harvard University, this is a "cop-out." Creativity and innovation skills can be developed through practice. One of the main challenges for leaders who desire greater levels of creativity is the establishment of a risk-taking climate. Employees must feel safe in trying new ideas and concepts. If not, staff will feel hesitant to take a bold chance on something new.

Few organization leaders have received training in the art of innovation. Today managers pay attention to problem-solving, communication skills, leadership, team enhancement, and project management. In most cases, innovation exists nowhere on the list of important skills. Its importance is regarded as a "soft skill." Yet innovative organizations can boast better bottom-line performance.

Truly innovative organizations have the value of innovation deeply imbedded at their core. Relying upon specific strategies that support creative thought and action, the spirit of innovation , spreads throughout an organization. Together, employees create the spirit of innovation.

Common Themes

Author Rosabeth Moss Kanter, in her book Innovation, mentions similarities among innovative organizations. The companies she notes -- 3M, Dupont, General Electric, Pfizer, and Rubbermaid -- share very similar operating strategies, which include:

* Innovation is a core value of the organization. Hiring includes an applicant's track record in developing innovative approaches. Orientation programs and employee training reinforce the importance of innovation. Organizational innovation does not "just happen"; it becomes part of the organization only through demonstrated commitment to the value of innovation. Additionally, reinforcement of the value needs to occur every day by what the leaders of the organization say and do. People inherently adopt and perpetuate the status quo. The accomplishment of innovation throughout all levels of the organization requires substantive effort. It becomes a strategy of eliminating the status quo.

* A well-defined leadership system that espouses employee involvement and participation in decision-making. An environment of command and control leadership paralyzes employees. Employees usually know their jobs; they do not need someone telling them what to do or how to do it. Managers in these organizations have accountability for innovation.

* Cross-functional openness that transcends throughout all departments and functions of the organization, The organization focuses on the "greater good" rather than the sum of the parts. In the parks and recreation world, this is analogous to maintenance and recreation staff working together rather than as separate players with opposing goals. General Electric's Jack Welch coined the term "boundarylessness" to describe his organization. GE relentlessly seeks to reduce artificial boundaries and turf between departments and vertical boundaries of bureaucracy.

* Continuous efforts in the establishment of teams to accomplish work. Employees from different departments form cross-functional teams. Employees affected by the change in a process are involved in the discussions. These companies recognize that good decisions result from a collection of diverse minds and perspectives. These teams have a fair amount of autonomy to accomplish their goals. There is an absence of inspection and checking by the boss, the boss's boss, and the boss's boss's boss.

* Flat organizational structures that support speed and employee empowerment. Span of control for management personnel is large. Levels of the organization have flattened to improve response time and reduce the amount of management inspection.

Laying the Foundation

Laying the groundwork for innovation includes three primary components: establishing the culture, generating ideas, and developing systematic problem-solving processes. It all starts with the culture of the organization, whereby innovation becomes a dynamic part of how the organization operates. Emphasis is placed on risk taking and idea generation by all employees. The organization trains employees in problem-solving techniques. Creative solutions to problems occur by looking at the root of the problem through different sets of lenses. There are five steps to follow.

1. Targeting areas for innovative effort.

2. Preparing the workplace for innovation.

3. Developing behavioral suggestion systems.

4. Generating innovative alternatives.

5. Implementing innovation through leadership.

The first step in achieving organizational innovation includes analyzing the organization. What are customers telling you? What areas of improvement do their comments suggest? What do employees suggest? What parts of the organization have remained the same for some time? Develop an inventory of facilities throughout your park system. What opportunities exist for changing or designing innovation into facilities? Evolving technology will affect the way we do business. We must develop online registration and other customer conveniences.

Innovation does not just happen. It takes preparation. Yet it does not take an intensive program for preparedness. Employees who see the value of changing organizational "sacred cows" and improving processes for the benefit of customers are usually onboard to make things happen.

Preparation includes embracing innovation as an organizational value. Change should not occur merely for the sake of change. However, don't hold on to the status quo because "we have always done it that way." And don't forget to involve employees in any change that may affect them.

Leaders should get rid of organizational biases against innovation. Examples of this include budget restrictions and policies, levels of supervisory approval for everything, and developing volumes of policies to protect the organization from the "bad" customers or employees. How many times do employees hear, "It's not in the budget"? This response kills innovation.

Behavioral suggestion systems exist to reinforce the importance of innovation for the employees of an organization. The Elk Grove Park District in Illinois has a documented process of recording any innovation that occurs. All employees' suggestions are submitted on a monthly basis and included in a board report. Each month a reward and recognition team selects the best service and process improvement for the month. Employees involved in the submission receive recognition. This reinforces the value of innovation throughout the organization. These accomplishments are posted on internal e-mail as well as on the walls of administrative offices.

Creative environments provide strategies for generating alternatives for effective problem-solving and decision-making. These strategies include:

* Brainstorming -- Establishes a common method for a team to creatively and efficiently generate a high volume of ideas on any topic. The process prohibits criticism and judgment. It encourages open thinking when teams are stuck in the "same old way" of thinking. Brainstorming simply involves a group of employees taking turns in generating ideas about a topic.

* Nominal group technique -- Allows a team to quickly come to a consensus on the relative importance of issues or solutions by completing individual importance rankings into a team's final priorities. It includes generating a list of issues, problems, or solutions. Individual team members rank the relative importance of each item. This allows every team member to rank issues without feeling pressure from others.

* Force-held analysis -- Identifies the forces and factors that support or work against the solution of an issue or problem. A large T is drawn on a flip chart. The desired state or ideal standard is listed. On one side of the T, the issues that drive toward the ideal situation are listed. On the other side of the T, issues that drive against the ideal situation or solution are listed. The final step is to prioritize the driving forces that can be strengthened and the restraining forces that should be minimized or removed.

The final step in establishing an organizational commitment to innovation revolves around leadership. Management practices that support innovation include challenge, freedom, resources, work-group factors, supervisory encouragement, and organizational support. Challenge and freedom for employees result in greater commitment to looking for better solutions and ideas to problems and challenges. Resources simply refer to having adequate technology and labor support to develop creative ideas into action. Supervisory and organizational support suggest that leaders should reinforce innovation as follows.

* Be willing to abandon old programs.

* Take risks.

* Choose innovative options that change things.

* Develop a marketing orientation to decision-making.

* Focus on performance measurements and rewards for effective action and innovation.

Practical Examples

What are the types of innovation that exist in a park district? Part of Elk Grove's value system revolves around innovation. The organization has a history of innovation in facility design. The organization designed a creative children's theme park in 1981; it was one of the first park districts in Illinois to build an outdoor waterpark, in 1985; in 1994, the district opened an innovative 120,000-square-foot recreation center. The current organizational strategy couples innovation in facility design with the leadership and operating infrastructure. Considering what we know about innovation, specific elements of leadership need to occur.

The park district has since aligned the leadership of the organization around innovation. The mission and value statements of the district include innovation as a key value. The working infrastructure of the organization exists to support innovation. This is accomplished through the use of teams, establishment of defined leadership standards, reduction of organizational boundaries, and perpetuation of a constantly improving environment.

As mentioned previously, the use of teams generally occurs in innovative organizations. Some of Elk Grove's teams include employee reward and recognition, compensation, technology, and voice of the customer.

The reward and recognition team has developed a series of individual and team-based awards for employees. Part of the emphasis of the reward program is on recognizing staff who submit innovative service or process improvements. The team also recognizes excellence in team performance.

The compensation team developed an organizational gain-sharing program for all full-time and year-round part-time employees. The team establishes annual goals for the entire organization. These goals relate to the financial success of revenue facilities and programs, customer retention goals, employee satisfaction, and process improvements. If the organization succeeds in these goals, employees receive a monetary reward based on the results.

The technology team, with the help of a consultant, is in the process of developing a strategic plan for technology for the entire organization. The voice of the customer team develops a yearly calendar of customer research and provides service training for all employees.

Leadership in the organization supports, encourages, and demonstrates innovation. All leaders follow park district leadership standards. These standards relate to providing vision, contributing to the team environment of the organization, and inspiring and developing innovation. Leaders in the organization spend time developing and empowering staff rather than inspecting employees' work.

Ongoing training includes discussions of innovation. The organization offers regular video training, including Tom Peter's Innovate or Die and Joel Barker's videos on paradigms, vision, and innovation.

Performance appraisal includes emphasis on innovation as well. The performance appraisal process was totally revamped and now includes only effective or needs development. In addition, as a way of reinforcing the team-based approaches, 25 percent of employee evaluation scores relate to team rather than individual performance. The senior management team receives a 360-degree appraisal as well. The 360 instrument incorporates supervisor, direct report, peer, and self-appraisal.

During the hiring process of full-time staff, interview questions are designed to gauge an applicant's ability to act creatively. A test that measures an applicant's predisposition toward innovation is also used. The organization overwhelmingly hires innovators.

The park district recognizes that departmental "silos," or barriers, among the operating departments get in the way of innovation. A team of employees called the Way Out There Team works to knock down silos. The purpose of the team is to make the park district a better place to work. The team recently completed an internal consulting project that related to boundarylessness. As an organization, Elk Grove wants barriers to productivity and innovation diminished as much as possible. Employees were asked the following questions:

1. How would you assess the organization and your department in their willingness to change the status quo?

2. What gets in the way of employees working as one team?

3. How would you assess the speed by which your department gets work done? Why?

4. What prevents an ongoing flow of honest and constructive dialogue involving people at all levels of the organization?

5. Are decisions made quickly and by those who are closest to the decision? Are there approval processes by supervisors that get in the way?

6. Do you experience any lack of cooperation in getting your job done?

7. What can you personally do to knock down silos in the organization?

As a result of the focus group work, improvement areas included educating employees about their peers' jobs. Help Days, in which employees will learn the ins and outs of three different jobs, will be implemented this year.

The park district also invests time and resources to reinforce innovative ideas and methods. In 1997 employees generated 175 service and process improvements; last year employees submitted 205 service and process improvements. Examples of improvements include streamlining the refund process, reducing steps in brochure submission, job restructuring, and cross-training. Employees receive training in basic statistical-process control skills. These skills help employees generate ideas, solve problems, and choose optimal solutions.

The organization operates in a continuous improvement environment. During 1999 each department selected one to three major processes to improve. Cross-functional teams work on making improvements to the way work is done. The teams use a structured format in their analysis.

Elk Grove also uses benchmarking techniques to measure its performance. Benchmarking reinforces innovation and allows organizations to measure their performance against other service providers. Staff have completed reports on fitness center operations, playground construction, and custodial operations, and benchmarking has provided them with many ideas for creative and innovative improvements.

The Elk Grove Park District has achieved great results during the past few years. Net revenue has grown substantially, customer satisfaction and retention are up, and employee morale is on the rise. As a result, the district has recently received the Lincoln Award for Excellence, which recognizes organizations that pursue excellence and are able to cope with today's dynamic environment.

But so much potential for creativity and innovation still lurks in the hearts and minds of employees. In the future the most successful organizations will have the capacity to unleash the human spirit toward change and innovation. Employees look to leadership for challenge, responsibility, and an opportunity to participate in the vision of their workplace. Tough competition exists for great human talent. In the competitive world of recreation and leisure services, innovation can make a significant difference in organizational success.

"Innovation doesn't just happen," says Barbara Heller, executive director of the Elk Grove Park District in Elk Grove Village, Ill. "It requires an organization committed to reducing departmental boundaries, a leadership style founded on employee involvement, and the use of cross-functional teams." Heller's story, "Innovation Revolution," which begins on page 74, argues that organizations with innovation at their core will have an advantage in attracting -- and keeping -- customers.