Featured Guest Blogger:  Deb Nystrom of Reveln Consulting

As the technology age moves us along, innovation has been heralded as one of the few growth spaces left, and the power of community, think social media, is the other. 

Do they blend? 

Does creativity have a place in how this can happen?

Enter change.  It is important to keep change leadership and innovation separate, but related and integrated so that both qualities assist in successful realization of an organization’s mission & aspirations through taking advantage of the yearnings of its current and future talent.

Sometimes this is really about:

Oh, you 10+ years employees.  You were cool when you were young and energetic, but now we’d really prefer to get more new-thinking, young things in here. 

Current talent, are you really talented anymore?

Henceforth, much change has really to do with affecting (in some cases, read: damaging) the existing community, a mosaic of diversity of all ages, ethnicities, genders.  Maybe.  Among those 10+ years staffers in your organization, it may be that what creativity and innovation that does exist,  is not encouraged post 2008.  No wonder there is cynicism as this group has often seen many change-oriented programs and initiatives come and go.

Regarding ageism and other ills:  Consider, the rebels, the creatives, the courageous – eventually find each other online, and will make their own way.   They may or may not exist well in organizations or form communities, but some do.  Generation Flux is ageless, via Fast Company, in an article that touts the rolling stone nature of innovators and agile creatives.

Learning how to create an agile organization that creates space for Generation Flux-type creatives and innovators can enrich and enliven your bottom line.  This is especially true if the competencies of adapting to change, innovation, and creativity relate to the core values of  your organization and what value you provide today and tomorrow to your clientele.

Because change is often more managed than lead, and is RARELY co-created, …it often fails.

Change Leadership:  Most of the time, change is more managed than led, even with the best intentions of leaders, change managers and project managers working together.  “Manager think” affects creating risk-taking space for innovators when corporate space is still too focused on efficiencies of current services and products and leave no room at the fringes for innovators.

Change methods are small guarantees of any type of success with change and its partner, innovation. 

Innovation requires risk-taking leaders with a very different mind-set than the legions of managers who report to them.  Examples of change leader problems include:

•     isolated leadership (disconnected from current and evolving culture)
•     favoring re-structure and ignoring engagement
•     un-aligned HR practices including recognition & compensation
•     focusing on telling versus listening and responding, and
•     managing over leading. . .

For complete post, please visit the Reveln.com site.

Used by permission.  Many thanks to Deb Nystrom for her contribution of this post!