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Puneet Suppal

Café Innovation – Courage of Leadership and Innovation
Puneet Suppal SAP Employee Active Contributor Silver: 500-1,499 points
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Posted on Oct. 01, 2009 07:03 AM in Enterprise Data Warehousing/Business Warehouse, Business Process Expert, Business Process Management, SAP Business Suite, Enterprise Performance Management, Organizational Change Management
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Over the past month or so, my personal commitments had kept me from a few things including my active presence on this forum - my apologies.  Lately, I have wondered about what makes an enterprise adopt a bold approach toward innovating out of its status quo whereby it emerges more competitive. We have discussed this topic in various ways, but the one fact, that might be somewhat obvious, is courage of leadership that we have not touched on. This courage stems from not only a strong sense of confidence at relevant levels of an enterprise's leadership that their people are up to the task, but also from a sense that evolution is absolutely necessary in order not to go the way of the dinosaurs.

One example, I have found is in a Harvard Business Review article from the October 2009 issue,  titled, "How GE is Disrupting Itself" (Jeffrey Immelt, Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble). The authors report that GE is now engaged in a process called, "reverse innovation."  They explain that this requires a decentralized market focus that clashes with the centralized, product-focused structure that GE and other multinationals had evolved for their global growth reaching deep into local markets. The article focuses on the how and what of this approach. The thought that has occurred to me is, taking this beyond GE, what prompts a company like GE to go down this path and how are they pulling it off? In my mind it is the courage of leadership that brings this about - a realization that status quo is not acceptable and that a new innovative approach could deliver value to their customers and to the company. This courage is reflected in the confidence you demonstrate in your people as well who will deliver on that vision. The people involved must be well-informed and well-versed in the processes of the company (see, the BPXer is important in this !!!).

So if you are a leader within an established organization, don't hesitate to question status quo - you might be onto something that creates far-reaching value. If you are starting within a new organization, do not hesitate to push the boundaries - there ought to be no sacred cows when it comes to evolving new business  models.

[On a personal note, I am taking this to heart. I have just joined a new company to put into practice the notion of how an innovative approach to serving customers can re-define the boundaries.  If I said anything further, it would become a shameless plug, which of course, I do not wish to do.]

 

Puneet Suppal  Active Contributor Silver: 500-1,499 points SAP Solutions & Innovation (On Twitter : @puneetsuppal)

Comment on this articleIs your organization hesitant to try new business models? Is your organization looking to emerging from the economic downturn more competitive than before? What is your organization doing to prepare for this? What efforts are on to strengthen the process side of the house? What is the stance of the leadership? What, in your opinion, are some actions organizations should take? Chime in with your thoughts.
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  • Confidence + ?
    2009-11-11 04:33:38 Leo Mcdermott Business Card [Reply]

    Dear Puneet,
    First of all, an interesting article.
    I believe you are right to an extent that it is the courage of leadership which breeds innovation and its practice. At the same time I feel that it needs to be seen as imperative investments specially for goliaths like GE. More into the light of necessity, in this fast changing market conditions, new breed of technological innovations and adverse economic conditions, if continuous innovation is not seen as imperative then it would not be far when one would start realising the pinch of it.
    On the other hand, it is quite possible for leadership of companies like GE to take such decisions leading to cultivating the culture of innovation that may or may not result into tangible benefits. But the same variables deter one when trying to justify a business case.
    So what are the other factors beyond confidence that leadership of any organization should demonstrate?
    Cheers
    Leo
  • Excellent Stuff
    2009-10-02 08:21:14 Umesh Biyani Business Card [Reply]

    Dear Puneet,


    Great Leadership is indeed about challenging the status quo and push beyond the boundaries, GE is an great example of it.


    Here is wishing you all the success in your journey as a Leader, keep sharing your leadership wisdom within the BPX community


    Cheers,


    Umesh

    • Excellent Stuff
      2009-10-02 15:13:41 Puneet Suppal SAP Employee Business Card [Reply]

      Umesh,
      Thank you for your comments. I look forward to seeing more of you in the community as well!


      Regards,
      Puneet

  • Great material...
    2009-10-01 11:22:58 Bill Wood Business Card [Reply]

    You've got great content, instincts, and focus. May I reproduce your content on my own site, with full links and attribution back to you or your company?


    Thanks,
    Bill Wood - President
    R3Now Consulting

    • Great material...
      2009-10-02 15:17:16 Puneet Suppal SAP Employee Business Card [Reply]

      Bill,
      Thank you for your comments. If you wish to share my content with your readership, I recommend you merely provide a link on your site to the Cafe Innovation blog, or in other words a link to my author page on the SAP Community Network, which has a public URL.


      Hope that helps.


      Regards,


      Puneet

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