Page 164 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Innovating for the Future 153

This fund, set up by the corporate center, awarded seed money to individ-
uals or teams that wanted to pursue potentially breakthrough new ideas,
either in the form of new offerings or improved processes. Anyone could
submit an idea, and the most promising were put in front of a review board
once a month, chaired by Smith himself. Those who passed the first round
of reviews used their funding to build proofs of concept that they could test
with customers and then iterate upon. The most promising ideas emerging
from this process would then be more fully funded as new products and
services. Smith also asked his leaders to designate “innovation champions”
throughout the organization to be involved in cross-company innovation
initiatives, introduced future-focused metrics into business reviews, and
established communications avenues and a yearly workshop where organic
innovation activities could be discussed, coordinated, and celebrated.
Smith accompanied the innovation program with a deliberate initia-
tive to make the company’s culture more creative and collaborative. All
managers and leaders, starting with Smith’s executive team, went through
a workshop and follow-up discussions meant to create a common language
and expectations for behavior, which then were reinforced in performance
reviews and promotion decisions. Smith also came to grips with the fact
that several of his senior business unit heads and functional leaders had
not fully bought into the idea of an integrated operating company and were
not truly collaborating with each other, so he replaced several of these
blockers at the same time. This gave Smith a more collaborative team and
sent a strong signal through the company that everyone should take the
culture of innovation and collaboration seriously.
By the end of 2014, Smith’s transformation was beginning to bear
fruit. Higher customer satisfaction and employee retention ratings were
paired with a significant improvement in year-over-year net sales. The Fi-
nancial & Risk business recorded its first year of positive net sales since
the recession. Areas of the business targeting faster growth opportunities
saw 4 percent aggregate revenue growth. And the simplification program
improved operating efficiency and was on track to reach its savings targets.
Smith’s efforts to position the company for the future have not let up
since then. In recent years, the company has established a network of