Fear of digital transformation & wrong beliefs: How to defeat the greatest innovation killers!

Announcements come plentiful when the Companys talk about willingness to innovate, digital change and conversion measures. But most of it has no consequences. The main reasons for this? The top obstacles to innovation in companies are called Anxiety, power, false beliefs and bureaucracy, according to a study by the think tank 2bAhead.

Fear is the greatest success killer

The fear of making decisions on an uncertain basis was rated by 52 percent of the study participants as the number one obstacle to innovation. 35 percent of the 202 interviewed heads of innovation from mostly German companies also admitted that they themselves had already prevented innovations out of fear. So it is first and foremost fear, and especially fear of making mistakes, that must disappear from the company.

With fear in the neck we run faster, but only a very short piece. After that we are completely finished. The fact that man under pressure exerts spiritual miracles is a particularly dangerous story. The opposite is the case. Continuous pressure and persistent miscarriage sabotage the brain's ability to do its best because the messengers excrete in the anxiety block synapses.

But in fast times, fast synapses are sorely needed. And creativity, the key resource for innovation, is like a whimsical diva who has the right ones circumstances needs. Cheerfulness, leisure and Stress-Abstinence is one of them. Work has to be fun to be good. That is why so much value is placed on a feel-good climate in flourishing New Economy companies.

The powerful do not instigate a palace revolution

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For 37 percent of those surveyed, power issues are the number one obstacle to innovation. According to the study, almost every second manager fears a loss of power through innovations. power and with it Status and control too verlieren is usually damn hard. Maintaining vested rights is therefore a huge issue. A bloated measurement and control bureaucracy is the reason why many managers only ensure their right to exist. But bureaucracy makes a company slow and stupid.

Each change - and thus also each Innovation - also means that something hitherto unknown is created, of which no one quite for sure know if it will be better or worse than the one before. Anyone who wants to break new ground must also break with habits, leave their comfort zone and be able to throw formerly valid beliefs overboard.

But People like to repeat activities in which they were once victorious. “Self-herding” becomes this one Behavior mentioned in professional circles. Similar to herd behavior, here we follow the “herd” of our own past choices. Management mastermind Gary Hamel has a catchy statement ready for such old-fashioned people: “The Future used for? light Fools of the unteachable who cling too long to old certainties.”

Dispose of the old ballast of old times

One thing is for sure: on the journey to the future, it takes easy baggage, because the markets, like the hares, always hit new heels. But while the Old Economy continues to cumbersome planning and endlessly discussing budgets, the founder generation is just starting. Of course, it is better not to wear a suit and frame sewn, but t-shirt and sneakers. Speed ​​is increasingly important in exponential times.

For this must first be mended. All the weeds that hinder innovation must go: traditions that have never been questioned, sacred cows, which no one has ever wanted to slaughter, management methods that already have a rusty patina. Internal locks must be relaxed, degenerate management systems must be removed, and instruction-oriented control mechanisms must be taken care of quickly.

However, if you want security, you will choose the triple step mode: Here a few more horsepower, there a little more design, there a new feature, the packaging bigger, the label more colorful and then the stuff cheap on the market to beat the competition to really show. Linear means: more of the same - but also more of the wrong - and increasing irrelevance. On the other hand, jumping through the wall of fire of uncertainty is disruptive.

What must go? Minus 50 as the target number

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Inevitably, when something new is created, something old has to be set aside. But above all, the old see what they lose. The boys, however, are not in this dilemma. You have nothing to lose, no status to defend and no outdated stuff to be learned. And they have nothing to mourn from the "Before everything was better" time. You can only win in what the future holds.

So that the traditional companies can also reach the future, a speedy Transformation in an agile state is a must. That means: Everything a Organization slow down, gotta go. And everything she fast makes, must come. First of all, the speed gap has to be closed. A reasonable target figure is 50 percent less bureaucracy, administration, hierarchy, reporting, key figure systems and so on.

So I am not advocating complete dismantling and anarchy, but rather low-hierarchical systems and enough Structure, in order to ensure essential quality and to rule out mistakes at an early stage. Because anyone who tries to level hierarchies with violence creates a vacuum in which hierarchies immediately arise again. In addition, they have to Employees are carefully introduced to new forms of work at all levels.

How to get “Quick Wins” and “Big Wins”

There are many tools to rebuild obsolete management structures and to create better conditions for innovation. Here I call two:

• a “kill a stupid rule” workshop that is suitable for larger groups of employees across departments. The aim is to optimize internal processes independently, especially with a view to innovations for improved customer orientation.
• a “kill the company” workshop, which is primarily intended for management levels. With this format, which was originally developed by Lisa Borell, CEO of the consulting firm Futurethink, the own company is probed through the glasses of an aggressive competitor or start-up in order to better prepare for the future.

From my own experience I know: The first Method brings quick operational successes, the second can ensure the necessary big leaps.

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