Managing for Innovation: It’s all about your Team.
In the four years it took me to build FJTC (Florida Justice Technology Center)* from the ground up; my team managed to build and publish six software tools — some targeted to members of the public and some targeted to legal aid advocates. By all measures, that is am impressive feat. The key to making it happen was having great people; and then having those great people work together well. As the justice ecosystems grapple with how to innovate (see Covid19) I wanted to share what I learned from that experience.
Hire the Right People:
If you have ever managed people you know when you have someone who is good — they are smart, easy to work with, excited to do the work and are always looking to learn and contribute more. Finding good people is a challenge but you can’t build anything of high quality without good people on your team.
The ancillary rule to hiring the right people means you have to fire the wrong ones. You don’t do this to punish them but rather to protect the good ones you have. Don’t go to all the trouble to find, hire, and promote good people only to saddle them with some goober who can’t do the work. You can work with goobers to see if you can bring them up to speed, but don’t do them and your team a disservice by keeping them around if they aren’t useful. I know it sounds harsh, but your team of very good people deserve to work with the best you can find. Hire the right people; fire the wrong ones.
Then Leave Them Alone:
Yes, I get it, we are all smart. But if you hire someone to do the work, get out of their way. Manage so you get the outcome you want, let your people figure out the path to get you there. You hired smart, good people remember? So, let them do their job and get out of the way.
Give Them the Resources They Need:
In addition to the basic tools everyone needs to get the job done, I suggest you ask often “Do you have what you need to do your job?” because you might be surprised by the answer. Not everyone knows they can ask for help — by making sure everyone has what they need, you ensure quality.
Each member of my teams got a very small amount of money in the budget to be used to purchase whatever they needed to do their job. They didn’t need my approval to spend the money, they could spend it however they wanted as long as it was related to the work. I did this early and paid attention to what people purchased and when they purchased it. Typically, people purchased software they wanted to try, and they typically purchased it on the weekends. Most of the time, these purchases resulted in either efficiency gains or quality gains — a win either way.
Support Their Mistakes:
I think you need to figure out what went wrong when someone screws up; to keep it from happening again. You don’t need to punish or blame. Once you figure out how to make it not happen again (assuming you can) there is something more important you need to do next.
In order to be creative and innovate, designers and developers need to feel safe. Psychologically Safe. Safe from ridicule. You can correct errors and improve quality and morale without making people feel uncomfortable or threatened. It is called leadership. Listen to this podcast by Adam Grant called the Daily Show’s Secret to Creativity for an expanded discussion of creating psychologically safe workspaces: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y8ocvxrq.
Find out What Other Talents They May Have:
I personally like to watch people grow. And while some folks want to stay in their comfort zone; I think work should offer opportunities to stretch, expand, learn and grow. Pay attention to what other skills your team wants to learn; you can ask directly, and you can observe where they may need to improve. When you are paying attention and offering guidance up front, rather than waiting for your people to come to you they feel seen. Feeling seen is the direct opposite of feeling like a “cog in the machine”. People who feel seen stay engaged. That is one of the reasons they are such great employees.
I hope you find this short list helpful; what ways do you manage for innovation?
‘* FJTC software tools were taken in house by the funder in 2019. They still exist and continue to grow.
