Recipe for Innovative Thinking

Recipe for Innovative Thinking:

•      Take an inquisitive development officer.

•      Combine with a self-assured, forward-thinking CEO.

•      Mix vigorously with generative thinking board members.

•      Place in a transparent, heat-resistant board room over medium heat until the passion rises to activate the ingredients.

•      Gradually increase the temperature.  (As the mixture heats, there is a tendency for the ingredients to separate.)

•      Constantly stir the mixture by exploring constituent needs, organizational expertise, successes to date, and resources.

•      As best ideas rise to the surface, skim them off and assign to a task group for immediate action.

•      Take the most appetizing and digestible morsels and serve to constituents while still hot. 

•      Discard if lukewarm or cold.

As nonprofits committed to serving the public good, we need to embrace constituent-focused innovation throughout our organizations in a disciplined fashion.  We need to challenge and test our assumptions and consistently ask ourselves: “Can we do this better?”

Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, describes it well under “Building Greatness to Last:  Preserve the Core and Stimulate Progress.”  He advocates adherence to core values combined with a willingness to challenge and change everything except those core values—keeping clear the distinction between “what we stand for” (which should never change) and “how we do things” (which should never stop changing). Great organizations have a purpose and they translate this purpose into BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) to stimulate progress.

It’s easier to read reports than question assumptions and challenge ideas.   But, with practice, we not only grow to appreciate the latter, we discover how it fuels innovation and effectiveness—and passion.