Achieving World Class Performance
This isn’t really news, but I feel compelled to post it since some of the readers of this blog are managers of people. The post “Why is Innovation Such a Hot Topic? Two Sides of a Coin” by Irving Wladawsky-Berger mentions his attendance at IBM’s annual partner conference. IBM hosted Bert Rutan (of SpaceShipOne fame). Irving’s post mentioned Rutan’s comments:

He made two points about innovation that particularly resonated with me. The first is that if you want teams of people to perform at an extraordinary level, you need to challenge them with problems that really inspire them. People love to work on and solve problems that seem impossible to everyone else, and if you can tap into that emotional energy, you have a really charged-up, motivated team. But his second point was that people will rarely perform at such levels when they are relaxed and happy. In order to reach inside yourself and find that something extra needed for true innovation, you have to feel the stress that comes when you know that it is absolutely crucial to come up with a solution to the problem.

This felt so true to me, because I am convinced that the combination of “seemingly unlimited possibilities” and “necessity as the mother of innovation” is responsible for the current interest in — and importance of — innovation.

I completely agree with Rutan and Irving’s thoughts. What about you?