Friday, June 12, 2009

The Idea in Brief

Too few businesses have creative, right-brain types in leadership positions. That leaves innovation especially vulnerable to unwise cost cutting during hard times. Decisions about slashing versus retaining projects are made by analytic, left-brain leaders unsuited to evaluating innovation portfolios.

The fashion industry is worth emulating:

  • Its businesses are "both-brain," run by pairs of powerful executives with complementary--creative and analytic--styles.

  • They are structured to support left-brain-right-brain partnerships; hiring at all levels seeks a mix of cognitive styles.

  • Innovation becomes a way of business life, not a marginal activity.

Both-brain pairs have been found elsewhere: Apple CEO Steve Jobs and COO Tim Cook; Procter & Gamble's chief of global design, Claudia Kotchka, and CEO A.G. Lafley; high-tech engineer Bill Hewlett and business leader David Packard. Such partnerships could help innovation thrive in your business.

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