He always saves the day through some astoundingly innovative moves.
Popular belief is that innovation is a combination of luck and creativity, and either you have it or you don't but the evidence is quite the contrary. There are four reasons why Bond is such a bold innovator, and the parallels for business are striking, as these fundamentals can be easily translated to create work place innovation.
First, He has a clear mission (save the world) The importance of mission is crucial to any enterprise, and equally important is that employees understand why their company is in business. It is also particularly beneficial if employees are passionate about that business. Innovation can happen at any company, regardless of its size, location, or financial constraints as long as the company is willing to engage its employees in the effort to envision new opportunities.
Second, He's highly trained & disciplined (and thus highly skilled) The best companies seem to have a few simple measures that create a framework for innovation. These companies spend significantly more time recruiting and training staff, and have a highly disciplined culture. At first glance this seems paradoxical -Discipline to be Innovative- but in practice it is the route to innovation. An ambitious enterprise must work to build a consistent culture of discipline, with rigorous assessment and clear restraints. Hiring and training disciplined people. This gives management the time to manage the culture, and offers the employee the freedom to be innovative.
Third he has full discretion to do what he feels necessary to get the job done. (License to kill) Examples of this "license" can be found at 3M arguably the most innovative company in the world, they practice the 15% rule, that is, that employees can spend 15% of their time working on experiments that interest them. It's important to emphasize that this is totally free time and is used at the full discretion of the employee!
Richard P. Carlton, Former CEO of 3M sums it up like this; "Our Company has indeed stumbled onto some of its new products. But never forget that you can only stumble if you are moving." True many of the products 3M sells came about through serendipity, however without discretionary time for staff many of these products would never have made it to market.
And finally, 007 has clearly defined timelines (usually only a minute or two as the bomb is ticking) and a very specific goal (Detonate the bomb) Many companies fall into he trap of waiting for inspiration, while innovators create it. They don't just put smart people in a room & hope that innovation happens.... they light a fire in their staff & put in place a framework that will continually stimulate & reinforce innovative behaviour! This tactic is beautiful in its simplicity: set increasingly higher goals, set specific timelines, and do rigorous assessment.
The ideas and strategies are simple but sadly few organizations are able to innovate, this also has it's parallel to James Bond. What separates bond from the villains, who are doomed to fail, is courage! Businesses and their leaders must have the courage to articulate their mission, to engage employees, and set bold goals. Innovative businesses must have the courage to do things differently, like a martini that is shaken not stirred!
Ralph Forsyth is the revolutionary evangelist (and owner) of Whistler BC based Green Monkey Consulting. Ralph's Mission is to create change at work, by inspiring others to innovate, lead, and create great work environments. He can be reached at ralph@greenmonkeyconsulting.com
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