Organizations that are unable to innovate and evolve will likely not survive, let alone prosper. Few inside and outside our profession would argue the point. What role can rewards play?
The topic and question bring to mind an intriguing book on creative invention: The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson. The book presents the case that new discoveries -- those that have real impact - will no longer come from within disciplines and established fields of expertise, but will instead spring from situations where ideas from multiple fields and points of view come together. That is the Medici effect, named for the Medicis, a wealthy banking family in fifteenth century Florence. The Medicis used their wealth to bring together and fund the work of creators from a wide range of disciplines -- from sculptors to scientists, from financiers to architects. This diverse group of people who converged, beckoned by the Medici family, on Florence ignited one of the most creative eras in history, known today as the Renaissance.
We've discussed before how deep, specialized education in a field can potentially limit an individual's ability to think creatively. Innovators are often self-taught (think Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison) or have pursued a broad learning experience that crossed many fields.
Johansson shares the story of Charles Darwin and John Gould as one example. Darwin was a below average student who (to his father's chagrin) wandered around the English countryside pursuing various botanical interests and meeting with a range of scientists. He enrolled to become a physician, then a minister, then finally decided to board a boat for a five year trip around the world to study geology on his own. Along the way, he collected and wrote notes about birds from the Galapagos Islands. Because they were of little interest to him, he gave the collection to John Gould, one of the most prominent zoologists of the time. Gould, an accomplished taxonomist, assessed the collection and reported his rather interesting findings back to Darwin: that the birds were a single group of finches yet also reflected 13 distinct species -- one for each of the 13 islands. Gould, the expert, stopped there. Darwin went on to use this information to propose a radical notion that became a new theory of evolution, considered to be one of the most significant scientific theories of our time.
In a more recent example, successful venture capitalist Paul Maeder discusses the important role that disciplinary outsiders, often people without formal training, play in generating innovations. For him, identifying these individuals can help pinpoint the entrepreneurial teams worth betting on. Johansson recalls a conversation with Maeder:
"Take this guy Stan Lapidus," he told me one day. "He doesn't have an M.D. or a Ph.D., but he has come up with an amazing way of analyzing stool samples for colon cancer pathology. Put it in a blender, mix, and you can spot cancer with hardly any false positives. It's really an amazing invention. Now, why did he think of this? Because he's not a doc."
Back to us and the organizations we serve. Too many have cultures and embedded practices that inadvertently (or maybe not) discourage, punish, even expel the uncredentialed, disruptive misfit. Because everything we do in compensation is communication and organizations often become what they reward, I believe we have a role to play -- if we can get out of our own disciplinary silos. A number of questions come to mind, including:
- Could linking rewards and promotional opportunities too directly to formal education and credentials create a barrier to those who may have followed a different learning path but could bring a valuable perspective to the table?
- Are our performance management/career development/succession planning processes designed to recognize those with expertise gained in non-traditional ways as well as those who may be counter-cultural and disruptive in a way that's ultimately beneficial?
- Can we do a better job of using non-cash rewards like high visibility assignments, the chance to work on key projects, and the opportunity to participate in exciting product/service development efforts to recognize the potentially valuable "misfits" and encourage a healthy convergence of different ideas and viewpoints.
Food for thought...
Ann Bares is a Partner in Altura Consulting Group LLC, which supports organizations through the design and third party administration of custom and private label total compensation surveys. She earned her M.B.A. at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School and enjoys hiking, reading and hanging out with family in any spare time.
Creative Commons photo "Misfit" by Marian Kloon
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