Thoughts On The Tech Industry

The New (Old) Buzzword: Innovation

Is it me, or has everyone else sensed the impending blitzkrieg of the jargon word 'Innovation' quickly coming back into vogue again?

Monday I was on the SFO/BOS flight.  I love it, because it's 5+ hours of uninterrupted time to clear down the inbox and catch up on the reading.  Anyway,  the lead article in the November 2006 Harvard Business Review is entitled 'Innovation: The Classic Traps" by famed management guru and HBS professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter.  Scattered amongst a plethora of non-tech examples, she cites IBM, Microsoft, Apple's iPod and AT&T's WorldNet all as innovative tech companies. 

Tuesday morning bright and early I report for conference duty at the beautiful Marriott Long Wharf, right on the Bah-ston Hah-bah; another week, another industry event.  this one put on by one of my favorite research/analyst firms, The 451 Group.  Title of the conference?  2006 Enterprise IT: Innovation Summit.  Ahh, the next two days locked in a stale hotel ballroom of thirty- and fortysomething predominantly male techno-weenies talking about vague notions of innovation, et al.  (on the other hand - could be worse - could be a REAL technical conference filled with REAL technical peep's talkin' dolphin - J2EE, BPEL, SOA, ESB, DSDL, WBXML, WSDL, XBRL, XML and other Snizzle Drizzle...)

OK, Tuesday noon and I'm getting a good dose of 'innovation', almost Sam Adams dizzy-like.  Better cut out at break and check email. 

There in my inbox is an email from ComputerWeekly.  Title?  IT Greats: Innovation Is The Key To Greatness.   Nice.  How are you going to argue with this prophetic statement?  Motherhood, apple pie, fluffy kittens, sunshine... and innovation is the key to greatness...  BTW, their top ten list of the most 'influential' technology companies (where innovation played a role) are Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Xerox, Cisco, HP, DEC, ICANN, Amdahl.  GOOG, SAP and ORCL get footnoted mentions...

Better check voicemail and escape this avalanche of innovation...

Dr. David Sutherland called...  David is the Founder of the Launch Institute, great guy and great firm.   The Launch Institute has done some remarkable consulting work for AOL, Nokia, BMW, Sony, Pfizer and many other multi-nationals.  David and I go back 15+ years; he once wore a kilt to a company Christmas party we both attended in London (but now I digress...)  David called to follow up.  Guess what?  We met in our Palo Alto office a few weeks ago and together outlined a new Milestone Group service offering... Helping larger tech companies innovate... 

If only I could innovate my way out of a bunch of work left to do tonight before I go to bed, instead of posting this blog....

How To Deal With A Departing Salesperson?

What's the right thing to do when one of your key contributors decides to depart?  The "old school" approach is to "walk them" right then and there....  that is, to escort them out of the facility once they've communicated their intent to leave...  and to let them know their relationship with you and the organization is now forever changed.

Should you feel betrayed?  "Ditched?"  Disappointed?  Hurt?  Vindictive?

Why not take the "high road," and show him or her that you appreciate what they did while they were with you?

Most companies will take immediate action, and "walk" the employee.  That's not wrong.  But consider one company's approach to the situation:  Ask the individual to transition his or her work appropriately, with your direction, then pay him/her for two weeks after his/her last official day on the job.

Why?  Think about his for a moment.  And before I go on, let me say that this is not an original thought...  Someone far wiser than I suggested this to me, and it makes sense:  If you demonstrate by your actions and your policy (they're the same, right?) that you A.) value the individual's contribution, and B.) expect an orderly and professional transition, and C.) will reward both with a two week "severance," even when it's your salesperson's decision to depart, you send a message to the rest of your sales team.

If executed properly, you'll most likely avoid the situation where you're "left holding the bag..."  In other words, you encourage effective and productive transition from all your people, as a hedge against those that decide to leave, perhaps, before you had wanted them to.

...Makes sense to me.