Innovative Middle Manager

You Know Your Company’s Long-Term Success Hinges on Innovation

You know your company’s long-term success hinges on innovation—creating new products, services, markets, and methods. But did you also know that it’s your middle managers who can best identify and drive the potent ideas that will define your firm’s future?

Yes, innovation is difficult: It disrupts the status quo and cuts across all your organization’s boundaries. That’s why you need entrepreneurial middle managers—leaders who go beyond the limits of their formal job descriptions to acquire the informal power and resources that really make change happen.

The Idea in Practice

Any innovation consists of three major phases: 1) defining a potential project, 2) building a coalition to support the project, and 3) taking action to implement the project.

Defining a Project

In identifying a potentially valuable innovation, middle managers:

• Gather information (both political and technical) broadly and deeply from varied sources.
• Translate that information into a manageable and salable project.
• Identify what needs to get done beyond the scope of the assigned task.

Example: 

Charged with improving cost efficiency, manufacturing head Heidi Wilson physically followed goods as they traveled through her company, sought line managers’ insights, identified vested interests, compiled data, and packaged her ideas in punchy presentations that persuaded critics. Result? Her project won approval and netted impressive cost savings.

Building a Coalition

Here’s where middle-manager entrepreneurs truly shine. These leaders:

• Build consensus by stepping out of the usual chains of command.
• Gather top-level support by giving higher-ups compelling presentations to persuade their approval.
• Pull in needed resources and support by developing a broad and strong network of peers and higher-level backers (“cheerleaders”).

Example: 

To shape a major policy decision about the choice of a product-demo model, manager George Putnam leveraged long-term relationships. Through informal meetings and one-on-one “horse-trading” (showing managers how much support others chipped in), he got needed testing materials, funding, staff—and the engineering VP’s blessing. His demo model won—and became a very strong money-maker.

Taking Action

To implement an innovation, middle managers:

• Mobilize key players to carry out the project—and forge them into a unified team.
• Protect the team from interference to the project.
• Counter any criticism with clear facts and reminders of the project’s benefits.
• Maintain momentum and enthusiasm for the project in the face of competing demands.
• Make needed midcourse corrections to redouble any effort that’s bogging down.
• Communicate progress to key constituencies to secure credibility.

Conclusion

Entrepreneurial middle managers are the key to driving innovation within your organization. By gathering information, building coalitions, and taking action, they can identify and implement potent ideas that will define your firm’s future.

FAQs

Q: What is the role of middle managers in driving innovation?

A: Middle managers are the key to driving innovation within your organization. They can identify and implement potent ideas that will define your firm’s future.

Q: What are the three major phases of innovation?

A: The three major phases of innovation are defining a potential project, building a coalition to support the project, and taking action to implement the project.

Q: What skills do entrepreneurial middle managers need to possess?

A: Entrepreneurial middle managers need to possess the skills to gather information, build coalitions, and take action to implement innovations.