Innovation, writes Peter F. Drucker, is change that creates a new dimension of performance.
The leaders in this issue have discovered that our capacity to innovate is directly related to our ability to allow people to thrive in organizations.
A conductor does not guide the musicians of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; they share and rotate leadership. Harvey Seifter [complete text of article], the orchestra's Executive Director, describes how this collaborative system results in inspired (and sold-out) performances and highly motivated musicians.
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has made an art of organizational flexibility. Many organizations struggle with the opposite problem. Robert W. Fuller explores new ways to look at the benefits and costs of hierarchy. He defines a new term to describe the abuse of rank and proposes ways for organizations to avoid it.
Searching for innovation, organizations combine and recombine resources and personnel, buy and sell companies, and form alliances and partnerships. These collaborations and rearrangements can be fruitful, if thoughtfully handled. Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen [complete text of article], shows how organizations' abilities to innovate result from a complex relationship among resources, processes and values -- separate them at your peril! Frances Hesselbein offers guideposts for venture philanthropists and nonprofits who are collaborating in original and unique ways to serve the common good.
Innovation is about people. Jack Stack, CEO of Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, describes how his company created a culture of ownership that unleashed peoples' innovative spirits and focused them on achieving extraordinary business results. Cap Gemini Ernst & Young's Tom McGehee depicts the workplace of the not-so-distant future. It is a workplace transformed by technology -- no surprise there. What is striking is that in McGehee's workplace, technology takes a backseat to people. What technology will help us do is collaborate -- innovate together in ways we can scarcely imagine.
This issue marks the beginning of our sixth year of publication. It is also the first issue produced without Paul M. Cohen, our managing editor for the first five years. Paul brought to Leader to Leader a remarkable mastery of the editorial craft. He worked with authors and editors to produce articles and columns that established the voice of Leader to Leader. In addition, Paul served as a critical collaborator, bridging the distance between the nonprofit Drucker Foundation and the for-profit Jossey-Bass, the partners in this venture. Through his intelligence, mission-focus, and most importantly, his humanity, Paul helped both partners turn good intentions into results. We thank Paul Cohen for his significant contribution to our work, and wish him all the best in his endeavors beyond our walls.
