Balancing Error Minimization and Innovation in Today's Corporate World

Featuring Erin Myer, this was a podcast on The Learning Leader Show hosted by Ryan Hawk, it is Podcast #468.

In today's fast-paced and constantly evolving world, companies are faced with a dilemma: what should they do to stay ahead of the competition? The answer to this question is not always clear, and requires different ways of thinking. At the moment, many things in the corporate world are based off of the industrial revolution, where people took advantage of the freedom to innovate and create. However, as more rules were put in place to avoid errors, the flexibility and innovation that once thrived in organizations was slowly killed.

Creating Talent Dense Teams

One of the main issues is the matter of innovation vs error minimization. Companies often put in place rules to eliminate errors, but this can also stifle innovation. The best way to balance this is to spread it on different departments that can have different parameters. For example, high standards are contagious, and so are low standards. A lot of the rules put in place only work well with people who are low performing, which is why it's important to create talent dense teams.

One way to do this is to get rid of adequate performers and instead have a lot less people who are high performers, and pay them a lot more. This creates a team that is more efficient and innovative.

Creating a culture with radical candor

However, it's important to put feedback on the agenda and have regular meeting times to just give feedback. Feedback needs the 4 As: aim to assist, be actionable, express appreciation for the feedback, and accept or decline feedback. It's important to remember that you don’t have to take on all feedback, and that humility and curiosity to learn are important traits to have.

Getting Rid of Management by Objective

Once you have the talent right and candor is your superpower, then you can get rid of management by objective. Metrics like KPIs are a way to give employees some freedom whilst not giving them any at all. It's important to lead with context, not control. At Netflix, decision making is like a tree, with the chairman as the roots defining the context, high-level managers as the trunks further contextualizing, and normal managers in the leaves making the actual decisions. However, this only works with talent density.

Companies must find a balance between error minimization and innovation. They must create talent dense teams, get rid of adequate performers, and pay high performers a lot more. They must also put feedback on the agenda and lead with context, not control. With the right talent and a culture of candor, companies can thrive in today's ever-changing world.