Memo to Established Companies: It's OK to Rewrite the Playbooks

Posted by Chris Flanagan on September 10, 2008

Within the cubicle environments of most large organizations, it’s easy to fall into the trap of believing change is difficult or that the rule book can’t be adjusted. In 2003, amidst the backdrop of corporate scandals like Tyco and Enron, Vice President of Corporate Communications David Yaun was part of an IBM Corporation management team driving a massive, company-wide dialog to identify the company’s core values. During a 3-day “ValuesJam,” IBM’s then 320,000+ employees where challenged with questions like ‘when is IBM at its best?’ or ‘how would the world change if IBM disappeared overnight?’ or ‘what roles do values even play in managing a commercial enterprise?’ “It was the first time we examined IBM's core values since the company's founding,” says Yaun. “Not surprising, IBM’ers were thoughtful and passionate about the company they were a part of.”

In the end, IBMers determined that their actions should be driven by three fundamental values: dedication to every client’s success; innovation that matters; and trust and personal responsibility in all relationships. Within 24 hours of their announcement, 3,000 employees responded to the news: “I know because I had to read each and every e-mail,” laughs Yaun.

While most of the 3,000 notes were positive and filled with pride about the company, a full two-thirds also whispered of a gap that existed between the company’s aspirations and its actual behavior. “That’s when I knew we couldn’t just PR it,” says Yaun. “I wanted to close those gaps and make the values reality.”

Yaun says he didn’t know how management would react to the news that he wanted to rewrite his position at the company. “I said look, we can write as many press releases and intranet articles that we want, but none of it will make a difference unless we start changing our culture—from the way we interact with the outside world to the types of things we do around collaborative innovation. It’s time to change the rule book.”

Yaun’s first solution for bridging the gap: a worldwide innovation conversation called the Global Innovation Outlook (GIO). “The GIO took the construct of Values Jam and moved it beyond our intranet. We said, let’s have a conversation about the changing nature of innovation and the areas in which it might generate the greatest benefit for our business and society at-large. But instead of talking to ourselves, let’s include the best thinkers from academia, our clients and partners, and other leaders in areas critical to innovation.”

With the support of IBM senior executives Nick Donofrio and Jon Iwata, the GIO plan was presented to IBM’s Chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano for final approval. Although he didn’t know it at the time, this meeting with Palmisano would have a profound effect on his new career path. “Sam told us if we ever got comfortable working on the project, we were doing it wrong,” says Yaun. “Of course, we agreed even though we didn’t really understand what he meant at the time.”

Perhaps it was foreshadowing, but Palmisano’s directive was quickly realized when Yaun and his team met with other senior executives across the company for support with the GIO. “Thank goodness we had the CEO behind us,” he explains. “It gave us permission to reject the status quo and to ignore all the naysayers –- of which there were many.” Ultimately, Yaun says the negative response became the fuel for driving the project; resistance became their motivation.

Five months later IBM held an event for 300 of its top clients to present the results of the first GIO cycle. Spontaneously, he says, participants began ‘jamming’ on new ideas in the room. Palmisano, who had not planned on speaking at the event, stood up and committed to the audience IBM’s budgetary support for the top five ideas to come out of the summit. “It was a remarkable, energizing moment,” says Yaun. Now in its fourth generation, the GIO has become part of IBM’s cultural fabric and continues to serve as a catalyst for the development of new innovation.

Although his official title remains the same, Yaun continues to manage several massive innovation programs at IBM including most recently InnovationJam, which led to IBM’s investment of $100 million in ten new business opportunities, and the Genographic Project –- a five-year effort to map humanity's genetic journey through the ages. Testament to the power of collaborative innovation, IBM estimates that the ten InnovationJam outcomes will generate more than $300 million in revenues this year, little more than two years since their launch.

And while IBM remains the largest patent holder in the world, the company has become an aggressive proponent of open innovation providing ongoing opportunities for people to share and grow ideas in a free discussion environment. “Twenty-first century innovation is open, global, multidisciplinary, and collaborative," Yaun says. “And let’s face it, intellectual property takes on a whole new meaning when you’re creatively jamming with really smart people.”

Don't miss David Yaun at our upcoming BIF-4 Collaborative Innovation Summit on October 15th and 16th. Get the full lineup and registration details here.

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