"I believe that all innovation is personal and to focus exclusively on abstractions
like the organization, strategy and culture, takes our attention away from the
true source of all innovation - you and me." - Stephen Lundin
"The analogies to animals and easy-to-understand style
makes this a superb read. I give CATS four cups of joe!"
- Training + Development magazine
"Learn the art of innovation and reveal your true potential
with Steve Lundin's CATS: The Nine Lives of Innovation."
- Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author of What Got You Here, Won't Get You There
According to global bestselling author Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D. (FISH! - 5 million copies sold and published in 34 languages), much of what has been written about innovation describes the view from 30,000 feet and is geared to the top of the organization. These high-altitude articles, books, and white papers identify a technique or practice found inside a company and suggests that the success of the organization is a direct result of that technique or practice. (Company X is innovative because it promotes self-managed teams. Company Y is because it hires a diverse workforce). Lundin insists that too much attention has been devoted to top executives and an organization's strategy, and far too little attention has been paid to the primary source of innovation - individual employees.
In CATS: The Nine Lives of Innovation (McGraw-Hill; February 2009; Hardcover: $19.95) Lundin describes what innovation looks like at the personal level and provides a curriculum for training individuals in the tools, concepts, and practices of personal innovation. The title "Nine Lives of Innovation" provides structure to a diverse set of ingredients that make up innovation. Once people live one of the Nine Lives they can proudly call themselves CATS - someone with the capacity to innovate that has an interest in doing so. Everybody's heard the expression: Curiosity killed the cat. But every successful businessperson will tell you that curiosity is the key to innovation.
CATS is playful and positively upbeat, and is full of simple yet profound information and anecdotes that can be used to spark curiosity and creativity within every employee and, thus, inspire innovative approaches to ordinary situations. The Nine Lives of Innovation include:
• Life 1: CATS create an innovation friendly environment:
There is a constant conversation going on in most minds that must be quieted in order to provide the spaciousness needed for innovation.
• Life 2: CATS are always prepared
Innovation favors a prepared mind. The way you organize your experience in the warehouses we call memory can serve you well when it comes time to innovate.
• Life 3: CATS know that innovation isn't normal
If we didn't have a routine for most things we do, life would be a long linear sequence of choices. However, while the routine allows us to be human beings, it also can inhibit our ability to innovate.
• Life 4: CATS welcome physical provocation
To escape from the clutches of what is normal, we can provoke ourselves with objects and other physical provocations.
• Life 5: CATS enjoy social provocation
A conversation can be provocative if we allow ourselves to use the ideas of others for their movement value as well as their content. There is nothing quite so electric as a group of CATS in conversation. The fur really flies!
• Life 6: CATS promote intellectual provocation
To escape the containing power of the norm, we can stimulate our thinking with positive mental assaults and imaginary provocations.
• Life 7: CATS say "How fascinating!"
A great way to meet failure is with whimsy. "My goodness, I invested in this startup and it didn't survive." After the initial whammy and shock, innovators, like entrepreneurs, have the capacity to say, "How fascinating! What can I learn from this?"
• Life 8: CATS fail early and fail well
CATS learn how to get failure out of the way early so the maximum amount of learning can occur. This approach facilitates innovation and minimizes the cost of failure.
• Life 9: CAT Wranglers understand natural energy
Leadership plays a significant role in the overall innovation process of any organization. Our focus is on the role of leadership in nurturing, developing, and supporting individuals in a way that ensures the energy is natural. CAT Wranglers provide a safe environment for CATS to play.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen C. Lundin is a writer and filmmaker with a background in business, management, and education. His bestselling book, FISH!, has appeared continuously on the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek lists, and has been published in 34 languages. For more information, please visit http://www.catsinnovation.com/.
CATS: The Nine Lives of Innovation by Stephen C. Lundin; McGraw-Hill; February 2009; Hardcover: $19.95; 192 pages; ISBN-10: 0-07-160221-6; ISBN-13: 978-0-07-160221-1.
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