Recent study has shown that Apes are more intelligent at solving problems than the human beings. Millions of years ago while the early human was evolving there were many Ape species that were competing against each other. It is a general belief that the most intelligent (Innovative) species would have evolved to become human being. WRONG!! It was not the most intelligent one that evolved to become human being. But it was the species also very good at observing and copying things to perfection did evolve to become human being. Sounds interesting? Read on…

There was a study conducted on young Human and Apes. They were shown same puzzle and were shown how to solve it too. Both the Kid and the Ape could follow the steps and solved it. Later the detail of the puzzle was shown to both. It did revel that problem can be solved in much simpler way. The task was again presented to them to solve. The kid continues to copy the entire step that was taught to him with a greater speed and accuracy. Surprisingly, the Ape used an innovative and shortcut method to solve the problem. (This experiment was shown in Discovery Channel)

Copycats are needed to sustain business

The copycat approach is highly useful and very important for our growth and regular operations. It works as a platform from which a quantum leap is taken forward. It is like constructing multistoried building one step at a time. Copycat are instrumental in executing established process which becomes a foundation on which the innovation happens. They are instrumental to bring the innovation into practice and retain them.

Innovation requires lot of mental energy and time to think, it is costly afire. We can not spend time innovating when there is immediate response is required. The vast amount of knowledge and heritage that human has accumulated through generations can not be learnt through innovation in one life time, so it is require that the many a things are memorized and practiced and used when necessary. In other word avoid reinventing the wheel. Vast amount of our population are not mentally creative enough to innovate. Multiple people innovate on one problem could reach multiple solutions, and that would be against uniformity and could lead to unpredictable result. The old approach might have a purpose which is not immediately apprehend, so don’t change it if you don’t understand it completely. To run an operation on industrial scale we need to use a standard, tried and tested and efficient method repeatedly, to produce a predictable result.

Apes are needed for growth

The innovation is the way of life. It gives us growth and excitement in life. The challenges and problem solving during innovation gives us our daily dose of adrenalin. The nature is ever changing presenting us with new challenges every day. New diseases, shortage of resource, global warming, social conflicts and business competition demands innovation. The world is always growing, towards better and happier, so we need to keep looking at better way of doing things.

The same problem would have different appropriate solution at different time and place. With time the environment changes so the old approach becomes obsolete and a new and better approach must be developed. There is always better solution to the problem. Innovation and creativity takes us forward, It does adds value to our lives and improves our lifestyle. The efficiency of the operations can be improved by Innovation and creativity, and one can stay ahead of competition. A fresh and out of box approach can take us a big leap forward. Some works which are never done before would need innovation and creativity while doing for the first time.

The Ideal Balance of Copycat and Ape in your organization

Every organization need people with both copycat and Ape characteristic. There is a degree of innovation needed in all the work done in an organization. However some work demands high degree of innovation and some does not need innovation. The organizations that focus on breakthrough product development or developing new avenue to expand the business would need more share of Ape people for innovation.

The ratio of the people and their positioning in the organization should be well planned. If your organization is more research oriented organization and depends on the innovation to develop new product you need more percentages of Apes. In a production organization or service oriented organization where the primary task is in executing standard procedure more of copycat are needed. If your organization is highly process oriented the organization’s success depends on the adherence to the process then you need more copycats.

The Ape and Copycat characteristics

Each of us have Ape and Copycat nature ate varying degree. The areas where we are not very well versed we use copycat approach. And the area where we are very familiar, and we are interested in, we tends to innovate there. However there are people with more copycat personality and there are people with more Ape personality. They can be distinguished from their behavioral patterns.

Ape Characteristics: Out of box thinking, slow in learning, rebellious, high analytical thinking, Artistic, Challenge the status quo, Dreamer, Difficulty following the process, slow in most of the activity, Slow but never ending progress, high problem solving skill, adventures, good at non verbal communication, resist change in environment (as it is difficult for them to learn the norms in the new environment, which they are bad at). Welcomes challenges, will not be interested in doing repeated task, good at setting up process but not good at following the process, gets bored soon.

Copycat characteristics: Very fast in learning norms, obedient, standard pattern of thinking, adheres to process, good at verbal communication, Adapt to change in environment (as they are good at learning norms and standards), avoid challenges, team player, Conformist. This kind of character will be happy doing repeated task, not good at setting up process but good at following processes once setup.

Five degree of mixed personality

Strong Ape: these are the people who are handicap to adhere to the norms, standards and regular activity. Their outlook and perception are difficult to apprehend. These are the people who would need help in their regular operation. They are usually useless for innovation as most of their innovative energy goes on making them adjusted to the environment and managing their own lives. They can not practice much of social norms other than very few daily activity.

Ape: They are very rare kind of people and mostly don’t opt for routine jobs. People of these characteristics are very innovative and imaginative. They are comfortable working independently as they fail to adhere to group norms and standards. They have potential to create breakthrough innovation. They can be extra ordinary artist, scientist, philosophers, with unconventional approach to solve the problems and outlook.

On the negative side they can become dangerous criminals. They fail to appreciate and understand the norms and fail to adhere to them. Under an influence of hostile and negative environment they can be very creative and dangerous anti socials.

Managing these kinds of people is a very tough task, and need experience, tolerance and patience. They usually adhere to very high degree of quality in their work and very passionate about their believes. These people can not be employed in the organization for innovation, as no predictable result can be expected from them. Organization can derive benefit from these kinds of people by taking consultancy service in their area of expertise.

Mixed: These are the people who can be very effectively used for innovation in the organizations. Highly innovative organizations (research labs, scientific expeditions) should employ maximum of these kinds of people. Mixed kind of people can adequately adapt to the organizational norms and standards if special arrangements are made for them. The organizations should make effort to make the process and norms easy for these kinds of people to adapt, to benefit from their innovation. The process should not be very strict to take away the creativity, but the process need to be formulated to make the task easy for all, and aimed to eliminate unnecessary overhead, and speedup the support system.

Copycat: These are the people who are considered street smart. They are asset in your organization who is critical to run your organization smoothly. Even in an highly process oriented organization there will be a degree of innovation needed each day to resolve day to day issues. Copycat kinds of people are innovative enough to resolve such day to day issues. These people are capable to adapt to the organizations process and norms, and they take pride in it. You will fine many of such associates in your organization. With special counseling and training these people can be highly innovative.

Strong Copycat: These are the people from whom you would expect little innovation. Strong copycat people are very strong at understanding the process (System) and following it strictly. They need exact step by step instruction and procedure to function. They don’t innovate much and are usually slow at innovation.

Factors affecting innovation in Organization:

There are many other factors that does influence the capability of the innovation in the organizations.

Innovation friendly environment

Environments where new ideas are appreciated and well accepted are the right place for innovation. Innovation mostly starts with path breaking ideas. An environment should be available with tolerance to new ideas and diversity. In society with diverse culture and knowledge and tolerance to new idea are more conducive for innovation. A free society and freedom of speech works as a catalyst to the innovation.

Tolerance to Ideas: There should be a culture to be open to strange ideas. The authority should not be resistant to radical ideas or critical analysis to the current process.

High self esteem: High self esteem in people is a very big factor in innovation. The creative ideas need expression with conviction to see light. The organizations and authority should take all measures to install high self esteem in the people.

Organizational Policies and Process

Organizational process is a strong factor that will affect the innovation. Lack of process may exhaust the system and resource and will affect the innovation negatively. A rigid and complex process also leaves less room for creativity and innovation.

Relevance of the process: Every organization is different in the way they operate. The involvement of the user of the process while defining the process is very essential. Most of the time the processes are formulated keeping in mind the MIS only. Ask frequently the questions: “Do this process necessary”, “Does it meets the purpose it was designed for?”, “Is there a better process”. This is one area where organizations can be very innovative and get very good result.

Simplicity of the process: The simpler the process the easier it is to adapt and adhere to. The process should be simple to understand and easier to follow. Simplicity of a process should be a factor while evaluating the process. The simping is a very evolved subject which will be covered in another article of mine. While simplifying the process special attention should be given to eliminate unnecessary complexity. A process should be Simple to understand, that cuts down the time it takes to understand and adapt the process. The resistance to adhere to the process also reduces with simpler process. A simple process is easier to improve with change of strategic need.

Ease of use of the process: A calculation must be done to evaluate ease of use of process. The ease of use must be calculated in term of how much % of time consumed in managing the documentation.

Stability of the process: The process must be stable for a long period of time to get institutionalized in an organization. The processes should be planed with futuristic outlook and to last for a long period of time without much need of change.

Age of people

The mental energy and freedom of thought which are critical to learn and innovate are very high at the young age. The distribution of the energy among innovation and learning might vary from person to person. To some extent it is hereditary and a unique birth characteristic. You might have experienced some kids will be more inquisitive and mischievous then the others. Some small kids are very observant and copy what they see around to a great extent, which adds satisfaction and amusement to the parents.

The ape and the copy cat characteristic keeps varying through the age of the human being. At very young age the human being has a huge amount of energy to learn and experiment to learn. It allows the human to learn and test the facts around it, get used to the situation and adapt to the environment. The direction and interest in the inquisitiveness also vary with age. The inquisitiveness moves in the following sequence. Physical censes like taste, color, weight, temperature etc are the inquisitiveness at very young age. Then it moves towards self reorganization, then social environment. Further more based on the education the inquisitiveness is directed more towards various topics knowledge. The inquisitiveness also flow towards the vocational topics.

The age group that constitutes your workforce is a factor of the success of the innovation in your organization. The detail of the ideal mixture of the age group for innovation is beyond the scope of this article.

Education

The educational level and kind of education of your associates is decisive factor in organizational innovation. The area and the degree of innovation that is necessary should drive the resource plan. The educational level should be carefully considered.

Associate with very high level of expertise and educational qualification does adds valuable informed contribution to the innovation. They provide the vital knowledge to reach the state of the art level of knowledge to make the innovation further.

Associate with less level of education or education from different subject usually contributes to lateral thinking and adds alternate thought process to the innovation. They can contribute to the out of box thinking, and simple solutions to many complex problems. However special care should be taken in selecting such people. People from various different professions can also be considered for these posts.

Many organization and countries have very little option with respect to the choice of people. The organizations have to work in the prevailing situation of the resource and still have to innovate to stay ahead in the market.

Special policy for innovation:

Special policy and process should be kept in place. Policies can be altered, if it helps innovation by doing so. Innovation can not be forced. It is like agriculture. You have to make the soil (Organization) fertile (innovation friendly) for innovation. Make arrangement to tap the fruit (process to capture and measure result, Expect innovation!!). Put right combination of seeds (People and challenges). Nurture and protect the environment (Let innovation mature to product). And finally pluck the result (Take the final product, or complete process idea). All the organizational process can be made friendly to facilitate innovation throughout the innovation process.