Second segment builds on the first. By Kristopher S. Kovacs, CIE
My experience at Strategic Innovation Institute II at Stanford University in September built on last year's experience of attending Strategic Innovation Institute I at MIT in more ways than one. For example, one of the lessons I took away from the MIT experience was to consider more carefully how decisions as strategic leaders are viewed through a series of lenses, including the "red lens of emotion." In other words, as we lead change in our organizations, some people will feel uncomfortable or even threatened by what we advocate. At Stanford, we dug into the physiology of human emotions and how the brain's natural reaction to stimuli (or change) can have dramatically different effects on different people. This information was not only extremely insightful, but seemed like the natural extension of the MIT course work. At Stanford, we discussed the value of engaging our teams in positive exercises like pre-mortems, which involve imagining that a project has succeeded or failed, and then working backward to determine what potentially could lead to the failure. These efforts can help uncover hidden information and emotions and allow leaders to consider all input--both factual and emotional--in our decisions. I think it's important that people not consider Strategic Innovation Institute a class that's just for their "innovative" young professionals. This institute has a lot to give senior credit union leaders as they consider large strategic decisions on a regular basis. This is not a program to teach you a strategy to be innovative ... this is about how to innovate based on strategy. If you can understand the subtle difference between the two, this is a program for you.
CUES member Kristopher S. Kovacs, CIE, is SVP/chief information officer for $2.5 billion Coastal Federal Credit Union, Raleigh, N.C., and is available on Twitter at @ManagementBytes. Earn your Certified Innovation Executive designation (CIE) by completing both segments of Strategic Innovation Institute and completing the assigned between-segments project. In 2016, Strategic Innovation Institute I will be held at MIT Sept. 25-30. Strategic Innovation Institute II will be held at Stanford University July 31-Aug. 5.
