In this paper, an analysis will be made about the innovative leader Vineet Nayar, a former CEO of HCLT. This paper examines and describes his leadership techniques within his organizations. In this paper, I will analyze the global trends that influenced the need for Nayar to create a more innovative organization.
Also, this paper will introduce the five discovery skills and assess Nayar’s use of them as an innovative leader within his organization. Lastly, I will make recommendations for improvement on use of the discovery skills.Factors in the global environment that influenced Nayar's need to create a more innovative organization In the article A Maverik CEO Eplains How He Persuaded His Team to Leap into the Future, Vineet Nayar was the president of the Delhi-based IT service provider, HCL Technologies. In 2005, Nayar noticed that his company was losing market share and mindshare.
He also noticed that his competitors were becoming more enhanced at substantial rates each year. According to Nayar, a global organization is one that inverts the pyramid of the organizational structure and is more entrepreneurial (2013). Nayar traveled to locations around the world and had meetings with senior managers where he would listen to their ideas; they would talk honestly, and face the truth. According to Nayar, “This method enabled people to see that a change has to be made.” This technique came to be called Mirror Mirror.Nayar's use of the five discovery skills and how he used those skills to create an innovative organization According to The DNA of Innovators, “… an organization’s success varies systematically throughout the business life cycle.
The discovery skills are most prominent in the early phases of a businesses life cycle (Dyer, Gregersen, and Christensen 2011). The five discovery skills are associating, questioning, observing, networking and experimenting.Associating, as Dyer, Gregerson, & Christensen (2011) stated, “happens as the brain tries to make sense of novel inputs. Associating helps innovators discover new directions by making connections across seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas (pg 23).
” When Nayar determined the direction he wanted his company to go in is when he used the associating skill. Although his company was doing very well at the moment, he noticed key points that allowed him accept the fact that his company needed a new strategy.The second discovery skill is questioning. In The DNA of Innovators, “Innovators ask questions to understand how things really is today, why they are that way, how they might be changed or disrupted (Dyer, Gregerson & Christensen 2011). Nayar included his employees to find out their outlook and ideas.
He questioned them to determine which direction they thought the company needed to heed in. Nayar also spoke to and questioned customers to find out their likes and dislikes with HCL. He realized that the value zone for his company was between the customers and the frontline employees.The third discovery skill is observing. Innovators use this skill by carefully watching the world around them so that what they see can help them build ideas for new ways to do things. This is what Nayar was doing when he traveled to locations around the world.
He was attempting to gain insight on his company on a larger scale.The fourth discovery skill is networking. The idea networker does not simply network to sell themselves or gain relationships to possess desired resources. According to Dyer, Gregerson & Christensen, the idea networker, “networks to actively tap into new ideas and insights by talking with people who have diverse ideas and perspectives.” By Nayar speaking with his front line employees and customers to gain insight on the direction of his company, this is a form of networking “ideally.
”The last discovery skill is experimenting. Innovators use this skill by traveling to new places, seeking new information and trying new things ideas. Nayar experimented when it used the EFCS concept. This concept reversed the hierarchal organizational structure by which he valued the ideas and thoughts of his employees on a greater scale. He saw it best to get information from the people who where actually dealing with the outside world daily, and knew what the customers wanted.
Opportunities for Nayar to improve his use of the skills that encourage and support innovative organizations Ultimately, Nayar worked the discovery skills very well. He made rational thought through decisions that ended up benefiting his company greatly. I do feel that although Nayar changed the traditional organizational hierarchy, he cannot forget about his managers and higher level executives. Although he bridged the gap and received valuable information, he has to keep in mind that he placed people in those positions for a reason and therefore he should value their opinions on the situation as well. Networking is also something he has to make sure he continues to build on.
This is very important when trying to build an organization on a global scale.
