Middle Management is the Enemy of Innovation!

I went to a user-contribution talk today and got to hear from employees at Best Buy and the co-founder of Electronic Arts, Bing Gordan.

Here are my take-aways:

"Middle Management is the enemy of Innovation"

Middle Managers have spent years trying to break into the ranks, so when they get there, and are told to "give it away" for others to create in a user-contribution system - they naturally feel defensive and protective. "That's my job"

"User-Contribution Systems are the Murder of Management"

Traditional management are used to playing the role of being in the limelight, sharing their ideas, or controlling the ideas that are shared.

But now they are faced with ideas that come from everywhere, especially in the field, where they are often better, viewed as more authentic, and have the power to build the community around the idea.

Hope is not all lost - What can Managers do differently?
Curiosity - use this skill now as a main focus.
You should have a Nintendo Player as a member of the board - else you are missing the future in your decisions
Performance Ratings should be Innovation & Talent focused - many years senior leaders are measured by the quality of the people that they attract and grow. Add an additional factor of innovation - do they encourage and seek out new ideas and help them be successful?
Expect Problems, Fear, and Mistrust - as a manager you can really help these factors killing the idea. Best Buy Nation broke the mistrust of "another corporate tool" by taking the employees out bowling, then posting the photos and experience online on BBN.

"Throw the person with the $1M idea out of the room!"

We have a $1m idea and got to a council and seek approval. We spend a year to plan, get resources, build it, test it, and get it launched.

Withe user-contribution systems, being small and light with rapid iteration is better.

So tell that person with the $1M idea to get out the room....and come back with 100 x $1,000 ideas!

User-Contribution Success Factors

n=1 It only works when you build relationships, and you build then 1 on 1. Sending a "what do you think" to all the users without any relationships is not good - like walking into a cocktail party and expecting everyone to come to you to talk!

Beg forgiveness vs. Ask for Permission You can get mired down into the details when you think about all the risks and controls and it soon becomes a barrier. So launch a light basic version and iterate.

$100 goes a long way The Best Buy team got a web site and hosting for $100 and built a site on their own in a few weeks. IT told them it would take $50k just to talk with them and scope it out over 6 months with a further $M investment....2 years later they are still on the light version with 20,000 users!

Truth is the last word Don't try and manipulate what people say or how they say it. Truth will come out and have the last word.

60% Internet is User-Generated Content This was predicted in 1995 in Wired magazine as the "future of the Internet" and 13 years later we see it come true.

Examples Mentioned BlueShirtNation, Kiva, Best Buy Remix Network, EA "The Sims" game, Sims 3000, Sims Skin maker