Idea Agent: Leadership that Liberates Creativity and Accelerates Innovation

305 Pages·2012·1.4 MB·English

by  Lina M. Echeverria

Advance praise for
Idea Agent
“Straight from the career of a true leader in innovation, Idea Agent
is timely, insightful, and practical. It points the way out of so many
stifling corporate cultures and offers a realistic understanding of the
brilliant, strong-minded, and fiercely rebellious creative personalities
that baffle so many managers. A must-read for anyone serious about
stoking the flames of innovation in their company.”
—Rob Kaiser, President, Kaiser Leadership Solutions, Senior Partner,
Kaplan DeVries Inc., and author,The Versatile Leader (with Bob Kaplan)
and The Perils of Accentuating the Positive
“Idea Agentis the perfect book for anyone managing smart, creative,
energetic people. Lina Echeverría has done just that—and gotten
great work from them. Idea Agentis filled with real-life stories of how
innovation works at the front lines of the economy today. Echeverría
is a great guide to supporting people whose very brilliance often
makes them a challenge inside traditional workplaces. You’ll come
away from this book with a whole set of tools and examples to give
your own teams both creativity and focus.”
—Charles Fishman, New York Timesbestselling author of
The Wal-Mart Effectand The Big Thirstand
long-time staff member at Fast Companymagazine
“Most books overlook the fact that real innovation goes beyond sim-
ple processes and techniques. With her unassailable credibility as
someone who has done it in an American powerhouse of innovation,
who knows what it is like, and who was extremely successful, Echev-
erría shows us that sustained innovation comes from developing cul-
tures that inspire, impassion, and empower others to explore, act, and
take risks on new possibilities. Creativity and innovation come from
the inside out not from the outside in. Lina shows us the way well.”
—Clint Sidle, Director, Roy H. Park Leadership Fellows Program,
Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, and
author, The Leadership Wheeland This Hungry Spirit
“As a collaborator and witness, I have seen Lina’s leadership philos-
ophy in action, focusing the talents of brilliant, colorful—and some-
times obstreperous—characters, gaining their trust and fostering
the synergy across the enterprise that led to historic innovations. In
Idea Agent she shows us that innovation is not a question of just
assembling talent and providing resources, but of creating an envi-
ronment where the individuals’ entire selves can be leveraged in a
collaborative process. This book is not for the aspiring executive
who sees leadership as a means of self-glorification, but rather for
those who understand that leadership is service and responsibility to
the organization with potential that surpasses any one individual (or
one’s own self). I have watched the insights articulated in this
engrossing book in action, and they work!”
—Peter L. Bocko, CTO, Glass Technologies Group,
Corning Incorporated
“Anyone interested in creating breakthrough innovations will benefit
from reading this book—a deeply personal, authentic, and moving
chronicle of one woman’s quest for innovation in one of the most cre-
ative places in the world. This is not yet another theoretical text on
creativity and innovation in the workplace; rather, it takes the reader
on a rich journey through the trenches of one woman’s real-life expe-
riences and hard-won, often surprising, insights regarding how to fos-
ter innovation in a large, global organization.”
—Susan M. Cantrell, Research Fellow at Accenture’s Institute for
High Performance Business and author, Workforce of One:
Revolutionizing Talent Management Through Customization
“Idea Agentis a beautifully written and highly engaging exploration
of innovation leadership. Filled with deeply personal stories and
insights from Lina Echeverría’s distinguished career as an innovation
leader at Corning, I know of no other book that better deals with the
human side of innovation.”
—Dean R. Spitzer, Ph.D., innovation expert and author,
Transforming Performance Measurement
IDEA AGENT

IDEA AGENT
Leadership That Liberates Creativity
and Accelerates Innovation
Lina M. Echeverría
American Management Association
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Echeverría, Lina M.
Idea agent : leadership that liberates creativity and accelerates innovation /
Lina M. Echeverría.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-8144-3217-4 (hardcover)
1. Creative ability in business. 2. Self-actualization (Psychology)
3. Leadership. I. Title.
HD53.E24 2012
658.4'092—dc23
2012015318
© 2013 Lina M. Echeverría
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Printing number
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Colin and Maia,
my reason for it all

CONTENTS
FOREWORD xiii
PROLOGUE—Leadership for Fast-Paced Innovation xxi
The need for passion and detachment to stay
ahead of the facts.
MY PERSONAL JOURNEY—Conflict in Art and
Science 1
How early experiences with artists and team
participation showed me the key to the
creative drive.
PASSION 1—Into the Ring of Fire 9
Getting to know creative personalities—the
“creatives”—their personal passions, their
idiosyncrasies and strengths, is a priority in
delivering breakthrough innovation. So is embracing
and managing the conflict that will inevitably result.