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Debbie Wright

Leeds City Council

Senior HR Advisor

Read more about Debbie Wright

Book Review: The road to innovation by Cris Beswick and David Gallagher

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I particularly enjoyed the punchy and concise approach that Beswick & Gallagher adopted when writing “The Road to Innovation”.

The book successfully integrated seven key themes – which are key to HR professionals in any business context.
 
Moreover, the way in which each section asked questions of the reader made it a thought-provoking read and encouraged critical reflection and self-assessment.
 
The authors talked in-depth about innovation and referred to it quite refreshingly as “a journey rather than a destination”, which consolidates the idea of continuous improvement.
 
It also really inspired me to evaluate my own work context and possible ways in which we could compete more successfully in the marketplace, employing ‘incremental innovation’ strategies that suit the organisation rather than going for fashionable, radical and revolutionary change.
 
But the authors were also effective in tackling simple concepts and talking the reader through the basics in a jargon-free fashion, providing bold reminders of the things that we as HR professionals should, in theory, already know.
 
Informative without being patronising
 
I enjoyed the way in which simple and uncomplicated themes were dealt with throughout, which, in my view, was informative without being patronising.
 
One of the sections comprised a review of organisational “strategy”. In HR, the references to ‘strategy’ and ‘being strategic’ are much overused. So again, it was fantastic to explore these ideas in a way that did not over-think them, but rather highlighted them and raised key questions such as ‘is strategy linked to customer insight or are we just generating random ideas?’
 
Too often, in my opinion, we fall into the trap of talking about being strategic, but fail to consult with customers throughout the process.
 
Another thing that I liked, meanwhile, was that Beswick & Gallagher referred to an organisational ‘community’ rather than ‘culture’, thus challenging frequently-used terms and providing a slightly different perspective.
 
Finally, the environmental section particularly resonated with me as it questioned how the physical environment can affect the way in which employees work.
 
It also raised the very valid question of how staff are expected to be creative in an uninspiring and dull work place, making humorous but appropriate references to the all too familiar workplace practice of ‘cubicle slavery’ and the ‘bored room’, where senior managers are expected to come up with their most ‘blue sky’ and innovative thinking.
 
Reviewer’s rating
 
Although I would say that there was nothing revolutionary about the book, its simplicity was key to its effectiveness and it would be useful for a range of HR professionals, including HR and learning and development managers as well as pay and rewards specialists.
 
For me, the book was clear, concise, witty and informative – a refreshing change to the majority of business-focused texts currently available on the market.
 
  • Debbie Wright is a senior HR advisor on resources for Leeds City Council‘s HR schools’ team.
  • If you’d like to see a film, TV or book review of your own in print, please either send it to the editor at [email protected] or post it directly to our blogs section at www.hrzone.co.uk/blogs based on the format above.
  • We also have a book club area, which provides a list of possible works for review too – all you have to do is email the editor as above, have the book of your choice sent out to you and we’ll publish the review for the rest of the community to read when you’re done.

One Response

  1. Stairway to innovation heaven

    I really like Cris’ work as well – punchy style and lots of good takeaways.

    Its the ‘stairway to innovation heaven’ rather than ‘the road to innovation hell’

    p

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Debbie Wright

Senior HR Advisor

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