The recently published The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation has received wide favourable comment. Reading it reminded me of an earlier assessment that is relevant in a era where business is acutely conscious of the need to manage talent.
Here is a checklist of behaviours and attitudes encouraged in staff by Bell Labs in an effort to create star performers.
Going beyond the job
- I make the most of my present assignment.
- I do more than I am asked to do.
- I look for places where I might spot problems and fix them.
- I fix bugs that I notice (in programs) or at least tell someone about them.
- I look for opportunities to do extra work to help the project move along more quickly.
New ideas and follow-through
- I try to do some original work.
- I look for places where something that’s already done might be done better.
- I have ideas about new features and other technical projects that might be developed.
- When I have an idea, I try to make it work and let people know about it.
- I try to document what my idea is and why it’s a good idea.
- I think about and try to document how my idea could save the company money or bring in new business.
- I seek advice from people who have been successful in promoting ideas.
- I construct a plan for selling my idea to people in the company.
Dealing constructively with criticism.
- I tell colleagues about my ideas to get their reactions and criticisms.
- I use their comments and criticisms to make my ideas better.
- I consult the sources of criticism to help find solutions.
- I continue to revise my ideas to incorporate my colleagues’ concerns.
Planning for the future
- I spend time planning what I’d like to work on next.
- I look for other interesting projects to work on when my present work gets close to the finish line.
- I talk to people to find out what projects are coming up and will need people.
Source: Kelley R and Caplan J (1993) How Bell Labs creates star performers. Harvard Business Review, July-August 1993 pp.128
