A Culture Of Innovation
Is innovation in our DNA at JSJ? Absolutely, says CEO Nelson Jacobson.
Each of our businesses has its own rich heritage. This became evident as Nelson quickly toured 130 members of the leadership team through JSJ’s history during our recent Leadership Conference. He told the story of young entrepreneurs Alvin E. Jacobson, Sr. and Paul A. Johnson, Sr., who started Grand Haven Brass Foundry in 1919 – the cornerstone of what is JSJ today.
Even after a Christmas Eve fire burned the foundry to the ground, they recouped and rebuilt with the help of young banker B.P. Sherwood. That friendship resulted in a longstanding partnership between the Jacobson, Johnson and Sherwood families that is now JSJ. Our nearly 90-year-old company is still relevant and sustainable – rich with examples of innovation that help our customers remain successful and competitive in today’s global economy.
How do we sustain a culture of innovation? “The Practice of Innovation,” led by innovation and leadership experts Dr. Peter Denning and Robert Dunham, focused on transforming invention into innovation through seven practices: Sensing, Envisioning, Offering, Executing, Adopting, Sustaining and Leading. We dove headfirst into this exercise, choosing product and process improvements that would make a significant difference in our customers’ businesses.
Keynote speaker Ruth Otte, former president of the Discovery Channel, closed with a message that integrates brand, culture and innovation. Creating a culture of respectful straight talk brings out the best in people, and where listening for possibilities ties into the brand promise – transforming promises into reality for our customers. Breaking into teams, we completed the session by putting our ideas into meaningful action plans, recharged about the potential of our customer partnerships, our agility as entrepreneurs and the powerful practice of innovation.