Review

Creativity as a pathway to corporate change

By Eileen R. Kinch

Imagine It Forward by Beth Com- stock (Random House Canada: Bee- Com Media LLC, 2018 416 pp., $30 US)

Amixture of memoir, how-to, and inspiration, Imagine It Forward describes Beth Comstock’s journey of becoming vice president of corporate communications and advertising and then head of marketing and innovation at General Electric (GE). Comstock shares personal stories, offers suggestions for cultivating imagination and innovation in a corporate setting, and encourages readers to imagine and to work for change in their lives and careers.

“I’ve been courting change my entire career,” Comstock writes. This began with a personal crisis. Then, as a single parent, Comstock moved to New York City to continue her work in public relations. Later she accepted a position at the GE headquarters. Her first major task was to make sure the financial world was watching as Jack Welch named his successor, Jeff Immelt. Her second major task (and accomplishment) was to produce hopeful advertising for GE in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Change involves risk. Comstock challenged her GE colleagues to look toward the future by developing and investing in clean energy and digital technology before these were accepted realities. Daring to imagine new ideas went against the grain of GE’s corporate culture, which prefers predictable, deliverable results. Many of her colleagues were fearful to try something unproven. To create a culture of innovation, Comstock co-initiated Imagination Breakthroughs, a program that allowed GE companies to propose and test new ideas in a protected setting. Failed ideas would not impact the company’s earnings or an employee’s performance evaluation. Creativity is needed, on all levels, to adapt to changing times.

Innovation, however, must also be managed. As a result of one of the Imagination Breakthroughs, GE built a $100 million factory to produce sodium batteries that could be used to back up generators. Unfortunately,

“Comstock’s advice is to embrace tension as part of the creative process, as uncomfortable as it might feel.”

Comstock pointed out, “there was no single market segment big enough to accommodate all those batteries.” GE had only considered developing good technology, not the overall market picture. From this failure, Comstock created GE Ventures and a structure for evaluating projects. GE then began to experiment with small-scale changes, and a growth board would meet every 90 days to review projects. If a project was not working, then it could be discontinued before incurring major loss.

Comstock’s desire to use imagination and innovation (channeling Thomas Edison, GE’s founder) was not welcomed by everyone. In fact, it sometimes created open tension with her colleagues. Comstock’s advice is to embrace tension as part of the creative process, as uncomfortable as it might feel.

Imagine It Forward is rich in advice on how to cultivate and test new ideas in a business setting. The corporate culture of the large companies Comstock describes, however, is brutal. Perhaps something to be learned from her book is that measuring success only in terms of financial gain is also a failure of imagination. Making money to maintain power and status without also working toward the flourishing of relationships and all creation might be an empty enterprise. ◆

Eileen R. Kinch is a freelance writer in Lancaster County, PA.

Reflections on business journeys

Young Kansas entrepreneurs share stories of lessons learned in building their businesses.

By Susan Miller

Yoder, Kan. — Many youths get their first entrepreneurial experience by mowing lawns. However Shane Iwashige, now in his early 30s, has reversed the pattern. After working on several unrelated small businesses — cutting firewood, raising dogs and running a small farm — he started investing in real estate and offering home services to people in the Hutchinson, Kan. area.

In July 2018 he added lawn mowing, edging and landscaping services to the collection of small companies he founded under The Rock Group. Since late summer and autumn rains kept unirrigated lawns green until after the first snowfall in mid-October, Iwashige spent many work hours mowing grass on the 170 properties he manages.

Recently, Iwashige and Mark Horst of King Solar told a Kansas MEDA Network Hub meeting how they seek to better their communities and support their families with their services and products.

Climate also affects Horst’s business. The sunny climate — 224 days a year in Hutchinson — is good for the solar energy business. Unlike a dozen states that offer support for solar energy, including Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, Arizona and South Carolina, Kansas state politicians have not brought in incentives to encourage the solar sector, except a property tax exemption for the amount that solar equipment adds to a home’s value.

Nevertheless, a federal tax credit of 30 per cent of the cost to install solar energy in residences and businesses helps all US solar firms. Like Iwashige, Horst worked in other family and creative occupations before buying King Solar from Nicholas and Rhonda King, uncle and aunt of his wife, Kendra. The Kings had established the business in 1982 and

Mark Horst with ground mount solar unit

were founding members of Climate Energy Business Council. Horst carries on the Kings’ efforts to provide sustainable energy. Horst, who has attained the highest certification in the solar industry, designs and oversees all the King Solar projects in residential homes, rental homes and businesses across Kansas. If he had the opportunity to do one thing differently since starting his business, Horst would hire fulltime employees earlier than he did to reduce his own work hours. He put his pottery art work on hold to have more family time with his wife and their two young sons while he directs operations at King Solar. Education is an important part of Horst’s job. He helps individuals Shane Iwashige make wise decisions about invest-