Most organizations spend all their time trying to improve performance yet leave out the very thing that could halve their efforts and multiply their success. Typically, their culture focuses on processes, excellent operations, and avoiding risks. This focus, alone, cannot breed innovation culture let alone encourage or accommodate it.
Organizations are aware of new helpful technologies but fold their hands when it comes to adopting them. According to PWC, 54% of business heads have a hard time aligning innovation to existing strategies.
To change the narrative, organizations must build a culture that embraces innovation. Let’s explore ways to create an innovation culture and give organizations a competitive edge.
What an Innovation Culture Looks Like
Organizational culture constitutes the attitudes, rules, and unwritten way of doing things that are developed over time. This framework determines the level of innovation the organization is willing to embrace.
An innovation culture calls for a bold stepping out of the playbook. Look around. The world’s most celebrated innovators didn’t introduce something new. Rather, they applied tech to do things smarter, more efficiently, and effectively. The following ways help organizations promote an environment built for innovative ideas.
1. Develop Customer-Centric Principles, Vision and Mission Statements
Being number one in the field is a plausible cause. However, any guiding principles, mission and vision statements coined around being the best are often selfish. In a world that is increasingly looking for value over promises and impressions, organizations are better off with a brand message that clearly says your clientele needs come first. Today’s clients want a solution to their problems. A good example of this is the first tenet in Amazon’s leadership principles – “Customer Obsession”.
“Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.”
2. Develop a Think Tank
Employees are an invaluable collection of innovative ideas if only they are aware that their ideas are welcome. Statements like ‘you’re not paid to think’ should be unheard of in any company. Psychologists agree that allowing employees to work on something outside normal duties promotes creativity, resulting in cutting-edge innovations.
Microsoft’s Garage program is an excellent example of a think tank that drives a culture of innovation.
3. Allow Time to Learn
So, there’s a new tech on the market that’s affordable and could be the next big thing for your organization. Change is uncomfortable, so, normally, employees may be jittery about it. They may even think it will replace most of their tasks and render them redundant.
Instead of adding to the fire by making it sound big and incomprehensible, allow employees time to learn how to use it. Accommodate training if needed. Count the training costs as an addition to capabilities and not unnecessary spending. Employees do more when they feel supported in their career growth.
4. Keep an In-house Reward System
Every industry has tons of yearly awards to honor exemplary achievers. However, these awards do little to encourage short-term achievements. Every organization operates differently so it’s important that the organization finds which reward system works best.
According to IdeaScale, a leading cloud-based innovation software platform, “rewarding innovative thinking provides a great incentive for idea sharing and can get those creative juices flowing”. Small rewards that are given anonymously can encourage innovative ideas and build a culture of innovative thinking. These don’t have to be money but can be a badge that moves around the office.
Workshops encourage brainstorming on a topic. The best ideas can be selected and voting held to select the best idea. This kind of democracy eliminates feelings of favoritism. It’s also encouraging when the ideas don’t end up as a computer file but are executed.
5. Enhance Collaboration
Working separately stifles the benefits of collaborative efforts. With software making it possible for teams to work together and track progress, there’s no reason to silo off teams and risk losing out on innovative ideas.
Create an environment where every member feels safe enough to contribute to a topic or present their idea. When a great idea comes from a seemingly incapable employee, don’t delegate the task to another employee. There’s no easier way to discourage creativity.
Other departments can add fresh perspectives to ideas. For example, the IT department can add a tech aspect to innovative communications ideas.
6. Budget for Innovation
While there’s no right or wrong percentage of a budget meant for innovation culture, putting money aside preempts last-minute rushes or having to take out huge loans.
Watch out for trends and look at what works for the organization. Consult to make sure the organization is not investing in things just because it’s trendy.
Although cutting costs is a celebrated feature of using tech, focus more on how the innovation adds value to your organization.
7. Use Catchphrases that Encourage Innovation
Catchphrases like Nike’s Just Do It or Apple’s Think Different are canvasses for creativity. Hearing a catchphrase over and over forms the basis for what the organization stands for. It also wittingly draws the line between the acceptable and the unacceptable.
Incorporate symbols of innovation in the workplace. Instead of having the usual award designs, use a symbol as a design for the awards. These can also be made into bracelets and clothing or printed on walls in lobbies.
8. Make Room for Failure
What if what you thought was a great idea fell flat and cost the company thousands of dollars? It’s impossible to build an empire without failing a few times. Form key performance indicators around the value of an idea and the little steps instead of focusing on the overall outcome.
Employees need to know that they won’t be nailed for an idea that failed. This encourages them to keep trying different angles and do research to come up with the best ideas.
What are some other ways an organization can drive an innovative culture?
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