“I once had a really great idea and sent it in an email to the MD but it was ignored. That’s why I’m not going do anything innovative again” I have heard stories like this on many occasions and the association between innovation – or the lack of it – has become clear in my mind. Innovation does not occur easily in a space where there has been a history of corporate violence. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that innovation can only occur in the context of a safe space.
The question is simple: How does innovation pay in your organisation?
You can be and feel innovative only in a space which encourages and reminds you to do so. You can only be innovative when you are free to play, laugh and make mistakes. The vast majority of corporate cultures don’t provide this space and so they become the very antithesis of innovation.
Innovation is often extolled as a corporate virtue and sometimes even as a value. But the reality is that many efforts at stimulating innovation are impeded by corporate culture, especially in large, hierarchical organisations. Typically, stories are told of innovative initiatives that were squashed by boorish, insensitive and capricious behaviours by management and leadership. I have even seen someone stopped in the middle of a powerpoint and being told by the MD in front of everyone that the presentation was a load of bull.
Innovation means change and for the vast majority, change in the status quo represents a challenge to comfort, predictability and possibly even the regular paycheck. So who wants to get innovative?
In their book “The Cultures of Work Organisations”, Harrison Trice and Janice Beyer (1993) suggest that cultural innovation is more difficult than cultural maintenance. This is because cultural innovation entails introducing something new and substantially different. When innovation occurs, some things replace or displace others. People often resist such changes, with good reason. The successful management of culture change often entails convincing people that the likely gains outweigh the losses.
Here are some knowledge creation questions to ask about innovation in your organisation:
- How do the reward and values systems foster a culture of responsible innovation?
- What is the cultural attitude to innovation? What stories are told about innovation?
- What processes exist to experiment with and implement innovative ideas?
- If someone has an innovation, how are they invited to explore and develop it?
- What feedback is given to innovators?
- What happens when an innovation fails? What happens when it succeeds?
- How do we encourage people to experiment and innovate?
- Is the story we tell of how we innovate congruent with the reality of how we innovate?
Views: 2