Challenges to Innovation

Think about some of the most innovative companies in the world, Airbnb or Uber, for example. The technology behind their products is not exceptional or groundbreaking: geo-localised content on a website and mobile app. However, their business models are innovative. They found a loophole and were able to connect demand with a previously untapped supply in a new way. This is innovation in action.

Unfortunately, very few companies actually get it right. Innovation has become a bit of an overused buzzword nowadays. A lot of companies are out there preaching about innovative work cultures or talking about how they’ve transformed their company to become more innovative. In reality, a lot of these companies have a misguided approach to innovation, one that prevents innovation from actually happening.

To have an innovative work culture, your entire workforce has to become innovative. A lot of times, you will find companies who set up an Innovation Lab or Centre that is headed by a Chief Innovation Officer with the expectation that this will automatically make the whole company innovative. It doesn’t work that way. To set up systems that enable innovation, you’ll first need to understand what it actually means.

Misconceptions About Innovation

Think about someone who works a postal route. What does this person actually do? Their role is the effective passage of information. If they find a way to get that information to you faster, that’s innovation.

Often, you’ll find the words innovation and disruption being used interchangeably. Disruption is a big bang, it’s something that flips the status quo. Innovation, on the other hand, is about smaller, incremental changes that add up and transform your business for the better. It’s about improving on processes to be more efficient. It’s about using technology in interesting ways to solve a problem.

You’ll find that a lot of top-level leaders get caught up with this idea of innovation. They see competitors setting up innovation labs, and don’t want to be left behind. So they set up innovation labs of their own. They hire people who are well-versed in technology and various digital platforms, and build a team dedicated solely to digital innovation. The mindset tends to be “we have people working on innovation and therefore, we are becoming innovative and progressive.”. This is innovation for innovation’s sake, and it’s not an effective approach.

Barriers to Innovation

There are many reasons why you might not be engaging with innovation effectively. Firstly, rethink how you view technology. Technology is just a tool that enables innovation. In itself, technology is not necessarily innovative. You need to have a vision and a strategy as to how you’re going to adopt this technology and make it work for you. That’s innovation - it’s about the people who make the technology go the extra mile.

Secondly, isolating your innovation to just one team does not transform your business. Innovation needs to permeate across the entire organisation, from top-down as well as bottom-up. You have to question if your organisational culture and structure enables your employees to be innovative. With larger, more traditional companies, the infrastructure is built around people. It is an analogue structure, but one that generates revenue.

What often ends up happening is that the leadership realises there’s a need to innovate, and they incorporate a digital and technologically advanced structure atop of this analogue structure. They then pull top performers from the earlier structure to the tech structure and expect people to automatically become innovative. The problem is that the culture hasn’t changed to meet the new digital framework. With this lack of a sound foundation for innovation, the company begins to look like an unsteady Jenga block.

Innovation is primarily a culture issue, and outdated work cultures aren’t going to foster innovation. If you have senior leadership who are out of touch with the technological solutions they’re looking to adopt, you’re not going to get very far as an organisation. Also, if your culture favours the opinions of only a few employees, you’re not setting yourself up for a level playing field that fosters innovative thinking across the organisation.

Lastly, you need to strike a balance between experimenting with new ideas and technology by adding commercial value to the business. While you can set up all the Innovation Labs in the world, unless you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and actively work towards it, your innovation efforts are simply a waste of your resources.

If you’re in a leadership role, you might be tempted to farm out innovation to a single team or department because you don’t have the bandwidth. However, as a decision maker, you need to be involved in creating the conditions in which innovation can happen.

“People drive innovation. Leadership allows innovation to thrive.”

Instead of thinking of innovation as being a department that exists in isolation, look at innovation as a necessary culture change within all levels of your organisation. Adopt a 360-degree approach. Innovation doesn’t have to be about brainstorming and creating a new product that you can sell, it can be as simple as finding faster and better ways of working. Innovation is about acting on ideas, implementing and executing them, and therefore involves everybody.

How do you get your entire workforce on board? It goes right down to the way you hire and the culture you create.

Know Your Why

To make innovation meaningful to your company, you should have a clear understanding of your “why” and what issues you envision that innovation will solve. Without knowing your “why,” there’s no point having the “how” in place. Are you able to articulate to your team what you expect them to achieve by innovating? Being clear about what your objectives and expectations are will make sure that innovation remains productive and add commercial value to your business.

Encourage Diversity

Innovation thrives when you have people questioning the status quo. If your teams are homogenous - mostly coming from the same background and upbringing - and don’t represent a variety of perspectives, you don’t have the environment in which innovative thinking can happen. The hiring process needs to be changed. Hire people who align themselves with your vision and culture. Don’t just look for people who agree with you. Seek out people who have different perspectives but share a common goal. When your team has the same vision, this helps foster teamwork and allows your businesses and projects to run smoothly.

Think about hiring for a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. Consider hiring people from outside your industry who work in different ways and are able to adapt those ways of thinking to your industry. If you’ve been working in an industry for an extended period of time, you might be so entrenched in the processes that you don’t see new solutions to issues that exist. Having fresh perspectives from people from outside your industry can help you question the way you do things that could significantly improve your business and see future roadblocks that could be standing in your way.

Increasingly, organisations will need multiple skill sets to solve problems and create value for their customers, so managers need to be encouraging cross-functional collaboration. Putting together a team with different backgrounds, experiences, ages and capabilities will give rise to a group with a diverse set of ideas and problem solving approaches. Hire also for diversity in life experience. Creativity happens when you’re able to challenge each other and think out of the box, which won’t happen unless you hire people who think differently from their colleagues.

Hire for passion. Value is created when people are passionate about their lives and their work. Hire people who are excited to come to work because they believe in your company, product, and vision. You should embrace each employee’s individuality.

An Ongoing Process

Let’s take the example of manufacturing. In this industry, if you are working with automation, artificial intelligence, digitising information, or data analytics, you’re seen as being innovative and progressive. This may be true, but for how long? Innovation isn’t a one-stop fix that will prepare you for the next 10-15 years.

“Innovation is a concept premised on the notion of constant change. You need to be constantly redeveloping and rethinking how you innovate in order to stay relevant.”

Think of innovation as an ongoing process. With the way the world is working today, you need to be constantly on your toes to be successful. Put people at the heart of your innovation: people who can move fast and work together in short sprints to look at various issues and come up with solutions. Going back to the example of the manufacturing industry, innovation isn’t just about the technology that enables data analytics. It is about the people who are interpreting this data or setting parameters for the AI that is analysing data.

You need to look at expanding the knowledge of your workforce in new technologies, digital capabilities, and even the traditional functions, like marketing, design, consumer behaviour and how revenue is generated. Your teams need to be able to work cross-functionally and understand not only their scope of work, but also how it affects others. This way, your workforce will be truly productive.

There are many ways you can support your staff in the process of creating an innovative workforce. This could be through training, conferences, mentorship, or even encouraging them to work on projects that are not within their job function. The important thing is that the staff are continually exposed to new concepts, new ideas, not only within their industry but also other industries. Several companies have rolled out innovation exercises which include the entire workforce in the company and some have had success in the process of changing mindsets and culture. However, bear in mind that changing company culture is not an overnight process. It takes patience and needs to be continually worked at.

Cultures That Enable Innovation

Look at organisational design and incentives.

Incentivising the team could come in many different ways. These days, many employees feel incentivised when they get to work on something new and interesting. If they feel involved in the creation process, you’ll find that most people feel motivated to achieve. Monetary incentives have traditionally worked in the past, however, these would have to be rolled out wisely.

You should also look at removing barriers to innovation. Introduce elements that will help create the conditions in which innovation can thrive. These could include building effective communication channels, re-evaluating processes and the type of technology used, increasing effective engagement between managers and employees and even relooking at the performance management systems used to review employees performances.

Take a close look at how your employees work. What is the engagement between employees and managers? Encourage flatter organisational structures where people are able to work cross-functionally and given a voice to express opinions and ideas without personal judgement. These days, managers need to be able to steer conversations such that effective communication is achieved.

Knowledge comes from all around, not top down. So everyone who has an idea to improve business efficiency and productivity should be given a platform to share these ideas. Good ideas should be allowed to be quickly developed. Your managers need to be on board and actively ensure that they’re removing any unconscious biases from these discussions. Flatter organisations also mean that decision making can happen much faster.

The phrase “failure is not an option” does not exist in an innovative environment. Allow for failure. Fail often and fail fast. This is where lessons are learnt. Learn your lessons quickly and move on.

In order to manage failure effectively, look at the development phase of your process, and shorten it. This will give your employees the freedom to explore, develop concepts and fail before it gets unmanageable. You need to embrace failure as part of the work process and allow it to happen without judgement. As an organisation, try to create shorter planning cycles.

Trust is vital to foster innovation. Not only should your employees trust you, but they should also feel trusted. This human aspect is what drives people to work innovatively. A culture of trust allows your employees to feel that they are taking ownership of decision-making, are more involved, and growing at a faster pace. People like to work for such companies, and that human element is vital.

One way to build an environment of trust is to create a safe environment for feedback. Traditional end-of-year appraisals, for example, are not conducive to trust. Often, employees fear sharing honest feedback or edgier ideas because they worry that their candidness will land them in trouble when they are reviewed by their managers. Build an environment where your employees are able to express their ideas in a safe and non-judgmental space.

Rather than housing innovation in one corner of your business, have your innovation lab at the centre (literally and metaphorically). Left isolated, innovation will die a natural death. Think about getting your entire organisation involved in your innovation journey. The concept of an innovation lab was started to generate ideas that would help the business grow, develop, and make an impact on the broader industry. In order for these ideas to germinate, you should get other teams on board - HR, tech, finance, for example - and adopt a cross-functional approach. Ideas are great, but logistically, you need to move capital and resources where it is needed in order to act on these ideas and make innovation happen.

You should also tap into the fact that people are naturally curious. When you give your employees insight into the kinds of ideas and technologies that you’re experimenting with, you’re encouraging them to think creatively and ask questions, which make the foundation of a culture of innovation.

Keep in mind that innovation is not going to happen overnight. It’s an ongoing process of bringing together different people, perspectives and tools to transform the way your business works. With a diverse workforce and a strong culture, you will set yourself up to tap into innovation to stay relevant in today’s dynamic world.

1. Hire for Diversity

In today’s economy, skills aren’t the top priority. You want people who are able to connect the dots around you, who are able to bring new ways of thinking and working to the table. Find talent and skill sets from outside your industry.

2. Build Trust

If your employees feel afraid to share honest feedback and suggestions, you’re not tapping into their full potential. A culture of innovation is one that is built on trust. Encourage your staff to share their feedback more often, and articulate to them that their opinions are valued.

3. Encourage Exposure

Find ways to expose your employees to other industries and exciting information. Take a look at conferences or events your team can attend. You might find that they come back inspired by different ideas that you could implement.