What are the key characteristics of a corporate culture that promotes innovation? And those that inhibit innovation? These were the topics we discussed in a workshop I facilitated yesterday for the Global Business Partnership Alliance. We discussed a number of issues. We conducted a survey among attendees and these were the main issues in the order in which they were a challenge. The first item was agreed to be the biggest problem in setting a culture for innovation and so on:
- Internal communication – overcoming silos.
- Allowing failure and eliminating a blame culture.
- Allowing anyone to challenge anything.
- Developing a positive attitude to change – overcoming fear and complacency.
- Developing a positive attitude to risk management.
- Empowering people to try new initiatives without explicit approval.
- Welcoming ideas from outside the organisation – eliminating ‘not invented here.’
- Encouraging new ideas.
We discussed what various companies did to tackle these problems and generated some novel ideas. One of the most radical was the idea of a ‘Shadow Board’ which would get the same input and agenda as the main board. It would come to its own conclusions and could then challenge the thinking of the executive team on strategic issues. In a constructive way it would become the ‘Official Opposition’ and so legitimise a positive debate within the organisation.
If you have any thoughts on this notion or the list above then please add your comments.
Paul Sloane
Through this posting and video interview http://kolindkuren.dk/2007/12/23/hvor-kommer-de-gode-ideer-fra/, I learned that people get good ideas in many other places than at the work place. So one challenge I’d add to your interesting list above is “encouraging people to communicate ideas anytime and anywhere.”
An example: If someone gets a good idea during a walk or a run on a Sunday, a challenge could be to encourage this person to communicate his/her idea straight away, for example using collaborative technologies / Web 2.0 tools such as a blog like yours.
hi Paul, thanks for a thought-provoking session. I may well suggest a shadow board here at NESTA and see what happens…
I thought it very interesting that a key barrier to innovation for was internal comms and silos. My job is to help companies connect with other companies to innovate and so I often overlook the collaborations that could be helped within.
I love this list. It’s really great. What I think is so interesting is that so many of the items seem simple or easy to overcome. For instance, “Allowing failure and eliminating a blame culture.” The challenge is creating the culture that really allows for it. It takes a lot of work and isn’t as easy as putting it down in a list. Also love the idea of a shadow board. I think one key step is eliminating the “we’ve tried that before and it didn’t work” kind of attitude. I think you probably covered that on the list but I know it is one that always drives me crazy.