Culture and innovation are words that are bandied around the boardroom almost as often as AI. Every organization is striving for innovation but most struggle to get any real innovation off the ground. Why? You guessed it, culture. 

If building a culture of innovation was easy, we’d probably have flying cars by now. It’s a complex undertaking requiring an approach that starts at the very bottom with defining what innovation means, going all the way to knowing when to stop. 

In a panel discussion at last month’s Digital Innovation Insight Summit, industry leaders Kara Chiles, SVP of Media Product for Gannett, Tope Sadiku, Global Director of Organization Effectiveness Design at McDonald’s, and Lucas Hendrich, CTO at Forte Group, shared their experiences on cultivating innovation within their organizations. 

Defining Innovation Beyond the Buzzword 

What does it mean to have a culture of innovation? For Kara Chiles at Gannett, it’s about having the space to “try out concepts, failing, and also succeeding.” Innovation is by its very nature experimental and part of that is being accepting of positive and negative outcomes. 

Tope Sadiku expanded on Chiles’ definition, emphasizing the interrogation of “how we do things that we’ve done before” and looking for the “marginal tweaks to see where we can improve, think differently, or think absolutely outside of the box.” For Sadiku, innovation isn’t necessarily about making big swings, being innovative could be as simple as finding the small optimizations that can make a difference. 

Finally, Lucas Hendrich wrapped everything up neatly with his definition: 

Whether you’re swinging for the fences or making iterative improvements, Hendrich makes it clear that no innovation exists without purpose. Is that new cutting-edge technology cool? Sure, but if it’s not solving a problem in a way that creates value, it’s not innovative. 

Overcoming Resistance to Change 

The biggest hurdle when it comes to building an innovation culture is, sadly, your people. 

Your teams are comfortable, they understand their roles and are entrenched in their ways of working. Which is precisely why when a plucky CIO tries to shake things up, they are met with scorn, not celebration. Even if the ideas are well received, the effort of changing their routines is enough to stop innovation in its tracks. 

How do you encourage your teams to embrace change? Bet that what they don’t like about how they’re working is more annoying than doing something new. 

In her organization, Chiles had seen success by fostering a “start with yes” approach to innovation. By establishing an awareness that changes are necessary for evolution and growth, employees aren’t ever caught off guard by new initiatives. Instead, new opportunities are met with open minds and not instant pushback. But don’t ignore pushback when it comes. 

Listening to your teams when something really isn’t working is an often-forgotten element of this agreement. If you want a team that is receptive to change, they need to know that they’ll be listened to when things aren’t working. 

Creating Space for the New 

Where does your innovation come from? From the top down, or is everyone in your organization encouraged to find opportunities for innovation? If you want to be truly innovative, it needs to be encouraged wherever it’s found. Which is why endless optimization isn’t always a good thing. 

Sadiku was quick to point out that when building systems for maximum efficiency, “There is actually a risk that you don’t give people time to think and be creative and be innovative.” 

Creating an environment that encourages innovation means giving your people, the experts at what they do, the authority and space to innovate on their own terms. 

Aligning Innovation Behind Your North Star 

Now it’s all well and good to encourage your teams to innovate, but innovation without a clear ‘why’ is not innovation at all. 

If every innovation should be in pursuit of the company’s overarching objectives, make sure you’re clearly articulating what they are and why. What looks like innovation to one person might not to another. Having a clear north star allows your teams to ensure that they are innovating in the right direction. 

Beyond that, put the processes, audits, and other guardrails in place. Proper guardrails will protect your brand identity and keep even the most innovative of ideas focused and on track. If a project isn’t on track or isn’t delivering the results you expected, Sadiku had a clear and effective strategy: 

Embrace the Future 

As with all cultural challenges, change starts from the top. Leadership plays a crucial role in embracing new technologies and fostering a culture of innovation. Just being willing to listen to new ideas and demonstrating a positive attitude to change will do wonders for your team’s enthusiasm for change and their role in it. 

But remember, you don’t do innovation, you are innovative. This means that the curiosity and continuous learning doesn’t stop when the project ends. You can’t have a culture of innovation without also encouraging your teams to constantly challenge the limits of their potential. 

For more insights on the challenges facing today’s innovation leaders and to join your peers in the conversation, check out our upcoming Digital Innovation Insight Summit this June.   

To see all our upcoming summits, please see our events page.