Effective leaders know that successful corporate innovation requires a culture that prioritizes learning and experimentation, and supports creativity, collaboration and trust among employees, as well as focuses on the outputs and value of innovation efforts.
Thanks to WTW’s Ben Snapper, successful innovators stick to several key practices:
1. Promote a sense of purpose: Many studies have shown that other people are motivated to innovate when they feel that their work is connected to a strong sense of purpose, especially when their colleagues, their products or facilities have a positive impact on their business. I. or the world.
2. Foster autonomy and expertise – In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, psychologist Daniel Pink takes a similar view on motivation, arguing that people are most motivated when they have autonomy, mastery and purpose in their work. Autonomy refers to the ability to have control over one’s work, while mastery refers to the ability to develop expertise in a particular area.
3. Support risk-taking, trust, learning and experimentation: Experts have connected creativity and innovation in organizations with healthy risk-taking, trust, mental security, “failing fast” and experimentation. Psychologist Teresa Amabile has conducted extensive studies on the role of creativity and innovation in the painting space, saying that one of the most important points in boosting creativity and innovation is a supportive painting environment. This includes a culture of acceptance and openness, as well as opportunities for collaboration and communication. with the autonomy to think Getting out of the box and imagining, collaborating and experimenting is most likely to expand creative responses to problems.
4. Make innovation a priority – According to a recent BCG study, despite global economic uncertainty, innovation rose as a top corporate priority in 2023. Almost 80% of companies ranked it among their top three goals, and 42% expect to significantly increase spending this year, an increase of 16 percentage points over the last economic downturn in 2009. Innovation-challenged companies report talent and culture are the factors holding them back from realizing the full potential of their innovation efforts. Conversely, top innovation companies focus on an innovation-focused culture and create robust talent pipelines. In these companies, effective leaders maintain a strong emphasis on recruiting for innovation mindset and skills across the talent pipeline.
5. “Buy the dip” and invest in innovation during a recession – Also according to BCG research, 90% of the most sensible innovators expect to increase their spending on innovation, almost all by more than 10%. These organizations report dedicating one-third of their spending to generating breakthrough innovations. Effective leaders use a broad diversity of strategic teams to strengthen their innovation platforms and practices. They access both internal and external roles and experiences, and use systems that maximize the impact of those teams. These corporations are more competitive in the use of mergers and acquisitions and are more likely to involve innovation experts in research and variety of acquisition targets. They are also more likely to orchestrate or participate in sector ecosystems, interacting with external partners, or even competitors, on innovations. They review the functionality of innovation pools or cars (such as venture funds, accelerators, incubators and R&D) and redirect resources to those that are successful.
6. Turning innovation investments into results: The study also found that leading innovation companies are focusing their investments on achieving the greatest impact and managing their innovation portfolios to achieve better effects, directly in reaction to economic uncertainty or the outlook. of riots. They perceive that innovation generates benefits through prioritization and portfolio control. In terms of portfolio prioritization, more sensible innovators emphasize disruptive or disruptive inventions, while lower-performing innovators allocate more resources to “nearby” or sustainable innovation. In 2023, the greatest innovators are shifting their resources from incremental inventions that help their existing positions or profits to revolutionary or disruptive inventions that create new markets or profit streams. Even in an economic downturn, effective innovation leaders expect to dedicate more investments to disruptive inventions and disruptive inventions rather than withdrawing. In terms of portfolio control, the most innovative organizations integrate effective control and governance to ensure high returns on investment. Virtually all wonderful innovators use end-to-end tracking to compare progress and make informed decisions about the pricing of an initiative. Overall profit expansion and visitor satisfaction remain the main signs of good innovation fortunes for these organizations.
While it might be tempting to retreat from innovation efforts during disruptive times, effective leaders double down on innovation culture, investment, and measurement to drive growth and results.
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