By Eric van Niekerk, Research Lead, Innocentrix

When thinking of global innovation powerhouses, typical examples like Google, Apple and IBM come to mind. But how have these organisations climbed so successfully to the top of the innovation food chain? Why is it that they were the ones with the disruptive ideas and the game-changing inventions? A big factor contributing to their innovation success is the notion of building a culture of innovation. Through fostering a culture of creativity and innovation within the workplace, these innovation champions have inspired members of the organisation to actively contribute towards innovation practices.

To begin with, every organisation has its own unique organisational culture, some naturally more innovative than others. But this culture is not cast in stone, and while it may be challenging to influence ingrained corporate cultures, it is far from impossible. The following four steps act as a guide on how to begin building a culture of innovation within your own organisation.

1 - Get leadership involved

One of the first challenges faced when building a culture of innovation within an organisation is how to get employees passionate about innovation. Our recommendation is that you start from the top, with the organisation’s leaders.

When building a culture of innovation within an organisation the message needs to come from the top. Having the organisation CEO or other high-profile C-level executives champion innovation will greatly increase the changes of other employees coming aboard. Involvement from leaders and figureheads within the organisation shows commitment to innovation, and communicates that it is a worthy endeavour for other employees to involve themselves with. For more information on what it takes to be an innovation champion, have a look at one of our previous articles in this series: The Leader Leading Innovation.

2 - Do not fear failure, rather build confidence

Traditional corporate culture has taught us that failure is unacceptable. This standpoint is understandable, as a failure in a large corporate organisations could mean losing a great deal of money. But this fear of failure will tie an organisation’s hands when it comes to innovation.

Innovation often carries a bad stigma of encouraging risk and failure – a behaviour very unfamiliar to corporate organisations. However, the message of risk taking is often poorly communicated and misinterpreted. Innovation is not meant to encourage reckless behaviour and failure, rather, innovation thrives in a culture where failure is not seen as a totally taboo outcome. For innovation to really shine, people should be allowed to innovate within a realm where they may sometimes fail, but will be encouraged to try again. Failure is not inherently part of innovation, but accepting failure is. How do you accomplish this in your organisation?

In an organisation where failure is seen as part of the learning experience, employees will be less afraid to try out new ideas, or to openly contribute to an innovation project. A culture where employees envision success rather than fear failure is one that breeds creativity and innovation. Typically ask the question: “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?”

Continue to Part 2. 

Innocentrix is a South African based innovation business and technology services company that provides value to clients with world-leading innovation products and services. The Innocentrix approach enables true innovation that gets our clients to where they want to go. Our client innovation programmes and the Thinkubator approachto ecosystem engagement assists organisations to drive focused innovation outcomes that leads to real world solutions.

For more information on Innocentrix, and for a complete copy of the Innocentrix Innovation League Report, please visit www.innocentrix.co.za or contact eric@innocentrix.co.za.