{"id":1666,"date":"2017-07-10T15:20:32","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T19:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/?p=1666"},"modified":"2018-10-05T05:33:49","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T09:33:49","slug":"6-ways-create-culture-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/6-ways-create-culture-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reward employees with time to think, while providing them with the structure they need.<\/h2>\n

*Originally published on Co.Design: <\/em>click here to access.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Every organization is designed to get the results it gets. Poor performance comes from a poorly designed organization. Superior results emerge when strategies, business models, structure, processes, technologies, tools, and reward systems fire on all cylinders in symphonic unison.<\/p>\n

Savvy leaders shape the culture of their company to drive innovation. They know that it\u2019s culture\u2013the values, norms, unconscious messages, and subtle behaviors of leaders and employees\u2013that often limits performance. These invisible forces are responsible for the fact that 70% of all organizational change efforts fail. The trick? Design the interplay between the company\u2019s explicit strategies with the ways people actually relate to one another and to the organization.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how to influence the soft stuff.<\/p>\n

1. Be Intentional with Your Innovation Intent<\/h2>\n

Most corporate visions and missions sound alarmingly alike: Become the #1 provider of blah, blah, blah. These generic, broad-based goals might rev up sales teams, but they do little to spark ingenuity. Perhaps the worst thing a company can do is give \u201cinnovation marching orders\u201d without any guide posts. That\u2019s when the focus gets lost and teams spin their wheels.<\/p>\n

The goal: Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. For example, the software company Intuit\u2013the developer of Quicken, Quick Books, and TurboTax\u2013makes its mission abundantly clear: \u201cTo improve our customers\u2019 financial lives so profoundly they can\u2019t imagine going back to the old way.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Create a Structure for Unstructured Time<\/h2>\n

\"\"Innovation needs time to develop. No one ever feels like they have time to spare. People get so consumed with putting out fires and chasing short-term targets that most can\u2019t even think about the future.<\/p>\n

Giving up control when the pressure is greatest is the ultimate innovation paradox. That\u2019s why iconic brands like 3M and Google give their employees about 10% \u201cfree time\u201d<\/a> to experiment with new ideas. The software company Atlassian encourages employees to take \u201cFedEx Days\u201d\u2013paid days off to work on any problem they want. But there\u2019s a catch: Just like FedEx, they must deliver something of value 24 hours later.<\/p>\n

Companies such as Intuit use time as a reward because they believe it\u2019s the biggest motivator of corporate intrapreneurs. Intuit gives its best business innovators three months of \u201cunstructured\u201d time that can be used in one big chunk or spread out over six months for part-time exploration of new opportunities. So using time wisely creates a major incentive to get more time to play with (hopefully wisely).<\/p>\n

3. Step In, Then Step Back<\/h2>\n

Providing \u201cfree\u201d time for employees to experiment with new technologies, products, or processes can catalyze the next big thing. But too many companies\u2013and the consultants they hire\u2013attempt to over-engineer the innovation process. A better option: Give just enough structure and support to help people navigate uncertainty and tap into the creative process without stifling it.<\/p>\n

There are some pretty good off-the-shelf tools that can help build employee skill sets. Some of the best are freely available, such as the Stanford Design School\u2019s Boot Camp Bootleg<\/a>. Intuit applied the design thinking underlying Stanford\u2019s model to create its Catalyst Toolkit<\/a>, a guide that was made available to all employees and the public and which includes self-serve ingredients for cooking up innovation.<\/p>\n

People as diverse as software engineers to human-resources managers have used the toolkit to innovate internal work processes or create new products, including SnapTax, which lets customers file their taxes in less than 15 minutes on their mobile phones. Promoting these types of toolkits help convince employees that leaders care about their development while they also promote best practices that can be adapted to the needs of the individual or team.<\/p>\n

4. Measure What\u2019s Meaningful\"\"<\/h2>\n

Management guru Peter Drucker once said, \u201cWhat\u2019s measured improves.\u201d Said another way, You get what you measure. For many companies, coming\u00a0up with ideas often isn\u2019t the problem. The challenge is turning them into something real that delivers an impact. So what metrics should you use?<\/p>\n

First, you have to figure out what to measure. In its early days, Facebook measured how often its users returned to its site. Everything they did focused on blowing out this single metric. OpenTable, the restaurant reservation service, focused on two metrics that allowed it to become the dominant player: growing the numbers of restaurants in its network and increasing the number of consumers making reservations.<\/p>\n

Customer-oriented numbers are clearly essential. But other indicators can drive internal innovation, too. After Proctor & Gamble realized the importance of outside partnerships in driving market breakthroughs, the company decided to measure (and increase) the percentage of new products that used breakthrough technologies from partners. Externally driven innovation jumped from 10% to more than 50% and resulted in new products, including Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and Tide Pods.<\/p>\n

Other metrics that promote organizational innovation include:<\/p>\n