12 tips for creating a culture of innovation

I like lists because they force the author to distill his thoughts down to a pithy, short, descriptive saying.

That’s what I’m going to try to do here, riffing off the article “Publishers: 12 ways to overcome common innovation roadblocks” by Damian Radcliffe, which Bo Sacks distributed recently.

1. Innovation has to solve a problem. It’s not a goal in itself.
2. And speaking of problems, the problems you should be most keen to solve are your customer’s problems.
3. Find a way to quantify the problem so you know when you’re fixing it.
4. Create a framework around #s 1-3 that you can communicate clearly to your staff. I’m going to take a small side note here and commend my former boss Jasper Simons who is a master at using models and frameworks.
5. Break through internal structures and mindsets that limit your success.
6. Commit for the long-term. This isn’t one and done, or a quick summer campaign. With the pace of change in the market, you should make innovation a part of your corporate culture.
7. Create a process to make this operational.
8. You run the risk of making your employees, your accountants, and your business units think that “constant change is here to stay,” which promotes an attitude of chaos and uncertainty. Acknowledge that fear and address it.
9. Get people on board from all levels of the organization.
10. Make it easy for people to leave if they don’t like the new agenda.
11. This means you’re going to lose some attachment to the past and some institutional knowledge, and that can be a bad thing. Prepare for the consequences.
12. The world is moving faster than it used to, which means that companies need to adjust to get comfortable with change.

Links

Publishers: 12 ways to overcome common innovation roadblocks