Innovation Leadership TrainingDay Five

Building an innovation culture

February 20, 2009

All materials © NetCentrics 2008 unless otherwise noted

Welcome• In this section of the innovation training we’ll

examine the steps necessary to build a culture that encourages innovation

What We Want to Accomplish

Goals for this section

• Our goal this section– Look at the changes necessary to change the

culture to encourage or embrace innovation– Consider what we can do at the enterprise level,

business level and at your level– Think about “top down” and “bottom up” changes

Key Points

• Organizational culture is one of the biggest impediments to innovation– Culture directs how people think, the work they

are willing to do and the risks they’ll take

• Culture isn’t easy to change, but it’s not impossible to change– Think about the changes you can implement locally– Work with the innovation team to impact the

culture more globally

Not Invented Here

• Corporate culture is the number one barrier for innovation in any large organization– Most are very risk averse– Focused on continuing existing projects and

services– Little desire for change– People and processes aren’t structured for

innovation

Keepers of the culture

• Research demonstrates that mid-managers are the ones who are most likely to maintain and defend existing culture

• Senior executives often seek to augment or redirect the culture

• Line employees feel the culture is imposed on them to a great extent

Result?

• Those of you in an innovation advocate position can reverse the cultural resistance to innovation

• Rather than a barrier, corporate culture can become an enabler to innovation

Cultural Attributes

• What factors in the existing culture could become barriers for innovation?– Risk aversion– Time commitments– Lack of resources– Lack of processes– Lack of clear goals– Others?

Cultural Comparison

What can you do locally?

• We can’t change the corporate culture overnight• What can innovation advocates do in their

departments?– Use innovative tools and techniques consistently– Gather and synthesize trends to forecast new

opportunities– Identify “birds of a feather” and meet regularly with other

innovators– Encourage others to use innovation and creativity to solve

problems or create new products and services

Positive bias

• Work with others to solve problems using innovation tools and techniques

• Approach each idea with a “positive bias” – find out what’s good or beneficial about the idea

• Your approach and attitudes will set the tone for the rest of the group around you

What can you do corporately?

• What can you do to support the concept of an innovation culture globally?– Work closely with the innovation team– Participate in innovation projects and campaigns

• In your department• Across departments or across Pacific

– Report on the projects within your team to provide greater visibility to innovation

Compensation

• If you want to change priorities and focus, change compensation

• Jack Welch is famous for saying “Show me a salesperson’s timecard and I’ll tell you how he is compensated”

• Work with the HR or Talent Management teams within Pacific to restructure compensation for innovation.

Community

• Build a community of innovators across Pacific• Create discussion forums and periodic

meetings so the innovators can interact and share ideas

• Have the senior administrators participate in this community

Measurements

• What we measure says a lot about what we value

• If we establish specific innovation measures and metrics, and constantly assess those measures, then we demonstrate their importance

• Setting innovation goals and consistently measuring against those goals demonstrates the importance of innovation

Managing for Innovation

• Many times people will speak of “managing innovation”

• We believe it’s more important to set the expectation that we manage “for innovation”

• This means we provide the cultural attitudes, tools and techniques to allow innovation to happen, rather than attempting to force it to happen

Key Takeaways

• Corporate culture can either inhibit or encourage innovation

• What you do to change the culture top-down or bottom-up will matter

• Start taking the small steps that you can control now– Compensation– Community– Communication– Measures and Metrics

Questions?