Innovation is a vital part of business today. Companies may require advice which seems unconventional. How are they going to react to that? Synonyms suggested for innovation include: change; upheaval; transformation; restructuring; revolution. That’s scary stuff for business leaders to grapple with. Especially if they are to lead their people on such an uncomfortable journey.
When companies say they are innovating, what are they doing that differs from the rest of their market? Because pressure on businesses to say they innovate, allied to the challenge of change management, places most companies firmly in a place of conformity.
If we examined evidence of innovation from businesses in the same sector we would probably encounter similar, even identical, examples. The pressure to provide this evidence freezes our thinking and keeps us mired in the status quo. Without unfreezing the thinking there is unlikely to be any true innovation at all.
This is where we need our leaders to create cultures that acknowledge two things.
One - the changes that innovation requires may seem unconventional, even perverse. However, we must allow the difficult questions and the bizarre suggestions. We must realise they only seem this way in the context of current thinking. Imagine explaining the internet to someone in the 1980s! it would have seemed the realm of science fiction, yet today it is an integral part of everyday life.
Two - our leaders must open out the expectation of time frames for innovation to mature and be realised. True innovations are irregular occurrences, they are not weekly events that roll off a conveyor belt. If we set rigid delivery targets we condemn ourselves to either stasis or the re-badging of old ideas as new.
Innovation is rare and requires nurture, if it is to flourish. The unconventional must be allowed and even encouraged. The germination of the idea from concept to realisation must be managed carefully and at the correct speed. It’s all achievable when we demonstrate bravery, with leadership that starts from the front.
Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash
