Innovation seems to be the topic du jour.
- How do we continue to grow in a hard economy?
- How do we create more opportunities with limited resources?
- How do we ensure new products and services are meeting the changing – and often fickle – needs of our customers?
- How do we expand innovation to improve other areas of our business (Finance, IT, HR).
“Booz & Company’s annual study shows that spending more on R&D won’t drive results. The most crucial factors are strategic alignment and a culture that supports innovation.”
- 36 % of all respondents to the survey admitted that their innovation strategy is not well aligned to their company’s overall strategy
- 47% said their company’s culture does not support their innovation strategy
- Companies with both highly aligned cultures and highly aligned innovation strategies have 17% higher profit growth than companies that reported low degrees of alignment
- The most important innovation goals among respondents are “superior product performance” and “superior product quality,” each ranked number one or two by a plurality of more than 40% of all respondents
- In terms of their cultures, companies share traits even if executives don’t find that their cultures are aligned with innovation. More than 60% cited “strong identification with the customer” as among the top two cultural attributes of their organization, and 50% chose “passion for and pride in products.
Here are tips to help executives determine if their culture is ready to support innovation, and 4 culture types that hinder or derail innovation.
Leaders, it’s all about increasing the dialogue with your people. Take a bold step today!
As the creative genius Steve Jobs said “Make a dent in the universe.”
Lisa Jackson and Gerry Schmidt are corporate culture experts and authors of the book “Transforming Corporate Culture: 9 Natural Truths for Being Fit to Compete.” They offer a proven method to teach leaders how to evolve their corporate cultures to perform better, innovate faster, and show they truly care about people in an unprecedented era of rapid change and transformation.
Visit them on the web at www.CorporateCulturePros.com or follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/corporatecultur