5 keys to unlock innovation

According to a major survey from Deloitte, innovation is among the top five strategic challenges for 96% of organisations, with more than a fifth of business leaders citing it as the number one priority on boardroom agendas.

It’s no surprise therefore that many CEOs have made the shrewd decision to invest in innovation-themed executive education programmes. But programme sponsors can often be underwhelmed by these initiatives as it can be difficult to pinpoint tangible returns on their investments.

The question arises: are these development programmes failing their participants? More often than not, this apparent stalemate isn’t actually a reflection of the quality of the programmes themselves, but the organisational context participants encounter before, during and after them.

Let’s demonstrate with an analogy from our non-working lives. Cast your mind back to the last time you had an exhilarating experience – say, for example, when you went skiing for the first time. You may have initially found hitting the slopes overwhelming or exhausting before being hit by a rush of adrenaline as you mastered a new skill.

This mental process is not unlike the learning curve of an executive education programme. While participants may at first feel daunted when confronted with new ideas, they soon grow in confidence and can return to the workplace ready to drive innovation without fear of failure. In skiing terms, these triumphant executives have completed the learning and development equivalent of the black run. But capturing and harnessing that sense of adventure for the organisation needs a particular approach by its most senior leaders.

Based on our experiences of collaborating with businesses across almost every sector and in almost every country, we’ve identified five keys to unlocking innovation in any organisation.

1 Don’t permit innovation – expect it

Innovation cannot flourish in a culture of timidity. The language we use must reflect this. When executives return from a development programme, it’s essential that they don’t just feel they have permission to drive innovation, but that they have a personal responsibility in shaping the future of the organisation.

Whenever we hear that something is “allowed” or “OK”, human beings have a natural tendency to become sheepish, which can doom new ways of working before they have had the opportunity to take hold. One Scandinavian manufacturing business has put an emphatic way of communication at the heart of executive education. When participants register on a leadership programme, the CEO sends an email congratulating them on their involvement and later personally takes part in one of the modules.

The message from the top is clear: new ways of thinking aren’t simply “allowed”, but are an absolute imperative. Although few organisations are as robust in their communication strategies, those that are have an immeasurably higher chance of success.

2 Experiment, don’t overburden

In many large corporations CEOs have a desire to align innovation programmes with their strategic pillars, yet this dual focus can be counterproductive as it may require senior leaders to work on large transformation projects while simultaneously attempting to embrace innovation.

While transformation projects involve multiple systems or processes, innovation often runs counter to this way of working. The key to successful innovation frequently lies in freeing up talented people to make discoveries outside the daily grind of managing, budgeting and reporting.

When an individual or group of individuals works on a project which they feel passionate about, they often display previously untapped levels of discretionary effort and expertise.

The experiments most likely to unlock innovation are often small and based on a philosophy of “fail fast, learn quickly”, with some of the world’s most successful businesses having their origins in such experiments. What’s more, innovation needn’t require huge amounts of investment or burdensome approval stages.