Every organization and leader wants to create an innovative culture, yet it remains a rarity. Why is something so universally adored, that involves fun and experimentation, so hard to create?
In this article, I have tried to decode the phenomenon of an innovative culture with my experience and learning at Techment.
The Central Paradox of Innovative Cultures
The research on the subject captures the essence of innovative cultures as:
- High tolerance for failure
- Flat organizational structure
- Acceptance to experimentation
- Exceedingly collaborative work culture
- Psychological safety
Yet, even organizations who have all these qualities fail at being innovative; and that is the irony!
Decoding the Irony
A company has a culture of no tolerance for incompetence, indiscipline, encourages blisteringly candid feedback, and strict accountability. Is it an innovative one? Let’s explore more.
Professor Gary P. Pisano, Harvard Business School, raises some interesting points in his research on innovative cultures. He points out the counterintuitiveness of bringing together these seemingly opposite cultural qualities, which makes innovative cultures so difficult to create.
Reconciling the Opposites
- Failure and Incompetence
- Disciplined Experimentation
- Psychological Safety with Blistering Candor
- Collaboration with Accountability
- Flat Organization but Strong Leadership
Reasons Behind the Success of Techment’s Innovative Culture
As a young company, Techment had a tough challenge of building a culture and developing values that take deeper roots as the organization grows. One thing that favored us was our compact size and flat structure. It is relatively easy to be innovative, establish accountability and share candid feedback as personal rapport is still strong.
For us, the challenge is to recreate the innovative culture in tandem with our growth and carry forward the innovation momentum. A few things we have been successful culturally are:
a) Acceptance to Experimentation and Failures
b) Upskilling to Strengthen Competence
c) Transparent Accountability
d) Recognition of Innovative Ideas
e) Family like Togetherness: Provides Psychological Safety and acceptance to candid Feedbacks
f) Mentoring for Greater Trust
For many organizations like us, which are growing rapidly, the leadership imperative is to create a culture that moves a little ahead of the organization and with a vision, and not vice-versa.
Leading a Sustainable Innovative Culture
It is challenging to lead an innovative culture as it involves a combination of seemingly contradictory behaviors and is thus highly challenging to walk the innovation tightrope. In essence, it is a balancing act, and here is how I summarize it:
- Reconciliation of thinking that considers fun, experimentation, and discipline as contradictories. Experimentation backed by utmost commitment propels innovation forward.
- Celebrating Learning Not Failures: Even while taking a leap of faith, trying out new things, the aim should be to have learning that is not otherwise possible. Thus, we are celebrating learning, not failures.
- Keeping Culture Ahead of the Organizational Curve: Companies change with their ambient business environments, and leaders must guide the culture to develop in advance and resonate with the fluid organizational identity.
The key to creating lasting innovative culture is to manage these contradictions.
To get the detailed insight on the topic, please read the full blog on: LINK
