There's a reason that the enterprise is slow to change: it's not easy. It can be a challenge to get a birthday card circulated and signed in a single department, let alone the entire company. When asked to change in a more fundamental way, it garners scoffs. The enterprise should embrace Organizational Innovation and do everything in its power to move towards it. For most, though, that's change with a capital 'C.' Insurmountable. Absurd. Dangerous. Sure, 'dangerous' sounds dramatic, but that's the sense that creeps up on those confronted with an inconvenient truth: business is growing exponentially. Rapid technology growth is allowing upstarts to topple giants overnight. That's great news if you're the former and a call-to-action if you're the latter.
It's time for the enterprise to move towards Organizational Innovation. When yours does, here are some good things you'll notice immediately:
1. Great Ideas Get Shared More Often
Organizational Innovation puts innovation at the center of the enterprise. When that priority is communicated, ideas start coming to the surface. Once it's clear that their is a new and unified direction in the building, those who had been keeping quiet (and keeping great ideas under wraps) can finally feel free to share.
2. Failure Becomes a Speed Bump
Traditionally, failure is seen as an end point. It's a definitive result. When an Innovative Culture replaces traditional enterprise culture, failure is redefined. In the process of innovation, failure is simply a step along the way. That change in thinking allows for more (productive) risk and much richer rewards. Failure is no longer feared.
3. Learning and Collaboration Grow
Innovation promotes a culture of learning and collaboration. That gets employees out of cubicles and into common areas, sharing ideas and strategizing. Unsurprisingly, work still gets done, but employees are more sociable and work together more effectively.
4. Innovation Sees the Light
When innovation exists in the enterprise, it typically sits in a dark corner or is partitioned off, away from the core business offering. That prevents the best ideas from truly taking hold and turns innovation into a gimmick. Innovation needs to be seen as something that can fundamentally change the business, not a side project.
5. Vision Becomes Shared
Shared vision leads to shared results. When all employees understand that the enterprise needs to change to ward off competitors and maintain its market share, a clear shared vision emerges. Employees know what the enterprise does and that it needs to leverage technology to continue doing it successfully in the future.
6. Employees Become Empowered
When employees feel trapped by their job title, that's a problem. When it becomes clear that all ideas are welcome - no matter the rank or department - employees start to feel more valuable. Giving a voice to every employee gives everyone a sense of team and transformative ideas emerge from unlikely places.
7. Creativity Reigns Supreme
Innovation, by definition, is something different. Coming up with something different calls for a spirit of creativity. That spirit can quickly permeate an organization that is embracing innovation top-to-bottom. Whatever industry the enterprise finds itself in, an injection of creativity can be a powerful thing.
8. Culture Improves
Typical enterprise culture is a labyrinth of red tape paired with a gauntlet of bureaucracy. Innovative Culture and Organizational Innovation turn that on its head, promoting a culture that challenges convention. Jarring at first, that is an improvement that opens the door toward a more modern way of approaching business.
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