Is Innovation Really Wanted?

Innovation has an alluring ring to it; the promise of change, of excitement,  a new way of doing things and the attraction of a new adventure on the road to success. 

But do companies and managers really want to innovate?

Companies so often hire people that are perceived to fit in neatly with the existing culture and have the required skills to “hit the ground running”. The more efficiency and the established modus operandi is valued, the more the company wittingly or unwittingly hires those who “will fit in perfectly”.

In contrast, innovation thrives in diversity and a variety of thinking and behavioral styles. To be innovative companies need to let down their barriers and accommodate those that are more peripheral and whose motivations may at first be suspect. Those that are not on the face of it the ideal candidate are often the same people who stir and challenge and in so doing enhance the innovative potential of the organisation.

Instead of instilling the time-honored values and culture of the company, the innovative company must allow and even encourage employees not too conform. They must be given freedom to question the current status quo and discomfort their colleagues, especially so as new hires have an outside view of the organisation. Everyone speaking in the same voice and all acting in happy and harmonious unison is not conducive to the frisson required for company renewal.

Innovative companies encourage opposition and counter-opinions. A raft of policy statements and directives is counter to an innovative culture. Innovative organisations harbor and welcome multiple and opposing perspectives and objectives, a variety of views and ideas on how a client should be serviced, a product launched or process improved. Many companies work hard at recruiting and selecting employees that look and act like those already working for the company.

A company striving for innovation must allow for excess capacity. Employees need a certain amount of free time to spend on non-prescribed work. Often this may end up in meaningless ventures. Because innovation requires investing in winners as well as losers, adaptive companies must be prepared to follow several competing ideas simultaneously, and move through a sequence of sifting and testing to finally decide on the desired course of action.

Innovative companies need to assume the uncertainty and risk of failure in new directions being taken. They must embrace the new and unproven, not knowing if it will be a success or a failure. Especially more established and successful companies do not easily opt for the innovative route. Few managers are willing to take the chance of appearing wayward in their endeavors. But is that not the price to be paid for innovation to flourish?

Organizational power structures are difficult to change. Those in power determine and set the priorities of the company, they allocate resources and reward employees who are supportive of the existing order and thought-streams. The quest for efficiency and stability, and the primal need to control and stay in power goes against the grain of company innovation. Innovation happens when controls are looser and management are truly interested in the pursuit of news ideas to improve products and services to customers; not when turf battles are rife and energy is inward focused.

Innovation carries a cost. Do managers truly want a few wayward and obstinate employees in their division? Are they tolerant of experimentation and blind alleys? Do they really want to risk looking foolish at the outset of some new ventures? Can the company afford some slack in order to allow free-time and experimentation? 

Consider carefully before saying yes.