A Culture of Innovation: 10 Key Values (Part 1)

A Culture of Innovation is a unique corporate culture that values and promotes the exploration and development of innovation. It is a culture that is meant to permeate every aspect of the business as a means of leveraging resources across the enterprise in pursuit of innovation and ideas that produce value.

For many, the idea of a Culture of Innovation can be a very nebulous concept. In truth, it is. Because it is a “Culture” it is different for every organization that decides to integrate innovation into their corporate world. While a Culture of Innovation can take many forms, they often share many key values. 

Back in April, I talked about a culture of innovation, in the Shock & Awe Series. In the series we touched on its importance and the mindsets that drive a sustainable culture.  In this series, I will discuss the 10 key values that I find most important and most prevalent in a successful Culture of Innovation.

• Leadership and Vision
• Trust and Empowerment
• Accountability
• Quality
• Learn from the Past but Look to the Future
• Strengths and Individuality
• Creative Potential
• Fearlessness, Failure, and Action
• Challenge the Status Quo
• The Road Less Traveled

Every set of corporate values starts with key foundational leadership principles. Innovation is no different. These foundations, by definition, create the base and the framework upon which the rest of the values are built and strengthened. Without this foundation, all you are building is a flimsy house of cards that will topple with the slightest pressure. In this article in the series, I will look at the 4 key foundational values of a Culture of Innovation. The first, and arguably most important, is Leadership and Vision.

Leadership and Vision

Leadership and Vision are two key cornerstones of all corporations. Every corporate culture rises or falls because of the leadership and the vision. The wrong leaders or the wrong vision can drive a company into the ground and disenfranchise its employees. On the flip side, with the right leaders and the right vision, a garage-based company can rise to a fortune 500 company. This concept is equally true in a Culture of Innovation.

A Culture of Innovation thrives on a leadership that prioritizes and values innovation and creativity. Such a culture only takes root when a top down approach is applied. It is the job of the leadership to value innovation and craft a vision that communicates its importance and alignment to the organization’s overall strategy. When this happens, it acts like fertilizer that stimulates the growth of such a culture.

The right leadership and the right vision breeds the next key value, Trust and Empowerment.

Trust and Empowerment

A healthy culture needs trust and empowerment to flourish. 

Leaders cannot do everything alone.  Micro-management has been proven to serve no one. Great leadership begins with trust. That is a concept that I never see disputed. When you trust your employees, you create an environment where everyone wants to do what is best for the organization. They feel valued, see the vision, and make it their own. It becomes part of their own DNA. That is exactly what is needed for innovation to thrive within an organization.

Empowerment is about releasing employees to do what they need to execute the vision. When the leadership empowers its employees, you have a perfect storm of motivation for all involved. This motivation generates the momentum that drives the business and innovation forward.

With this trust and empowerment comes accountability.

Accountability

Trust and Empowerment only works when it includes accountability. For some, this word has negative connotations. In truth, accountability is not about a punitive experience. Accountability is about committing to others and following through. Accountability is the foundation for every successful venture and drives the sustainability of our actions.

Accountability is also a commitment to feedback. Accountability is about standing up and asking, “How am I doing?” and “Where can I improve?” This iterative process of seeking feedback and acting on it is the very heart of what accountability is all about. This fits hand in hand with the iterative processes that drive innovation forward and that generate the feedback loop that helps define innovation success.

Yes, some corporate cultures have turned it into a very punitive matter. I have worked for such companies over the course of my career. Given that experience, I can say that the real definition is a far more positive experience that foster true growth and reinforces success.

The right leadership and vision, real trust and empowerment, and true accountability all foster pride. Pride, in turn, fosters Quality.

Quality

The final foundational value of innovation is a commitment to Quality. Some might point out that the process of innovation is about developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or Service (MVS). They will go on to point out that MVPs or MVSes are all about time to market. They would be right but that does not mean they aren’t also about quality. The reason time to market is so important is for the feedback that comes from our customers. That feedback is worthless if the quality is so poor that it drives the narrative.

The goal is to get your product or service to market as quick as possible. The goal is also to grow the MVP or MVS into the product or service that will ultimately become core to the business. This means the MVP or MVS must value quality as well as time to market.

While this value needs to come from the leadership, the other foundational values converge to create an environment where everyone’s pride in the work they do breeds a natural focus on quality. When your employees take pride in what they do, they also take pride in the quality of what they do.

A business needs the right leadership and vision that trusts and empowers its employees. Such a business breeds fertile ground for the growth of accountability and quality. Such a foundation is critical for every culture, especially a Culture of Innovation.

In article two, I will explore the next three key values. These values drive the potential of a Culture of Innovation and help it take root across the entire enterprise and across organizational silos.

About the Author:

Don Brown: Currently the Director of Software Engineering at Premier International. Passionate about technology, innovation, software development, and sci-fi, he believes that technology can be a force for change within any organization. He also advocates that partnerships between technology departments and leadership are a growth multiplier.