Innovate - Developing a Culture of Digital Innovation

Why is Culture Important to Innovation?

“I know what culture is - I’ve seen all those witty signs on office walls and my boss says we are all family”

Signs are nice, they can provide humour, brighten a day - but they are icing, not cake.

Saying ‘we are like family’ does not make it so - in fact, it likely means it's not at all true.?

So - forget the icing, what is the cake?

'The Cake' is a culture of digital innovation. Culture goes to the core of any business, it is vital, and complex. I also believe the adage that if you don’t actively develop a culture, it will develop itself. And you will not have control over it. Get it right, and your teams will be more resilient, and more efficient in implementing well planned change. Harmony and collaboration is the result.

This article only looks in depth at the impact of culture on innovation. The principles work in a broader context too.

Balancing act, or spinning plates?

We’ve all been there - a project or new direction we as leaders are really excited about. It’s going to be great! More revenue, more profit, more fun, more autonomy - etc.?

And what did we get? A wall of blank faces - or worse, furious ones!?

Any change introduces an element of tension. It is tempting to look at this situation and work out what each person needs to get them on side, and do your utmost to give it to them. The ‘spinning plates method’.?

This invariably leads to at least one plate falling, often the one you didn't spot or didn’t have time to keep an eye on. Worse - when one goes, they all start to tumble. Chaos!

So what do we do instead? To keep true balance, the system has to be simpler and have fewer points of failure.

Tension

It is clear that many leaders see technology as a panacea - improving productivity, efficiency,? resilience and - by extension - the bottom line.

Unfortunately, many of those working for them do not share this rosy view!?

Indeed - many of those leaders, if they are being honest, do not have a clear vision on how all this tech is going to do the work required of it.

This gives added tension to the change process, and must be addressed systematically to bring clarity, and ensure all voices are heard. The result will be a greatly improved process and outcome. The reason many do not address this tension is frustration over speed of implementation or the costs involved - but these issues are greatly reduced by addressing the tension at the right time, in the right way.?

Our process was developed after working with a large company that had a lot of stakeholders to work with. Because change was difficult to envisage, the necessary steps were not taken - leading to the imminent possibility of a ￡120,000 project being derailed due to stakeholder resistance. After working with the leadership team, and questioning those involved further along the line, it turned out that this was largely down to the increase in cognitive load the middle managers were going through - as well as doing their intense everyday jobs. The leadership team were expecting them to assimilate new technology and processes without explanation or context - they obviously viewed this as a needless pain in the backside. To complicate matters - the majority were not openly hostile, just didn’t engage.

Our response was to take over the change process, ensuring that the relevant voices were heard and our learning acted upon. The majority of the company quickly responded - especially to the support ticketing system we implemented - leaving time to deal with the more embedded attitudes that were causing friction. This was addressed by our operations director in person and she was able to address all concerns and brought the team onside brilliantly.

When we reviewed the project it was clear that we could have saved the company a significant amount of time and money had we managed the process from the beginning. Working in collaboration with the leadership team would have allowed us to work more quickly, and might have avoided the significant cost of the extra work.?

Our feedback loops and tailored programs keep the balance in the tension - moving the team towards successful implementation without rogue elements spinning off on their own side quests. Individuals do not generally want the company to fail - but they are terrified that they will be the point of failure. Look after them - give them the opportunity to be successful.

Understand - Feedback Loops

If you deliver a message - whatever the medium you use - each person receiving it will take on their own version of the message.?

This is why we always open a feedback loop. In the event that concerns are unwarranted, it is vital that these are valued, but addressed quickly to avoid resentment or disengagement. If they are warranted - it is vital that they are assimilated into the project at the earliest possible stage.

At every stage of the project you will know how your people are, and also what training/support they need to implement the project. This maximises your return, and therefore the viability of your tech solution.

Knowing what the message is, and how others have received it via the feedback loop - allows you to maintain balance - and tackle misconceptions. Implement a system for this information to be gathered, analysed and acted upon.

How to promote

Promoting the benefits of change is more than telling everyone how great it’s going to be.?

I’m certain you aren’t ‘that kind’ of leader - but just in case!

Three key things you must address are:

1. What's in it for me?
2. How will it impact me?
3. What’s in it for the business?

First, ‘what's in it for me?’ - this is the benefit, the sunshine and roses of the future they will see. If you can’t state this, why are you doing the project? Often we focus on processes and features but I find most people care less about these and more about what their lives will be like as a result. People who are excited about that final destination are more reliable in helping you along the road to achieving it!

Second, ‘How will it impact me?’ - this is about the impact on day to day activities. How will they change, how will they be improved? Will they do less of some things? Will they have to do more of others? Why??

At first glance this is very similar to No.1. Remember, No.1 is about the exciting, big picture - which will then make No.2 worth working hard on! It is important to lay it out early so that there are no surprises, and the feedback loop will provide clear direction on how the new will impact the old. We often find that this part of the process shakes out ‘work around's’ - for example, shortcuts to recording information on data management systems that then throw out other reports because the data is not in the right place. This was a scenario frequently found in the education space as busy professionals needed to get stuff done and had no bandwidth to consider unintended consequences. Putting this right saved many hours of work for them and others as they were able to run automated reports to analyse results. This had previously been done by hand.?

Getting buy-in for the overall direction and fostering an understanding of each individual's role in the process keeps a balance to the process - and encourages team members to seek out answers when they are not clear, instead of reverting back to old habits.

One Niche

We focus on digital transformation - but culture comes from widely practised attitudes and actions that promote respect (in both directions) and truly value contributions. This does not mean that all opinions are equally valid, nor that everyone should be able to do what they want. It is a set of scaffolds that allow individuals to:

1. Understand their role
2. See their impact on the whole
3. Have an appropriate level of autonomy in reaching the organisational goals.

Explain why the change is necessary, take time to understand feedback, share plans and processes respectfully and allow different routes to achieve well defined outcomes. Then you avoid a free for all, and also keep the team on track.

A balanced view of culture is essential. Teams seek to deliver success, and they work hard to implement new ideas. Points of failure are noticed and negated by all stakeholders before they become a problem. Effective leadership means your teams will collaborate harmoniously and you will see immediate results.

Remember - you can't promote the benefits of innovation if the team do not understand your motivations. This comes from shared goals and clear expectations. What is good for digital innovation, is good for the whole business.

As ever - ask yourself two questions:

1. What do I want to change about my business and its systems??
2. Do we have the expertise internally?

Answer yes to question 2. - take the insights I share here and try them in your context. We know they work, but feedback is incredible in making the service even more optimal.

Answer no - subscribe to our feed and DM me when you are ready to see how change management and technological transformation can change your life.