A culture of innovation
The role of the board
HR.com was inspired by our book Boardroom Creativity and asked us to write an article for their HR Experience Magazine (page 18) on how to create a culture of innovation, focusing on the role of the board.
In this article we’re building on the strong foundations provided by Harvard professor Linda Hill. She did a benchmark study among leading innovators such as Pixar, Google and eBay, researching how leaders can develop an organization that is capable of innovating continually over time. The companies she studied do this by creating a community that is both willing and able to innovate. To be willing, the community must share a sense of purpose, values, and rules of engagement. To be able, companies must: identify opportunities and generate ideas through discourse and debate; experiment quickly, reflect and adjust; and make decisions that combine disparate and even opposing ideas. It’s the board’s responsibility to identify a purpose that enables innovation and motivates your people. And the board needs to create the safe environment that is a prerequisite for trying out new things – in the article we suggest using the 5 Cs of fair play for this.
Does your purpose enable innovation? Are you encouraging people to try out new things?