Attributes of an Innovative Organization

Ian Rose presents key learnings from his research:

Innovative organizations tend to be decentralized, informal, minimally stratified, and generalized rather than specialized. They have cultures that value independent thinking, risk taking, and learning. They are tolerant of failure and they value diversity. Open communication is reinforced and there is a high degree of trust and respect between individuals. In particular:

Innovative organizations have vision:

Organizations with vision are better able to appreciate and use people’s creative talents. When an organization has vision it is focused on long-term outcomes. True vision is the ability to create a future from nothing. All organizations have a past, a history. Visionaries are able to create or design their future without being constrained by what has happened before.

They do not determine what will work in the future from what has, or has not, worked in the past. Paradoxically, this is balanced by their ability to learn lessons from experience. It means having a future that is informed by the past rather than dictated by it.

Innovative organizations change
because they see a better way and not
because they have to change:

They are able to continually re-invent themselves in a focused, yet flexible fashion. They are pushing forward from today, driven by a compelling vision of the future. There is a huge difference between creating your own future and reacting to a future that hits you between the eyes! Too often, change is only considered as a last resort to save the day.

Innovative organizations are always on the lookout
for new products, new markets, and new ways of doing things:

They know their customers, and are constantly learning from them, using the most demanding customers to drive their own innovation and competitiveness. The organization continuously engages in thinking and action that directly or indirectly affect the future “bottom-line.”

Innovative organizations value substance over form:

Results-oriented cultures will always have more creativity. “Form over substance” cultures, where following the rules and sticking with defined processes are more important than coming up with the correct answer, are the bane of creativity and innovation.

Creativity and innovation are present in every culture, but flourish best in those cultures that can put the ideas to work rather than smother them in formal review processes. Therefore, they tend to be “tight/loose” organizations; tight on the outcome measures of success but loose on the processes of how the outcomes are achieved.

They build creativity and innovation
into the fabric of the company:

When a problem needs a solution, the default position is: “How can we do this more creatively?” Creativity is both explicitly and (more importantly) implicitly encouraged. The management team knows what to do when someone comes to it with an idea. Managers provide support and recognition for the creative temperament.

Creative individuals are used as role models. “Legends” are told (and retold) about innovators. Creativity is not seen just as the prerogative of a few selected individuals; the expectation exists that everyone can be creative in their own field.

The findings of this ongoing research have been utilized by many of Ian's clients around the world, including Aventis, British Aerospace, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg and Texas Instruments.

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