Creating a culture of innovation to build a better working world

Creating a culture of innovation to build a better working world

Big corporations are traditionally the antithesis of entrepreneurs. One is perceived as hierarchical, rigid and methodical; the other as independent, creative and risk-taking.  So, can entrepreneurial thinking existing inside large organizations?  I not only think so, but I see it every day. 

As one of the 753 people promoted to partner this week, I can attest to the fact that at EY, partners tend to see themselves as a hybrid.  We bring out the best qualities that come from being large and having an entrepreneurial mindset to help our clients and our organization build a better working world. 

Here are the three things I believe can make a difference for organizations that wish to innovate: 

  • The right culture

Creating a culture that encourages creativity is an essential.  For me, it’s important to work in diverse teams. And, this is not just a good idea; our internal research has shown that diverse teams out-innovate and outperform homogeneous teams. This is no doubt why this year’s partner class has 33% of partners coming from the emerging markets and women representing 31% of the promotions.  

According to Sir Ken Robinson, a best-selling author and speaker of one of the most widely viewed TED talks of all time, creating the right, creative culture should be a collaborative, bottom-up approach.  In his book, Out of Our Minds, Robinson says, “The role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas; it's to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they're valued. So it's much more about creating climates. I think it's a big shift for a lot of people.” 

  • Turning great ideas into profit

Innovation starts with creating and sharing new business ideas. But to make this part of an organization’s ecosystem there has to be a process in place to turn those ideas into profit. 

One of our leaders – Robin Hutchinson, Global Markets-Commercialization Leader – recommends that companies dedicate 5-10% of their budgets to cultivating innovation.  True innovation can often cause disruption to an established business, so it’s important to have a group specifically defined with the responsibility to breakdown established systems. 

  • The right support

Cultivating a culture that encourages innovation doesn’t happen in a day; it takes time for people to feel comfortable and confident enough to share ideas without fear of embarrassment or admonishment from superiors.  

Innovation demands a loose and agile organizational structure that fuels creativity and accommodates failure.  This isn’t always easy to adopt, either for lean organizations that want to focus on key products and services, or for more established companies that may find shifting how they work against long-established routines. 

There is no doubt that technology is transforming our business world.  However, with the right culture and support, fostering innovation and creativity from within will help drive growth –not least of all build a better working world.

Luiz Botelho, ACSTH

B&GA CEO & Founder | PLANET-PANGEA CKO | Psychologist | ACSTH Coach & Mentor | Change Mgr. | M&A & Cultural Facilitator | C+ Suite Advisor | DEI & EcoActivist

8y

Great reading material! It implies a proactive leadership, walking-the-talk to foster a collaborative and innovative culture, which is priceless to engender a great-place -to-work, trigger commitment, loyalty and retention and pave the road for meritocratic recognition and succession plans. Congrats!

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Joe Yang

Supervisor - Network Operations

8y

Great article! Interesting insight and valuable knowledge to gain. The key element is fostering support from top down to cultivate a culture of innovation and innovators from bottom up. Not necessarily the culture of the business BUT more importantly the culture (ways of thinking and working) of the employees.

Colleen Blom, SHRM-SCP

Human Resources Professional

8y

Great article. I agree that creativity and innovation are critical to growth and unfortunately I see too many organizations fail at this because they don't have support from the top - it has to start with the right person in the drivers seat.

culture of innovation need to create the masters who supposed to have the talent to tackle with the challenge with the innovative ideas to handle the situation,is going to sure,Creativity is the key to spur/encourage them to come out with the other plan,which should have benevolent consequences

Yusuf Mallie

Radio Presenter at Voice of the Cape Radio

8y

The time has come for willy wonka and the imaginarium to rule innovation. Yesterdays Scifi is todays lifestyle. if we follow the trend todays practical joke will be tomorrow's presidents oops sorry we their already. If we embrace the thought of creative intelligence wrapped up in design. The future of endless possibilities become our canvas. Our generation has the ability to become new pioneers in our techno revolution but we need the wisdom of yesteryears mistakes.

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