Eight key steps to fostering an innovation culture

In-Depth

It’s a great time to be an innovator. Too long synonymous with Silicon Valley, venture capital, apps and the internet, ‘innovation’ is now being embraced by companies worldwide. Society’s greatest challenges need innovative solutions, and your people can provide them. But this new innovation is different. It’s strategic: meeting our real needs, rather than our consumer-driven ‘wants’, and to do it well we need to recognise this. Jonathan Armstrong,  Director of Frazer-Nash’s Australian business, explains. 

Strategic innovation is often the domain of the intrapreneur – driving change within the organisation – not just the entrepreneur. It offers huge opportunity for established businesses, governments, scientists and engineers, not just for start-ups and coders. So how do you ensure strategic innovation flourishes in your business?

There are eight key steps to fostering an innovation culture. One, in particular, is frequently overlooked: telling the story of your innovation. To turn ideas into impact you must bring others along on the journey – not just customers and investors, but suppliers, partners, and staff.

Innovation is wide-ranging, but within your organisation it needs to be linked to your business strategy. This strategy should provide your staff with direction, but remain broad enough to give room to innovate.

A great idea can fail to become reality because of poor storytelling. The famous orator, Roman Senator Cicero, advocated that all communication should seek to prove, delight and persuade. Engineers tend to be very good at proving – they’re less comfortable with the concepts of delighting and persuading.

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