5 Ways Leaders Can Cultivate a Culture of Innovation

Innovation accelerates a business growth. Without them, your business cannot progress further. Therefore, to ensure constant innovation, you need to cultivate a culture of innovation. The main reason why Silicon Valley's companies are so successful is the integration of innovation strategy into overall business strategy. Their employees have the freedom to explore and take the risk. They are motivated to share their ideas and collaborate among themselves. Since many surveys show that the most powerful driver of innovation is the culture, this is the best way to accelerate innovation.

Find out how leaders can create a culture of innovation.

Connect your organization

At the time of continuous change, you need to change constantly as well. In this regard, first, you need to explain to your employees that the change is the necessity and the main condition of survival in today's changing environment. When they accept the change as normality, it will be much easier to create an appropriate culture of innovation. The first step is to connect your organization. You need to function as the whole system divided into the smaller interrelated subsystems. Thus, everyone will work its business tasks, but all of you together will work to improve your business venture as the whole.

Too strict rules, distant parts of the organization, poor communication, excessive hierarchy and similar are the limiting factors for innovation. Therefore, all within the organization must be connected and focused on creating an atmosphere that encourages creativity and innovation.

Encourage communication and collaboration

The biggest advantage of small startups is their closeness, fluid communication, and continuous collaboration. That creates sources of innovation, such as brainstorming, the exchange of ideas, cooperation on finding the best solution, and the like. Apply the same! Good communication and collaboration encourage creativity, reduce resistance to change and increase transparency. All this create a culture that accepts a constant change and fosters innovation, which exactly is your goal.

Digital business transformation allows you to improve your internal communication and collaboration, but also to collaborate with others outside of your company. Take a look at new cross-industry ecosystems or the GameChanger collaboration program of Shell Company for developing early-stage ideas that have the potential to change the future of the energy sector.

Work on talent development 

For excellent results, you need to create the capacity for innovation - to develop talents inside of your company. Employees are the most valuable asset, don’t forget that. From them are coming new ideas that can easily turn into the new disruptive technologies that will set you up on the top of your industry.

Therefore, work on skills improvements, provide training and career development program. Also, focus more on employees’ soft skills that are today more significant than technical skills. If you provide good employees' developing opportunities, you can also attract new talents to your company.

Sustainable investment in innovation

However, it is essential to ensure sustainable investment in innovation. Ad hoc approach to innovation is not suitable. To be disruptive, you need to invest in people and assets constantly. Just take a look at disruptive startups or digital companies such as Google, Amazon, and others. They invent and improve themselves all the time, set the new rules. They are on the top of their industries, leaders that others follow. But, they constantly invest in their innovation capacity. They create instead of reacting. Do the same. Invest in your future!

Celebrate the success

When you achieve the success, you need to celebrate it to show your employees that such behavior is what you want. You should praise their effort and encourage them to continue with innovation. In this way, you build the culture of long-term creativity, exchange of ideas, collaboration and acceptance of risks.

Also, you need to become good leaders who motivate employees to follow you while you lead them to success! Let them open their minds, share their ideas and praise their effort all the time. Encourage your employees to think outside the box. Who knows, in one moment, you might come to the crucial, disruptive invention that will drastically change your market position and the whole industry. This exactly is your goal, isn’t it?

Silicon Valley Innovation Center design Silicon Valley Inspiration Tours to learn powerful lessons about Unique technologies and rising trends. Visit most popular and innovative companies: google, Linkedin.