Innovation is not just a buzzword. It’s a necessity for survival and growth. At the heart of innovation lies experimentation, flexibility, and creativity. Organizations can only help their teams find groundbreaking discoveries with the freedom to explore and create.
When innovation isn’t happening
If your organization is not experiencing innovative growth, there are some reasons why:
Risk aversion. When leadership’s post-mortem on failure is rife with negative responses, employees play it safe rather than trying bold new approaches. If leaders blame their employees for failure, ridicule them publicly for experiments that didn’t produce ideal results, or comment negatively about ideas or experiments, employees naturally respond to these negative behaviors by playing it safe. If they don’t feel psychological safety to take risks and explore, they’ll never uncover the discoveries that allow them to open new avenues for growth and competitive advantage.
Bureaucracy. Excessive red tape and approval processes can slow ideas to a crawl. Innovators need freedom to explore beyond boundaries rather than adhere to processes and procedures. If your Visionary team members are tasked with innovation, they need the freedom to explore.
Short-term thinking. Focusing solely on quarterly results leaves little room for long-term innovation. An attitude of short-term gain reeks of desperate attempts to solve a problem or achieve a goal, and desperation blocks the free flow of ideas. Desperation is fear-based thinking that shuts down innovation.
Resource constraints. Innovation requires an investment of time and money. Starving new initiatives of resources dooms them to failure. One example would be to give an objective of a project with lofty goals but scale back the capabilities or resources of a team. The team members tasked with creating an innovative solution don’t have what they need to reach their desired goals, which can demoralize and stifle innovation.
Siloed departments. When teams don’t communicate, great ideas get stuck in organizational bubbles. The cross-pollination of ideas crucial for innovation is severely hampered. Each department becomes an echo chamber, reinforcing existing methodologies and perspectives while missing out on valuable insights from other areas of the company. Complex problems that require multidisciplinary approaches become nearly impossible to solve effectively. The lack of a holistic view of the organization’s challenges and opportunities means that potentially groundbreaking ideas that emerge at the intersection of different domains are never realized.
Complacency. Market leaders often get too comfortable and only innovate once it’s too late. When a company becomes overly confident in its current products, services, or business models, it often fails to recognize the need for continuous improvement and adaptation. This false sense of security can lead to a dangerous inertia where the status quo is maintained at all costs. Employees and leadership may become risk-averse, avoiding the uncertainties associated with new ideas or disruptive technologies. The company’s focus shifts from pushing boundaries to protecting existing revenue streams, leading to a decline in research and development investments. Breaking free from complacency requires a cultural change that embraces continuous learning, encourages healthy dissatisfaction with current achievements, and fosters a relentless drive for improvement and innovation.
Why experimentation matters
Challenging assumptions. Experiments allow us to test our assumptions and hypotheses. What we think we know about our customers, products, or markets may not align with reality. We can validate or debunk these assumptions by experimenting, leading to more informed decision-making.
Encouraging calculated risks. A culture of experimentation creates a safe space for taking risks. When employees know that failure is viewed as a learning opportunity rather than a setback, they’re more likely to propose and pursue innovative ideas.
Rapid learning. Experiments provide quick feedback loops. Instead of spending months or years developing a product based on untested ideas, companies can run small-scale experiments to gather data and insights rapidly.
Fostering creativity. The very act of designing experiments encourages creative thinking. It pushes teams to consider different approaches and solutions to problems.
Examples of Successful Experimentation
Google’s “20% Time”
Google famously allowed engineers to spend 20% of their time on side projects of their choosing. This policy led to creating some of Google’s most successful products, including Gmail and AdSense. While Google has since modified this policy, it demonstrates how allowing employees to experiment can lead to significant innovations.
Amazon’s “Working Backwards”
Amazon’s approach to product development involves starting with a press release for a hypothetical product and working backward to determine if it’s feasible and desirable. This experimental method has led to successful products like Amazon Prime and AWS.
Spotify’s “Hack Weeks”
Spotify regularly holds week-long hackathons where employees can work on any project they choose. Many features, such as the Discover Weekly playlist, are now integral to the Spotify app, which originated from these experimental hack weeks.
3 M’s “15% Culture”
Like Google, 3M has long encouraged its employees to spend 15% of their time on projects of their own choosing. This policy led to the invention of Post-it Notes, one of 3 M’s most iconic products.
Pixar’s “Braintrust”
Pixar’s Braintrust is a group of experienced directors and producers who provide feedback on films in progress. This experimental approach to creative development has helped Pixar consistently produce critically acclaimed and commercially successful animated films.
Implementing a Culture of Experimentation
To foster innovation through experimentation in your organization, leadership must set an example and clearly communicate expectations and celebrate failures. Leave blame at the door and ensure that everyone understands that we’re here to try something new and
- Encourage calculated risk-taking and view failures as learning opportunities.
- Allocate resources (time, budget, tools) specifically for experimentation.
- Create cross-functional teams to bring diverse perspectives to experiments.
- Establish clear metrics for measuring the success of experiments.
- Celebrate and share the learnings from both successful and unsuccessful experiments.
Innovation is the competitive edge
In an era where disruption is the norm, companies that embrace experimentation are better positioned to innovate and stay ahead of the curve. Organizations can unlock their innovative potential, drive growth, and remain competitive in an ever-changing business landscape by creating a culture that values and encourages experimentation.
Every employee, no matter their Motivational Dimension, can bring innovation into the organization. Do they decide to do so? Or do they remain quiet because they’d rather play it safe?
Remember, some of the world’s most groundbreaking innovations started as simple experiments. So, what will your next experiment be?
If you’re looking to uncover team members who have innovation as a primary Motivational Dimension, Motivation Code can help. When you find those employees who are motivated by new ideas and visionary projects, you can architect teams led by innovation. Reach out to our team for details on how Motivation Code can be the spark to catalyze innovation in your high-performing teams.
