Does innovation have to do with cultural change?

Does innovation mean you have to have to change your culture?

“We need to change our culture”, is a sentence that you hear wherever you go. But why does innovation need cultural change, if it does at all? Honestly, it does – although it has become a buzzword above all in the media world. Bearing in mind that 70 percent of employees say their sense of purpose is defined by their work, company culture today should be so that it contributes to a new kind of togetherness and more satisfaction. For transformation and innovation need highly committed and motivated people.

What effect does cultural change have on your employees and your innovation force?

Spoiler: Cultural change is not about making employees even more flexible and motivating them extrinsically to perform better. It should actually aim at the well-being of the employee and not focus on higher returns, which will come anyway if people work in a healthy atmosphere. So cultural change won’t succeed as an end in itself. It needs to come from the heart and with a deeper meaning. But what impact does cultural change have on the innovative ability of a company?

What kind of culture does it need to help increase the innovative ability in a company?

Let’s take an example: There is a company which is making a cultural shift, with the management seeing themselves as service providers. There is an appreciative atmosphere where employees have freedom for personal development and growth. There are common  values, people treat each other with utmost care. Is that already innovative and is it innovative enough? Definitely not.

Innovation culture, like any other, needs to be purpose-driven.

True innovation culture can only develop  if employees can identify with the products or services provided by the company. This means their own purpose needs to be in line with that of their employer. Now we are facing one of the biggest challenges in the employer-employee relationship. In fact, there are still numerous companies whose main purpose is to make profit. Of course, at the end of the day, everybody who wants to survive and strive in the market, needs to think in a businesslike manner. But like your customers, employees will attach more and more importance to your “Why”. In an innovative company, this why should be based on a higher goal, such as sustainability. There are big overarching issues that need to be solved now and in the future. Particularly in view of the pandemic people thought about the meaning of life more than ever before. And some of them made a deep shift and don’t want to get back to where they were before. Moreover, there is a generation of young people who want to actively shape the future and tackle important issues. There is a lot of potential for companies who are ready for transformation, which on the other hand, needs innovative approaches. 

A fast-paced world needs a company culture that is open to innovation.

We have seen a lot of changes recently. Disruptive market forces challenge companies to go innovative ways because things don’t work as they used to before. Moreover, in saturated markets it is much more difficult to stand out. So it won’t be because of your products – it will be because of the problems you solve, the experience you provide and your purpose why people want to buy from or work with you. Back to the first question: Yes, innovation has to do with cultural change. Even a lot. Anyway, one important thing to remember is that culture is shaped by the people within a system. So it cannot be imposed.