Influencing company culture

- If this is the first time you tried something innovative, you might be pondering how you can extend this culture so it happens more. There's actually quite a bit of research about the kind of corporate culture that encourages entrepreneurship inside even the largest of organizations. The best companies teach employees to spot opportunities, how to see an open space and build from the ground up, or take an innovative idea from a totally different industry and apply it in a new way. Leadership delights in constructive criticism and respectful challenge to accepted rules. Most of us are so afraid of conflict that we don't share ideas, especially with people who make more money than we do. As a result, leadership is challenged less and less, which makes them vulnerable to outside attack. They provide resources like Adobe's Kickbox, a toolkit and template to encourage all employees across the organization to innovate. And they don't limit access to likely innovators like engineers and scientists. Rather than creating two classes of employee, they know great ideas can come from anywhere. Innovative organizations support scientific failure and have a spirit of test and learn. Maybe they don't even call it failure, they call it validation of a new idea, a more positive spin. These organizations support collaboration and teamwork. This doesn't mean innovation by committee, but rather a spirit of helpfulness, the opposite of being territorial. So, if you're in a senior position at your organization, you might be able to champion changes that will support creativity and experimentation. You can get budget and time set aside for team members or encourage your colleagues to solicit feedback. But it's hard to dictate change from the top, and in some cases it's the foot soldiers who can make the biggest impact. If you have already gone down the path of innovation, encourage your peers. Listen carefully when someone tentatively shares an idea and offer to support them. Be a role model, speak up, ask questions, and be willing to test and be wrong. It can be scary to lead the charge from the middle, but if you want a culture that challenges you and creates great things, it might be worth the risk. The stakes are high. Startups with creative ideas disrupt business as usual in the Fortune 500 every day. And yet, big companies have the data, the resources, and the brand awareness to innovate at a massive scale. But it will only happen if the culture supports internal conflict and change. Are there people you can talk to or ideas to share that will support moving toward a culture of innovation? A good place to start is with your manager. You might even want to share your ideas and ask how you can promote innovation across your organization.