This document discusses how to build a culture of innovation within a company. It emphasizes that an innovative climate cultivates engagement, encourages risk-taking, fosters learning and independent thinking. It recommends stopping assumptions, not fearing failure, making innovation a priority across all business areas, and measuring innovation efforts. The overall message is that nurturing an innovative culture requires flexibility, focus and commitment to ensuring the company remains relevant and differentiated through continuous innovation.

1. Change Starts Here
Building a Culture of Innovation in Your
Company

2. Climate is the tenor of the workplace
ecosystem.
A truly innovative climate:
• Cultivates engagement and enthusiasm
• Challenges people to take risks
• Fosters learning
• Encourages independent thinking.

3. Developing a culture of innovation within
your company requires a willingness to
change, an objective perspective, and a little
bit of fearlessness.

4. Are you supporting a culture of innovation in
your organization, or stifling it?
Here’s how to make sure you’re laying a solid foundation
for innovators.

5. Stop assumptions in their tracks.
Although assumptions are sometimes the
byproduct of knowledge and efficiency, they also
stifle ideas and innovation.

6. Avoid the pitfalls of over-speculating by:
• Allowing preconceived notions to take a
backseat to new ideas and methods.
• Treating experiences as lessons, not standards.
• Consistently checking individual expectations
against company initiatives and team goals.

7. Don’t be afraid.
When management reacts negatively to a new
idea or a failed project, it creates a fear of failure.
A failure to fail results in completely predictable, in-the-
box thinking, and a massive roadblock for
innovation.

8. To better tolerate risk and failure,
remember:
• People are more creative and innovative when they
are free to share honest ideas.
• Accepting risks is the first step to taking them.
• View failure as a learning opportunity, and don’t fail
the same way twice.
• Allow enough time for innovative ideas to develop,
and encourage champions.

9. Innovation is not optional.
Though initiating an innovation pipeline takes time
and resources, it is no longer an optional strategy.
Treating it like a superfluous initiative is a
particularly disruptive cultural trait that causes
companies to fall behind and fall apart in the face
of increasing competition.

10. Drive home the necessity of innovation as a
program by:
• Making innovation a part of every aspect of your
business to create lasting, repeatable results.
• Allocate personal time for individuals to spend
on innovation.
• Require all employees to access your innovation
program, and reward those that contribute.

11. Measure everything.
Some companies believe innovation can’t be
measured, but that’s simply not true.
Innovation management software can measure
results, helping drive new business value.
Enabling technology helps companies improve
agility, productivity, and time-to-market by enabling
better decision-making, visibility, and efficiency
across the company.

12. “Employees’ cognitive surplus is the most
valuable, most under-utilized asset
organizations have.”
- From “Innovation, Culture, and Social Technologies: Getting Real Work Done”

13. Use analytics to:
• Develop targeted, goal-oriented innovation
programs
• Identify patterns to inform future projects
• Demonstrate program effectiveness
• Surface best practices
• Generate unbiased ideation and voting systems

14. Change starts with you.
Nurturing a culture of innovation requires a good
deal of flexibility and focus, and a dedication to
putting the best people, programs, and processes
in place to ensure market relevance and
differentiation.

15. Get Started Today.
To learn more about Mindjet’s innovation
management solutions, go to www.mindjet.com.