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An organization's culture—its values, beliefs, norms—is critical to innovation. Organizations vary in their ability to innovate depending on the interplay among several key success factors. When effective, these factors help support an innovative culture; when absent, they present barriers to innovation. 1, 2
Factor #1: Risk-Taking Environment
When It Works
The organization supports people who want to try something new to fundamentally redesign processes, with reasonable precautions to avoid harm to patients or the organization. Formal leaders encourage experimentation to learn and do not penalize innovators if things do not turn out as planned.
Potential Barriers
- The environment is risk-averse.
- People who try something and make a mistake fear punishment, and perceive they will appear foolish or look bad.
- Innovation is viewed as tweaking existing processes versus fundamental redesign.
Factor #2: Innovation Targets
When It Works
Formal leaders provide a motivating vision, specific focus, and organizational context for the innovation, without detailing a predetermined solution. The innovation goal is linked to and even stretches the strategic or operational plan, while maintaining compatibility with the organization.
Potential Barriers
- There is no real commitment to the target.
- The target is ambiguous and not in line with the priorities of the organization.
- Formal leaders micromanage by dictating how to achieve the target, thereby preventing other creative options and alternative approaches.
Factor #3: Sufficient Resources
When It Works
The organization's leaders provide potential innovators with time to devote specifically to the process of innovation. People are given the authority and freedom to decide how to tackle an issue. Leaders provide staff with both the funds and needed time away from other job responsibilities to pursue their ideas. Members of the innovation team include front-line staff who understand the issues.
Potential Barriers
- Innovation is an add-on responsibility to people's regular jobs, thus reducing their focus and energy for innovation.
- The innovation process is relegated to a research and development function, separate from the people who have first-hand knowledge of the process.
- Money and access to data to support investigation and testing are scarce.
Factor #4: Open Information, Communication, and Relationships
When It Works
Information that might help stimulate new thinking is obtained from a variety of sources, both within and outside the organization. It is shared freely and rapidly, without filters or censors, to help foster innovation. Communication and teamwork throughout the organization is equally open and trusting. People honor ideas from each other and nontraditional sources. Also, team members are diverse and collaboratively approach the issue from different perspectives. There is mutual respect and honesty within teams.
Potential Barriers
- Information is shared on a need-to-know basis only.
- Teams are homogeneous with similar skills, experiences, and points-of-view in order to reduce disagreements.
- Benchmarking activities are not supported because of a belief that "we know everything" or "we are different and it won't work here."
Factor #5: Training in Tools and Techniques
When It Works
Innovation is viewed as a deliberate process. The organization supports formal training about innovation and encourages staff to develop their skills and expertise in areas such as problem-solving, brainstorming, and creative thinking.
Potential Barriers
- The innovation process is exclusively left up to individuals and teams with no experience or competency in innovation.
- Methods and approaches are so restrictive that they hold back the creative process.
Factor #6: Appropriate Rewards and Recognition
When It Works
Both individuals and groups are recognized, praised, and thanked for taking risks, innovating, and championing change. Recognition is customized to match what the individual considers a reward, such as additional time for innovation, peer recognition, or access to decision makers in the organization. The innovation activity is interesting, satisfying, and challenging, thereby intrinsically motivating to participants.
Potential Barriers
- Innovation is viewed as a disincentive; for example, protected time to innovate is not provided and the process is perceived as a burden.
- Innovation is not integrated in the performance review process.
- Ideas that don't quite work out are laughed at, rather than being taken as important opportunities for learning and another cycle of innovation.
1 Plsek P, Maher L. Creating the culture for innovation. 10th European Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care; 2005 Apr 13-15; London. 2 Weeks DM. The climate for innovation [Web site]. Available at: http://www.m1creativity.co.uk/innovationclimate.htm. Accessed October 16, 2007. |
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