Creating A Culture Of Innovation
New research has found that the key to business success in the 21st
century is a work environment that encourages creativity and
innovation.
Dr Genevieve Armson, a leading Perth business consultant who has been
working in the field for 16 years, said organisations needed to
create a culture of innovation to survive and thrive in the face of
an ever-increasing rate of change and complexity.
Dr Armson said four years of research in West Australian companies
had allowed her to identify what needed to be done to create this
culture.
She said the end result was a practical and relevant pathway to
achieving sustainable and competitive results.
Dr Armson will be presenting her research to the European Applied
Business Research conference in Salzburg, Austria, next month.
“Organisations need to craft a space in which individuals can be
creative and innovative,” she said.
“It is a space where ‘playfulness’ can spontaneously occur. A space
where quantum, not just incremental, advances can arise amidst the
chaos and complexity of modern organisations.
“It might be as simple as a sofa in the middle of the office, or a
room where people can meet with a cup of coffee and talk. The space
could be anywhere or anything.
“Too many organisations give lip service to ‘people are our most
valuable asset’, yet they fail to support and encourage their people
when they come up with a new idea.
“I found that the most innovative organisations were those that
opened up a space in which individuals and groups could be creative
by raising, exploring and implementing new ideas.”
Dr Armson said staff were most innovative when they could actively
engage in peer discussions and where the managers encouraged a “have
a go” approach from their staff.
She said the benefits of a culture of innovation were clearly
evident.
“The staff felt someone was listening to them and the managers felt
they could trust their people to experiment – within certain risk
limits, of course,” Dr Armson said.
“This approach will help managers to identify some great ideas for
achieving a culture of innovation that will significantly add to the
organisation’s triple bottom line.”
Dr Armson is a director of the corporate training company
Realisations Consultancy.
Contact: Dr Genevieve Armson 08 9470 2662, 0412 292 999 or
genevieve@realisations.com.au.
