If You Build It, They WON’T Come Willingly! Building An Innovation Mindset & Culture

Editor’s Note: This post is part of our Big Ideas Series, a column highlighting the innovative thinking and thought leadership at IIeX events around the world. Shawn Nason will be speaking at IIeX North America (June 12-14 in Atlanta). If you liked this article, you’ll LOVE IIeX NA. Click here to learn more.

The Story

If you have worked in innovation or consumer experience for any length of time, you have more than likely made the same mistake so many of us have. You have a brilliant idea that you believe will shift the strategic direction of an organization. You envision being able to transform the culture or alter their mindset.  And then it happens, you FAIL!

This happens every day for so many people that choose to work in this space. Elon Musk says, “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” I remember when I first became Chief Innovation Officer in an organization that was not ready to innovate or move as fast as I wanted. I constantly felt like I was fighting an uphill battle.

The Mindset Was Old And Not Ready To Move!

The Culture Was Just As Old, And No One Was Ready For Change!

The Leadership Had No Desire To Push The Boundaries! 

What I Learned

You can’t make an organization change its mindset or culture until you get all the leadership on the same page. Once you have leadership aligned with you and moving in the right direction, then you can begin to shift mindset and culture.

“Eliminate The Mindset of Can’t! Because You Can Do Anything!” ~ Toney Horton

Additionally, I have learned over the years that some organizations will never be ready to innovate and you just have to move on.

What I Did

Over the years, I have learned that the Power Of Yes is the best way to get people to buy-in to a consumer-centered innovation process. Just recently, I began to read a book called, Play Bigger. This has changed my mindset about innovation. No longer am I looking at competitors and what they are doing. Now, I am looking at what I can do different that makes me unique in this space.

What You Can Do

Surround yourself with people that advocate taking the risk and pushing the boundaries. Take the first steps to influence leadership, transform culture, and develop a new mindset. A colleague and I will be digging into these three fundamental principles and much more during our workshop on Monday, June 11th.

We look forward to hearing your stories on building consumer-centered innovation within your organization.