Tuesday I wrote that corporate culture was the new black and here’s yet more proof for that notion.Over at Enterprise Innovation, IBM’s Linda Sanford writes that more than anything else it’s corporate culture that fosters innovation and ‘innovation can transform business, create new markets and drive economic growth.’

Innovation, as opposed to invention, is critical in a slowing economy—‘Invention is the creation of something new… Innovation is the application of invention to business or societal needs.’

Management is finally coming to the realization that cost containment—dominantly i n the form of layoffs—isn’t going to cut it anymore.

‘This was supported in the findings of IBM’s recent Global CEO studies showed that four out of five CEOs pointed to revenue growth – not cost containment – as their top priority for boosting financial performance.’

Not only that, but they’re finally figuring out what many of us ‘little people’ have been saying for years—it’s the people, stupid.

‘The CEOs said the best way to drive new growth is through increasingly differentiated products and services – but they also said that this type of innovation will be impossible without a renewed focus on people, including retention and re-education to keep vital knowledge within the organization and to develop new skills to compete in a more demanding and fast-changing global economy.’

Sanford goes on to say that collaboration is the critical behavioral key, that it involves much more than new IT tools and that it’s not something just for the rank and file.

‘Senior management needs to model the type of collaborative behavior they’re trying to encourage. Performance reviews, bonus and incentive plans must be aligned with the goals of creating a collaborative, high-performance culture of innovation.’

That’s it. You can buy all the Web 2.0 technology available and talk about it until you’re blue in the face, but without true behavioral changes starting at the top and backed by putting your money where your mouth is it just won’t happen.

What are you doing to develop a culture of innovation in your company?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 12:15 am and is filed under Business info, Communication, Culture, Motivation, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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