Everyday innovation report - Nesta

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6.6 Bespoke solutions to promote
innovative working
What initiatives to promote innovative working
are likely to produce the best returns? Research
shows that return on investment for initiatives
for innovative working vary significantly
by sector and between organisations.
Considerations here include factors external
to the organisation such as type of industry,
competitive positioning of the organisation,
and the business model employed.
Evidence shows that initiatives to enhance
innovation are more likely to be successful
when they build from those with a track
record of successful innovation. “Training can
be valuable, especially if there is an element
of apprenticeship in it. Working closely with
innovators, learning from other people who
have been successful at innovating in the
past, is an important aspect of successful
innovation.” (Mike Addison, Procter & Gamble).
Our evidence also shows high performing
organisations vary in their use of resources and
initiatives for innovative working. However,
initiatives are likely to be more effective
when there is a multi-levelled, co-ordinated
approach. The isolated use of brainstorming
activities for example is unlikely to promote
sustained innovative working. The research
literature also points to the concept of
‘entrainment’ as a metaphor for co-ordinating
interventions. Here, organisations have cycles
of activity according to the business model and
customer needs, and any intervention must
account for this ‘cycle of activity’, where there
may be windows of opportunity, where the
timeliness of interventions is more likely to take
hold and meet less resistance.
The majority of our interviewees agree that
high performing innovative organisations have
one aspect in common: they all encourage
a risk-tolerant culture. Research on leaderemployee
exchange behaviours show leaders
tend to have the strongest impact on employee
perceptions of organisational culture and the
success of an innovation initiative will often
depend on the quality of its leaders (in addition
to the talent of its employees).
6.7 A diagnostic framework for
supporting innovative working
Building on the research evidence, we present
a diagnostic framework in Appendix C designed
to support organisations with how to promote
innovative working. The framework is a starting
point to review the management practices and
employee behaviours that support innovative
working.