{"id":48968,"date":"2020-11-25T08:40:25","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T13:40:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/?post_type=articles&p=48968"},"modified":"2025-05-08T07:05:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T11:05:33","slug":"driving-change-and-innovation-in-traditional-organizations","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ccl.org\/articles\/leading-effectively-articles\/driving-change-and-innovation-in-traditional-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Drive Successful Organizational Change & Innovation in Traditional Industries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Practices Leaders Can Use to Drive Change & Innovation<\/h2>\n

Innovation may be standard operating procedure at venture capital-funded startups and tech goliaths such as Apple, Amazon, and Google. But it\u2019s often a struggle for organizations in more \u201ctraditional\u201d sectors, such as insurance, banking, or government.<\/p>\n

Yet even in these sectors, executives and managers recognize a need for innovation.<\/p>\n

During everyday operations, leaders of these organizations must find ways to balance the tensions of their industries, complying with complex regulations or aggressively managing risks while also driving change and innovation in order to create more value for their customers.<\/p>\n

Financial services firms, government agencies, and other more traditionally\u00a0cautious organizations must be deliberate in adopting pro-innovation behaviors and changing their culture so they can operate efficiently while also finding ways to innovate and evolve.<\/p>\n

That need is underscored during times of crisis or upheaval, as in the recent coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath, but it\u2019s an ever-present tension.<\/p>\n

How to Promote Organizational Change & Innovation<\/h2>\n

6 Practices to Spur Creativity<\/h3>\n

We recommend these 6 practices that can spur creativity and add quick and creative innovation, even in industries or sectors typically considered \u201cslow and stodgy.\u201d<\/p>\n

1. Ensure that senior leaders truly buy into the idea of innovation.<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s not enough for the top management team to nod their heads when the CEO says, \u201cBe more innovative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior leaders need to put their money, and their behavior, on the line. They must\u00a0foster organizational innovation by supporting the innovation equation,<\/a>\u00a0and remember that the most concrete way they can support organizational change and innovation is by funding innovation activities and protecting them, even \u2014 and maybe especially \u2014 during challenging times or market downturns.<\/p>\n

2. Define what innovation means for your organization.<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s not just creativity. Innovation is a business discipline that creates value for customers in new ways and earns a measurable return.<\/p>\n

Focus on key drivers of value for your organization<\/a>, which might be things like logistics expertise (Amazon), customer service (Starbucks), or innovative products (Apple). Look for ideas in line with your business strategy.<\/p>\n

\"Infographic:<\/p>\n

3. Teach people how to innovate.<\/h4>\n

Generating new ideas is only part of innovation. Consider whether leaders and managers are\u00a0subconsciously encouraging, or sabotaging, innovation<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and help them adopt new ways of evaluating fresh ideas. Also, ensure they are\u00a0fostering innovative mindsets<\/a>\u00a0on the team.<\/p>\n

4. Track innovation efforts from beginning to end.<\/h4>\n

Just because it\u2019s creative doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t measure and monitor it. Organizations should track inputs (how many new ideas are being generated) as well as outcomes (the ROI of innovative ideas that are implemented).<\/p>\n

5. Look for quick wins.<\/h4>\n

Even with senior leaders on board and modeling innovation-friendly behavior, it\u2019s easy for a traditional corporate or government culture to fall back into its old practices. By finding and implementing \u201cquick wins,\u201d leaders can cement their commitment to organizational change and innovation.<\/p>\n

Pilot projects are a good way to manage the risks of innovation while still giving them a true trial in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

6. Recognize success and thank people.<\/h4>\n

Innovative organizations explicitly thank people for their ideas and contributions \u2014 even for ideas that aren\u2019t implemented.<\/em><\/p>\n

A thank you can be anything from a hand-written note from a senior executive to an annual awards ceremony to honor innovators. Showing gratitude will make you a better leader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s harder to drive change and innovation in some industries, leaders always have the choice of going against prevailing assumptions and choosing to build more innovative organizations.<\/p>\n

That choice itself is an example of promoting innovation.<\/p>\n

Ready to Take the Next Step?<\/h2>\n

Help drive organizational change and innovation with a customized learning journey for your leaders using our research-backed modules. Available leadership topics<\/a>\u00a0include Influencing Skills, Innovation Leadership<\/a>, Leading Through Change & Disruption, Learning Agility, and more.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to put your organization on the fast track? Read these 6 key practices for driving change and innovation in traditional industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":48969,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48968","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categories-innovation-creativity","categories-organizational-culture-change","industry-banking-finserv-insurance-legal","industry-government-aerospace-defense","region-americas","article-type-leading-effectively-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOrganizational Change & Innovation: Traditional Sectors | CCL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to put your organization on the fast track? 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