TURNING DISRUPTION INTO A CATALYST FOR CULTURE CHANGE
My husband is the Managing Director of a beautiful, luxury hotel. As I’m sure you are aware, 2020 has hit the hospitality industry incredibly hard. Most hotels and resorts have had to lay off more than half of their workforce – with some long-standing and historic properties, like the Roosevelt in NYC and the Palmer House in Chicago, shuttering permanently. It’s been incredibly difficult for everyone in the industry as occupancy rates have plummeted to single digits, and many of the restaurants, spas, and other hotel operations have had to scramble to deal with constraints in number of guests allowed, and types of products and services offered.
While this is a tragic reality, it has forced my husband to change the culture of his hotel in rapid fashion. High service standards remain in place, of course. However, the teams have had to learn to be extremely flexible, nimble, experimental, and innovative on a daily basis. They pilot different kinds of new products and services to drive revenue and gain consumer attention and are able to pivot on a dime as they learn along the way. In other words, the hotel team’s culture has evolved to embody a culture of innovation. And while it’s a reaction to the times, it’s clear that this way of working is here to stay if they want to not only survive but thrive in the long-term.
Re-EXPRESSING DISRUPTION AS AN OPPORTUNITY
Companies of all sizes and industry have faced significant shifts in the way in which they work in 2020 – whether it’s because business has plummeted (like my husband’s industry), or it’s skyrocketed (like Walmart). According to Bloomberg, about 200,000 jobs have been furloughed or cut in corporate America – leading to a significantly leaner organizational structure. And beyond the cuts themselves, corporate offices everywhere remain closed, employees work from home semi-permanently. These dynamics have forever changed attitudes and behaviors around work and company culture.
Some organizations have taken advantage of these disruptions, like my husband’s. However, most have not. They maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach, simply replacing in-person interactions with less-engaging Zoom meetings. I continually hear of ‘Zoom fatigue’ from colleagues, students, teachers, and clients. And given the likelihood that this new reality will be with us for a long-time to come (if not forever!), organizations need to shift their working and company culture to drive engagement. In other words, now is exactly the right time to adopt a true culture of innovation.
So-WHAT IS A CULTURE OF INNOVATION ANYWAY?
A culture of innovation is not simply about having an innovative pipeline of products or services. Rather, a culture of innovation is a way of working and being that can be applied to any part of an organization – from finance to sales. It’s a company culture where employees are encouraged to develop, test, refine, and implement new solutions to daily challenges – both to the betterment of the organization internally as well as the end consumer.
To achieve such a culture requires rethinking a few things – how you work and the processes you use on a daily basis, how you lead teams to solve challenges, as well as the way you behave with one another as you work and lead and collaborate. This is the Innovation Ecosystem – process, leadership, and behavior. When they are activated together, you will see impactful change – in output and productivity, but also in employee engagement and satisfaction.
Surveys regularly show that organizations with innovation cultures deliver higher revenue and profit results – in the double digits. Booz & Co has reported that organizations with both highly aligned business & innovation strategies, as well as a pro-innovation culture, demonstrate 30% higher growth on their enterprise’s value.
Now-IT’S TIME TO TAKE ACTION
You are likely already living through disruption to the organization, and the culture you have developed long ago has been equally impacted. So, why not take it just one step further, and use this disruption as an opportunity to do as my husband has – and build a culture of innovation?
Consider the following:
1. How can I encourage teams to use ‘out of the box’ solutions to how we work, collaborate, and produce? Consider how to engage your teams to develop fresh and new approaches, ways of working, and challenges to the status quo. For example, Motorola leadership set a goal of reducing the time it took to close their end-of-year books from six weeks to four days. While it was a stretch goal, they empowered the finance and accounting teams to develop approaches, processes, and roles and responsibility to solve for it. Leaders then removed some of the self-imposed barriers in place and played a role to help support the teams to pilot, learn, refine, and implement.
2. How can I support rapid experimentation and iteration of these solutions? Often organizations work and overwork a potential solution with a wide range of stakeholders before rolling it out, which takes time and ultimately adds complexity. Rather, use the principles of agile innovation to develop a minimally viable product and then quickly pilot it – to learn what works and what doesn’t, and then iterate in real time to optimize the idea. For example, in 2020 “flights to nowhere" were piloted and launched in Taiwan originally over the course of a month – the first version was a flight that never actually left the ground, which then evolved to the launch of extended flights that depart and land at the same airport, while making sightseeing loops and serving high-end meals and drinks. Rather than analyze the idea extensively beforehand, EVA Air simply did it, iterating and building the idea quickly – to such a success that has led to a wide range of airlines offering similar trips.
3. How can I provide the right rewards and recognition for innovative behavior? To enable a successful culture of innovation, teams need to learn how to behave in new ways and learn new skills where needed. And then associates need to be held accountable for their behaviors – rewarding the positive and actively addressing the negative in real time. For example, Jeff Bezos has famously normalized failure as part of Amazon’s innovative culture. They do so because they want to make it safe to try new things – even if they don’t work - because people are less likely to take that risk if they're afraid of the consequences of failing. They publicly announce the failures that occur, and colleagues treat that failure with respect and look to learn from it.
It may seem daunting, but there’s a tremendous opportunity to impact your organization in a positive way for the long-term. Use 2020 as your catalyst for transformation and growth – not your rationalization for stagnant results.
Interested in learning more about developing a culture of innovation?
Jennifer Sagawa is founder of J Sagawa LLC, an Innovation consultancy. jennifersagawa@gmail.com
