How to Boost Innovation in the Workplace
By Steffen Maier
Today one of the key challenges most companies face is being able to scale rapidly while still keeping their innovative startup edge. Startups have less decision-makers making it easier to take the risks needed to remain as innovative as possible. As these companies start to grow, they often experience a downturn in innovation as management layers increase. In fact, many larger corporations are now attempting to harvest the success of startups by creating small internal companies. This begs the question do you have to stay small to be innovative?
According to the Economist’s study on organizational agility, the main obstacles to improved business responsiveness are slow decision-making, conflicting departmental goals and priorities, risk-averse cultures and silo-based information. This isn’t a problem that faces a select number of companies. A survey by McKinsey&Company found that 94% of managers are unhappy with their company’s innovation performance. The good news is that you don’t have to stay small to avoid these common growth pitfalls. Instead follow these three performance management must haves: