Top innovators embrace a culture all their own. What’s the secret and how can this cultural edge be transferred to other types of firms? By Daniel Perez

According to the Canadian government’s own Building a Nation of Innovators project, innovation is essential to the continued success and prosperity of Canada as a country. Unfortunately, world-leading innovation can’t be mandated into existence. It needs to be intentionally nurtured, cultured, and incentivized to develop ever more robustly over time.

Luckily, the Canadian government and business community alike can learn from entities that are already leading the world in innovative practices. The world’s most innovative firms, as determined by MIT’s Culture 500 power rankings, have built their unique cultures on a set of common foundations. Here, three of the biggest anchor points will be discussed, along with tips for translating these innovation anchors out to other organizations.

Innovators Aren’t Afraid To Be Different

A major factor in the success of innovative firms is a certain fearlessness about standing out from their peer group. For example, Red Bull and SpaceX/Tesla routinely dominate the innovation power rankings, and it’s not hard to see why. Five minutes with the leadership team and it’s clear that these companies are actively pushing boundaries in all areas of their business.

Does this ruffle feathers? Yes! Do these companies view ruffled feathers as problematic, relative to their overall business goals? Not a bit.

Innovators Aren’t Shy About Their Mission Or Values

Innovative firms tend to have a clear mission and set of values that govern their behavior. Amazon, for example, strives to be the Earth’s most customer-centric company, allowing people to discover and buy almost every imaginable item. Not everyone agrees with their approach, but there’s no denying their dominance in the consumer landscape. On the other hand, Patagonia strives to be one of the world’s most environmentally focused firms, making sourcing and sales decisions with the planetary impact front and center.

Both firms stand out because things that “typical” companies focus upon, like maximizing shareholder value or ROI, are not the central focus. Instead, it’s all about the mission and the values, even when it’s not the most cost effective or immediately rewarding choice. It may not make all stakeholders happy, but it does create market differentiation.

Innovators Actively Reward Innovations – Even Small Ones

A third major anchor at innovative firms is that innovators actively reward innovations. This reward structure is often built into every level of the company, ensuring that any employee with a good idea can raise it up and be rewarded for it. Further, rather than just having rewards for large or “moonshot” types of innovations, leading innovators also reward small and incremental improvements.

A prime example of this is the innovation culture at Apple. Although the company also has incredibly transformative products, between large launches like the iPhone or Apple Watch there are dozens of smaller, less dramatic improvements and tweaks that take place. Changes to touchscreen compositions, levels of waterproofing, camera lenses and settings… each little change is encouraged, nurtured, and rewarded to create a culture of continual innovation rather than a culture holding out for brief flashes of genius. Indeed, many analysts believe that it is this ceaseless push for improvement and not huge breakthroughs that actually powers Apple’s innovation engines.

How Can Other Firms Bring Innovators’ Flair Back Home?

Knowing the key drivers of the world’s most innovative companies, what can other firms take from this back to their own organizations?

First, firms should reflect on their own cultures and how they can make them more distinct and grounded in the company’s personality. All organizations have a personality, and in the present market, consumers and stakeholders are often more receptive to that unique authenticity than polished branding or sleek marketing campaigns. Yet it does need to be intentionally crafted, especially in larger organizations that can trend toward bland, middle of the road cultures.

This is indeed a case where size is a factor. According to the PWC Global Culture Survey 2021—Canadian outlook, companies with less than 1,000 employees are doing a better job of cultivating and maintaining a distinctive culture than larger firms. At smaller firms, some 63 percent of respondents agreed that their culture was distinct from competitors. Yet at larger firms, that number dropped to just 46 percent. Thus, for larger firms seeking to have more innovative flair, a greater effort will need to be made.

Next, companies will want to be sure they are clear on their mission and values. This isn’t just about building an innovative culture – it’s also about attracting the talent needed to have an innovative culture. In PwC’s Hopes and Fears 2021 global survey, some 75 percent of respondents said they want to work for an organization that makes a positive contribution to society, and the response held up across generations. Since what constitutes a positive contribution is often in the eye of the beholder, firms who are clear on their own values will be better able to attract talent that shares those values and can advance the firm’s mission in the marketplace.

Finally, firms will want to actively redesign rewards and incentive structures to encourage innovative ideas to be brought forward. Big ideas come from small steps, so firms doing this redesign work will also want to be mindful of how little improvements can be encouraged along with major innovative overhauls. It’s not always easy, but by combining rewards for innovative ideas with a fearlessness about being different and a strong vision for the future, firms who have not traditionally been viewed as innovative can plant the seeds of an innovative culture within their own organizations.