Do you work for an innovation organisation?

Over at Thinking Faster they have undertaken some really interesting research into the divide between what an organisation says at what it actually does, in particular how it talks about innovation and how it acts:

We received over 667 responses, and those responses represented a wide range of users throughout the US and over 30 countries.  What was confirmed in our survey based on other data we’d seen is that most firms are beginning to place a real verbal emphasis on innovation.  Over 90% of our respondents felt that innovation was important in their industry and necessary for their firm’s long term success.

Here’s the kicker though – only 38% of the respondents indicated that their firm had metrics around innovation, and only 25% of the respondents indicated that their firm had standard processes and procedures to sustain innovation.  So, while the executives are talking about the importance of innovation, they aren’t measuring how well the firm is doing by building specific goals and metrics, and they aren’t moving very quickly to put standard processes and procedures in place.  There’s a very significant gap between the firms that think innovation is critical to success and those that have actually started measuring and managing their innovation initiatives.

This survey rings true with my experience. In my experience few organisations actually change anything fundamental; they keep doing what they have always done. The only thing that really changes is the way that things are talked about. A few years ago the talk was all about quality systems, most organisations talked about total quality management, few actually achieved it. The rest were simply rearranging the furniture so that they wouldn’t look like they were being left behind. For those that actually made the fundamental change a significant benefit was gained. On the quality systems, for instance, a college local to me was privileged to have as one of its governors someone from industry who really understood total-quality-management. The college was struggling, so they decided to give it a go. This college is now an active and vibrant establishment which has made a fundamental change in the way that it works, but also in the way that others look as how colleges can be operated. I see innovation in the same light, some will get it and will thrive; the others will carry on redecorating. In a few years innovation will be passe and the big thing will be something else, some will get it and will thrive; the others will carry on redecorating.

The challenge to us as employees is – how do we know that we are working for a company that makes fundamental changes rather than one that just decorates?