Building on Part I, to transform to a true Culture of Innovation, we also have various players and roles. I have learned that identifying the roles early on in the process helps the transformation process enormously. For the last many years, I have been working on this model with large clients across many sectors with very positive results, so wanted to share this with you.

In the ProVoke Methodology, the key players in the transformation to a Culture of Innovation fall into 3 major categories:

1. The Change-Agents: These are the folks (majority of the rank and file in a company) that make innovation a reality. Spanning all groups within the company, these are folks that make the magic happen. I would estimate this the 95% of the company. So in a 100,000 person company, we would have 95,000 such people distributed globally. These employees are the critical agents of change.

2. The Change-Enablers: Managers and mid-level individuals who lead teams and aggressively seek new projects. These individuals believe in the necessity of disruption (evolving and trying new ideas), and innovation for the long term viability of their company and competitive differentiation. A small percentage of any company but a huge enabling component of success. Change-enablers not only inspire their teams, manage up and down effectively, but also are a critical component of cross-silo communication and breaking down barriers (see Part III- coming soon).

3. The Change-Drivers: This refers to executive layer of the company, including the CEO. These individuals can drive or stall innovation, depending on their passion, energy and how well they can motivate and inspire employees. Often, they mistake their role in terms of their rank in the organization, rather than taking on the the more important role of motivating and inspiring others. To be effective in the transformation to a Culture of Innovation, these individuals need to be comfortable with (1) having a vision and direction, beyond the immediate products of the company, (2) understand what they don’t know, (3) learn fast and broadly and (4) surround themselves with their best staff to help create a stronger vision and direction. They need to be comfortable with taking risk, supporting (financially, emotionally and practically) risk and encouraging progress. They cannot only demand innovation, but they need to be active participants of the Culture of Innovation.

All 3 players above need to embrace risk. Not crazy risk but necessary risk and put stakes in the ground. Lay out a vision that is aggressive and out of the box, cultivating a culture that can succeed and not just play it safe. More to come in later blogs about this.

Would love to hear your thoughts? Who are the influential change agents, enablers and drivers in your company.

Remember as members of the CofD, unless we ask and explore , we can not progress forward.

What do YOU think?