Entrepreneur Larry Ellison once said, “When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for everyone telling you you’re nuts”. Firstly, you need to define your company’s mission around innovation. For example, Coca Cola’s mission is to “refresh the world, inspire moments of optimism and happiness, create value and make a difference”. Next up, you need to create a structure that allows employees to experiment with new ideas and unstructured time. Successful innovative companies give time to their employees to get away from their daily tasks. Be sure to recognise an employee’s contribution to the innovation process. Some companies offer monetised incentives. Ensure continuous education by allowing staff to attend conferences and seminars. Finally, allow failure. The essence of innovation is that it takes multiple experiments to successfully create new products, solutions, services.
