Innovation Meets Culture: The Paradigm Shift at the Heart of Emplify
Facing the Dragon’s Den
Picture this: We are practised, primed, and ready to tell the story of our baby, Emplify. It’s a well-oiled pitch, talking to the what, why and how. The audience is with us, the context lands, they get the problem, the product concept makes sense, and yet, there is an underlying tension. The question wasn’t so much about Emplify. Instead, it was the challenge to break through deeply entrenched views on innovation and culture.
Our challenge is not unique. Like innovators before us, we are questioning established beliefs, the way people have always seen things. Human brains are comfortable with the status quo; reframing and opening our minds to new perspectives takes energy. On the one hand, we are buoyed by this discomfort; it confirms that Emplify is a new way of tackling the innovation problem. However, we are playing with organisations’ sacred cows; innovation and culture mindsets have long been established.
Innovation and Culture are not Typical Bed Partners
Traditionally, innovation and culture sit in separate corners of an organisation, the responsibility of different people and teams. One is about “the next big thing,” and the other is about “the way things are done around here.” While they occupy different places in the organisational mindset, they do have commonalities. They are both incredibly challenging and they are both increasingly under the spotlight as pivotal to an organisation’s health.
We get the separation. Culture is about people, and innovation is about special creative types, processes, and unique product offerings. However, our experience and research supported our hypothesis that the real catalyst for sustained innovation isn’t a different gate, a new tool or tech; it’s your people…how they show up and behave…in other words, your culture. Imagine innovation like a shiny new sports car and culture as the old neglected road it travels on. No matter how fast the car, a bumpy road will slow it down. This is the problem we observed: brilliant ideas stalling (or not getting started) on the rough paths of outdated cultures.
Do innovation and culture feel like distant cousins or integral partners in your organisation?
Is your culture stalling your organisation’s innovation efforts?
Empathy Bridges Innovation and Culture
At every stage in Emplify’s journey, Empathy has been our guiding light. As Brene Brown puts it, “Empathy is feeling with people. It’s not feeling for them”. We believe in its power to transform by connecting us as humans. Emplify is called Emplify for a reason… it is about amplifying empathy:
- Without Empathy, there can be no ground-breaking innovations that surprise and delight.
- Without empathy, your culture has no soul.
What role does empathy play in how your organisation shows up?
Innovation and Culture are Interdependent.
The connection between culture and innovation doesn’t stop at Empathy. Innovation and Culture have a symbiotic relationship. Each benefits from and is essential to the other’s success. They feed and sustain each other, creating a cycle of growth and improvement within your organisation.
- A thriving innovation culture invites curiosity, empowers risk-taking and celebrates collaborative success. It encourages an openness to change and a willingness to challenge the status quo. These cultural Traits ignite and support innovation.
- When an organisation prioritises innovation, energy and drive are fed into its culture, keeping it vibrant and adaptive. The culture is more open to change, experimental, and motivated. The work environment is dynamic and inspiring, encouraging people to do their best work…because they want to and have the agency to do so.
Think about the last time your organisation introduced something new. Did your culture support its success or work to undermine its potential?
Does your culture inspire people to explore new perspectives, be candid in their opinions and yet respectful of everyone’s views?
It’s Time to Tackle Innovation Differently
Albert Einstein’s quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” sums up our challenge to you. It’s time to look to your people and culture as the ace up your sleeve for better innovation outcomes for your organisation.
Emplify is a cultural change platform that unlocks sustained innovation success. It is built on the premise that the engine for innovation resides in an organisation’s “humanity” — its quirks, camaraderie, shared challenges, and wins. This is the spark lit by the casual chats, the strength in team unity, and the collective resilience in overcoming obstacles together. This shared human journey, which manifests as culture, is a formidable driver of innovation.
It requires a paradigm shift — to believe your people are at the heart of your innovation success. With Emplify, everyone contributes to creating an innovation-centric culture through simple, everyday actions that ensure the process of cultural evolution is as natural as it is powerful.
Emplify is leading a new movement that fuses innovation with culture. It creates a new, fresh story for organisational growth, one in which people are the central players.
Is your organisation ready to join this movement?
Start building a thriving innovation culture today.
To learn more, check out Emplify’s website and sign up for early access.
