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Our recent marketing leadership round table draws out best practice lessons for innovative organizations BY KARLA CONGSON and SIOBHAIN O'REILLY
Creating an innovative atmosphere goes beyond funky furniture or walls painted in bright colours. According to participants in a marketing leadership round table we hosted earlier this year, it has more to do with the company's overall behaviour, attitude, feeling and openness to new ideas.
Pfizer, for example, makes innovation a top priority. So much so that it has implemented what it calls "Innovation Thursdays"-an initiative that gets people thinking beyond their day-to-day tasks. Each Thursday, a different group within the organization presents a new idea or approach to one aspect of the business. It could be a product innovation, a more efficient process or a new solution to an old problem.
Just as important as having a culture that's open to ideas is one that makes it OK to take risks and make mistakes-a point emphasized by Mario Alfano of CanWest MediaWorks. Pfizer's Graham Robertson agreed, stressing that jaded marketers shouldn't let their own failures and assumptions inhibit innovation.
"So many times a younger employee will come up with an idea that we've seen fail 17 times," said Robertson. "But you never know-the 18th time, it might actually work."
BEST PRACTICE: Instil a culture that is conducive to creativity and innovation. This means ensuring people have the time to develop new ideas and giving all ideas equal consideration-and once those ideas are developed, be open to their potential....