By JW Dobbe

February 15, 2022 | minute read

Organizations know that innovation relies on bringing people together with different perspectives. The million-dollar question then becomes, how do you bring people together to do this in an efficient way?

Interestingly, the pandemic surfaced organizations that were still structured in the ways of the 20th century – an era of standardization and traditional strategy. The result was a number of these businesses recognizing that the matrix structures their companies were originally built on have only become more intricate as the world has. Unfortunately for these businesses, they became so complex that they were constraining their own ability to innovate and produce. Many companies made it through, but nevertheless became fully present to Peter Drucker’s famous dictum: “innovate or die.”

People with Different Perspectives

If you don’t actually have people with different perspectives in your organization, then unfortunately you do not have anybody to bring together. In the current period of “The Great Resignation,” a business must soberly confront that talent or human capital is scarcer and more priceless than capital funds. Fortunately for organizations, the thing that will retain current talent and attract new talent is the same thing – Culture. We have pinpointed nine specific facets of culture that will not only help organizations distinguish what their current culture is but alter it if needed. More often than not, the two facets of culture that are playing a big piece in hindering workability or creating inefficiencies are “Decision Rights and Processes” and “Accountability and Responsibility”. When people know who is responsible for what, who the right person (emphasis on singular) is to ask a question or make a request of, and who is accountable for what results – things get done quicker.

Bringing The Talent Together Through Culture

So how do you bring people together? Simple and straight, a defined purpose for why the organization exists is what will help, and this stems in large part from your culture. The strength of this objective is what will allow a business to create new teams to take on objectives that are ambitious, bold, inspiring, and often unprecedented. A strong purpose is one that is more than words on a wall, it is present in all nine facets of an organization’s corporate culture. Despite it being an invisible force, it is palpable to an outsider stepping into the organization. A company’s purpose will be the foundation for a team’s focus and subsequent objective. 

Choose to Innovate

With a strong corporate culture and a defined purpose that is present in everyday work, innovation will occur. This will set the environment for organizational leaders to focus on the “what” they are out to create and how they will do it. In a recent McKinsey & Company research report, it was found that companies with strong cultures bring about three times higher shareholder value than companies without them. The future-thinking C-suite executives understand this and don’t need a pandemic to catalyze their innovation, they are intentional in creating an environment that constantly produces innovation.