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PROGRESS. GROWTH. You could argue that these goals should underlie every business decision and be the aim of every employee—from CEO to line worker—every day. Right next to progress and growth is innovation. But 2025 has not been an easy year to innovate. Inflation’s still sticky. There’s geopolitical tension, craziness in supply chains, a labor market in flux, hybrid work and AI reshaping how teams collaborate—or don’t. There’s always a reason not to workout.
B ecause risk is the new normal, and an innovative culture is the preparation to handle risk, we’re no longer building for “what if.” We’re building for “OMG, what now.” According to the 2024 World Economic Forum Innovation Barometer, 62% of CEOs said their companies are more committed to innovation today than they were pre-pandemic. In 1548, King Edward, who followed Henry VIII as the first protestant king of England, published “A Proclamation Against Those That Doeth Innouate.” The order, aimed at any who might stray from the rules created by God and the King, promised “imprisonment, and other greuous punishementes, at his maiejsties wil and pleasure.” Today, a firm’s innovators may avoid grievous punishments, but the change they attempt—though it may be necessary, if not beneficial—may still encounter resistance. It’s a matter of perspective. In a world of constraints, you’ve got to take from “the way we do it” to create the new way of doing it. A zero-sum game. Who likes losing? Innovative comes with risk. We’re not all pioneers or even early adopters. In fact, most of us are cautious when it comes to risk. Even if the “new” brings advantage, it still takes some getting used to. And quite often what we do is who we are. “I’m an accountant,” or “I’m a software engineer.” If that’s who you are, how do you feel about AI doing taxes or writing code?
Innovation doesn’t come about overnight, and while there are R&D labs, a company can’t be agile and responsive if innovation isn’t a part of every department’s responsibility. If innovation is what we all do, there’s no zero-sum competition for resource. A 2022 report from Deloitte put it bluntly: “Organizational resilience stems from distributed innovation capacity.” Translation: everyone in the organization has both the authority and the responsibility to identify challenges and create solutions, to innovate. It takes time, but familiarity relieves the anxiety of the new and play is the easiest way to get to familiar. So, give people the time and space to play and experiment with the new idea. Don’t worry about early failures. Two good things can happen. Employees may lose their skepticism of the innovation, and if they don’t, you may discover how the innovation should be tweaked. Given that familiar is comfortable, it’s no surprise that people and businesses value consistency over time. Remember Edward and his grievous punishments. Don’t change the way we do it. Innovation impacts consistency. However, often a new direction doesn’t have to be a revolution. It can be a continuation. With an adroit blend of human insight and AI, that tax accountant and that software engineer can increase productivity and market share. In its 2024 shareholder report, Walmart said that AI tools increased productivity by 25 percent.
Harbert Magazine 39
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