Which really successful companies can you think of? Think of companies that are innovative. Can you think of them? Could it be that innovative companies are particularly successful?

Actually, it seems logical that innovation brings success. A competitive advantage lies precisely in the fact that the competition does not own it. However, the word “innovation” is usually not understood in its entirety.

You can only call something innovation when you have pushed it through against the resistance of the environment (according to Joseph Schumpeter).

This is where many companies fail that want to bring about innovation in a convulsive way. They equate innovation with profit and return. The real purpose of innovation is to benefit customers and society. After all, good marketing is not about imposing anything on customers.

Healthy companies…

• …pay close attention to the benefits that innovation should bring to all.
• …encourage their employees to actively approach innovations and contribute ideas.
• …are oriented towards long-term success and want to act sustainably.
• …know that innovations do not always prevail directly and sometimes take time (the first smartphones were already available in the mid-90s, but only with moderate success at that time).

We are happy to help!

Learn more about a healthy corporate culture that is necessary to promote and sustain innovation.

Contact us now at info@ingenior.de or at +49 6181 945 34 0.

ingenior training & consulting GmbH is an internationally active system house that specializes in employee management and has many years of experience in this field.

Trainer recommendation

Our trainer for your success: Ralf Juhre, Senior Expert for Organizational Development and Innovation

“No, Grandma, I’m sure you didn’t turn off the Internet.” This sentence was repeatedly used as a joke and shows us one thing: digitalization is new and different. There are people who have to get used to this change. The same applies to managers: They have to learn how to use digital media properly in order to delegate tasks to employees.

Leadership in the digital world

Digitization offers many tools for distributing information and documenting project progress. However, these should not be misused one-sidedly as control instruments or tempt to constantly distribute messages thoughtlessly.

Rather, the digital leader should use the distance to enable freedom and scope. If you don’t keep a cool head as a manager here, you not only deprive your employees of growth opportunities, you also massively disrupt their work.

Everyone wants to be able to react quickly and flexibly to market changes or customer wishes and at the same time make sense or contribute to added value – but only a few are able to create an agile organization.  A principle of agile organizations is:

As the word “agile” already says, it is a matter of loosening, reconnecting or even completely dissolving a stuck structure. The main characteristics of agile organizations are their strong self-organization and simultaneous lack of hierarchy.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. While in a change the control over the circumstances to be changed remains as far as possible, the transition is characterized by a loss of control due to a high degree of uncertainty, contradiction, and complexity. The reason for this is that in the context of the change the goal is already clear and consequently “only” the old state is uninstalled and the innovation is installed. Transition, on the other hand, describes the process of transition from an old to a new state, whereby the latter is not yet clearly defined. One is stuck: the old is already gone, but the new (the change) is not yet there. Therefore, in times of uncertainty, managers have a (temporary) feeling of (partial) powerlessness. Particularly in our fast-moving society, times of uncertainty are increasing. Those who need too long to react in the business world cannot survive in the long run. The reason: too much complexity, too much uncertainty, too much ambiguity and above all: too little control. But how can we deal with the loss of control without stopping?

For this, 6 components are important:

1. Being able to cope with fear
2. Distinct self-reflection of mental models
3. Pronounced self-reflection of mental blockades
4. Critical Discursivity
5. Creativity, improvisation
6. Enthusiasm and ability to innovate

People think in patterns. These patterns result from past experiences. They influence our attitudes towards the world. If we have developed a model that rejects something new due to bad experiences with change, or if we are simply overwhelmed with a complex situation, a mental blockade can occur. It’s the fear of something that probably won’t even happen – one is fixated on avoiding an event with maximum effort and doesn’t recognize the possibilities that are opening up!

In order to prevent this standstill or even regression, the manager needs certain knowledge and skills:

Leaders play a key role in the change process. They are affected and responsible at the same time. In order to successfully master the challenge, the manager must become a change agent. For this, it is important to face your own fears. Because even as a leader and a catalyst for change, you will not always be 100% sure that you are doing the right thing. In this phase, managers can be supported by a professional, external coach. Only when the manager stands behind the change process can he or she help his or her employees to face the innovations. In addition to their own conviction, it is important that the manager also has the necessary knowledge and skills:

No change is possible without the involvement of those involved – Lewin already recognized this. Those affected must understand why change is necessary and what the benefits of change are. This is the only way to promote the realization that change makes sense and that the current situation cannot be sustained.

For this, you first have to “unfreezing“, i.e. defrost. Nobody throws a frozen dish directly into the pan and turns to maximum flame. It is just as wrong to simply enforce a process and expect those affected to make friends with fait accompli. It must be made clear to those involved why the situation is being changed. The key role here is clear and transparent communication with the aim of spreading the goals and benefits of the change project.

It is hard to imagine today’s fast-moving world without change because it is vital for companies to survive. However, change projects often underestimate those affected – they are the key to success. From the point of view of those responsible, change is something positive and necessary – but why does the majority of those involved regard this change as a threat?

Changes tear down what gave us security and what has proven itself. The employees are happy in their old system, they have the feeling to make progress – and now they should give it all up? The defense system starts automatically because we are afraid of insecurity and above all of the new situation, which we cannot assess.