Every exciting new business trend, whether temporary on enduring, always seems to be accompanied with a hair in the soup called Culture Change; the latest being the need to engender a culture of Innovation. The particular twist here is that it Innovation must be done well and according to our needs, which the entity may not have real definition for (at least not yet), it must be done to align with your organization’s current DNA (operational and cultural) and it must be done quickly. No small feat.

Understandably, many organizations are tentative in their response, looking for a hand to hold that will guide them down the right path. Others are making noise about it but are more or less at a standstill, suffering from the much maligned syndrome of “paralysis by analysis”.

There's a fair chance that your organization will find it difficult to transform its culture overnight - either for lack of will, courage, resources or a combination of all three.

No matter what the case, the transformation of a culture doesn't happen because someone declares that it will - an organization needs to practice its way to change. Much like an athlete progresses through the repetition and increased pace of their work-out, so does the coordination and results of a changing corporate culture through new processes, tasks and participants – and visible results.

For the majority of people I speak to regarding innovation, regardless of their rank or responsibility, the feeling is that despite running ever faster, they are not gaining the ground they had expected; or hoped for. Organizations today are faced with unprecedented pace, scale and complexity – exponentially growing demands that are made to be addressed with the added challenge of ever constraining resources. We all want the goods, but do we have enough in our tanks to get there; and if not…how do we do it?

The good news is that companies no longer have to do it on their own - the fact is, by just opening the door and allowing motivated stakeholders “in” starts the process for you. And depending on how your organization engages and responds, they will do a significant part the heavy lifting around innovation for you; and in the process, help transform the culture through these successful interactions. As with all change, the first step is the hardest – it requires courage and commitment. Lowering your boundaries to accommodate this method does not equate to outsourcing innovation – it does not mean handing your innovation initiatives off to outsiders for a surrogate upbringing. Like anything else, balance is the key. The core strengths that make your organization tick should remain where they are – inside. The passion of interested stakeholders can yield a bounty of innovation, tasking, executables and deliverables. The extent and depth of this involvement can be limited at first; and its progression always up to you.

Converse – engage – participate – involve – collaborate - responsibilize – measure -reward