Clear practical steps to embed a culture of innovation and an enjoyable read. This is a really practical guide for any organization aiming to put innovation at the centre of its business strategy. It does what it claims to do; defining a culture of innovation and giving some easy to use tools within a six-stage framework to make the journey successful. The concepts and tools in this book are clear, practical and easy to use - it will help to make innovation central to your strategy. * Irene Stark, Group HR Director, ATS Euromaster *
To read this book is just like sitting down for a chat with the authors who share years of experience wrapped up in a single book, in a conversational style, punctuated with concepts, perspectives and leading case studies along the way. A useful touchpoint for leaders who know that innovation is critical for business success and are navigating this cultural journey. * Sarah Salter, Group HR Director, Northumbrian Water *
I found the book to be one of the few that look at life as it is today - too many management books still look backwards. All the examples quoted are current and the topic is definitely the number one issue facing all business areas today. A great book that I will definitely recommend to any change professional or business leader responsible for keeping their business current. * Catherine Rutter, Group Operations Change Director, Lloyds Banking Group *
Building an innovation culture into a business is a huge opportunity for many organizations. This book builds frameworks which can help navigate us through the innovation journey, how you create the culture and build momentum through trust and empowerment of teams. It recognizes many of the big hurdles, such as getting the right people into the organization and the barriers that get built to slow down or prevent change. A valuable insight that can help many of us go on these change journeys to create the next generation organization for our businesses to succeed in the future. * Stephen Shurrock, CEO, Telefonica Global Consumer Group *
Building a Culture of Innovation provides a real world examination of the issues around innovation and culture that large companies are grappling with in the light of rapidly changing consumer behaviour and emerging competition. It provides a structured and pragmatic approach to embedding innovation capabilities in to organizations. * Duncan Mosely, Director of Corporate Development, Prudential *
Does the culture of your organization enable innovative thinking, or prevent it from taking root in the first place? Too often, leaders fail to recognize that the innovation they seek simply isn't possible within the framework of the current culture and that becoming more innovative requires changes in unexpected places. This book addresses that issue, making it a valuable and relevant work on the topic. * Colin J Browne, author of How to Build a Happy Sandpit *
What makes this such a vital read is that it's not just another innovation book but an essential practical guide for anyone who is looking for the framework to move from talking about innovation in the workplace to actually making it a reality. The pioneering organization is transformed by leadership that can lead on innovation, managers who then manage innovation and a community that are more effectively engaged in the culture of innovation. The authors clearly have an abundance of hands on experience across this innovation value chain and draw on this to deliver a digestible and practical guide for practitioners at all levels. * Andrew Grahame, Co-founder, Mr & Mrs Smith Hotels *
In a time when everyone is talking about innovation, it's clear that not enough business leaders understand the difference between invention and innovation or between innovative people and an innovative organization. Sustainable innovation can only be achieved by embarking on the journey towards a culture of innovation. This book serves as a useful guide for what will always be a long and difficult adventure. Providing frequent, practical tools, case studies and helpful commentary, Building a Culture of Innovation will ensure that more of us arrive at our destination in one piece. * Andy Hedge, Global Director of Learning and Development, Xchanging *
There can be few business leaders who aren't wrestling with the challenge of how to create or re-energize the innovative DNA of their organization. Delivering the demands of today and at the same time ensuring that you can remain relevant to and meet the demands of your customers tomorrow has never been a more challenging leadership issue. There's no single route or magic formula to achieving an innovative culture any more than meeting any other business challenge, but there are key components requiring leadership attention and Building a Culture of Innovation surfaces and explores these dimensions using some refreshing and insightful real life examples to help bring the theory and concepts to life. It's proved to be a helpful reminder that leadership persistency and having the right people capabilities and mind-set are a constant. With plenty of nuggets to take away and think about how to apply to your own cultural environment I am sure it's a book I will keep coming back to for a refresh. * Mark Howes, CEO, AXA Direct Protection and Director, AXA PPP healthcare *
Building a Culture of Innovation superbly underpins the value of innovation being driven from the engine room of business culture as a commercial differentiator. Everything about this book is practical which makes it essential reading for both HR professionals and business leaders continuously adapting to growing regulation, digital advancements and new generations of consumers. Using case studies, best practice insights, stakeholder strategies and frameworks - it's a useful refresh to those already making progress or to identify future growth opportunities. * Beth Robotham, Head of Business Development, Bupa UK *
Right from the outset Building a Culture of Innovation helps demystify innovation and how to embed it into the culture of the big, complex corporate company. It helps set innovation, and even the very definition of it, in the context of the individual organization and most importantly helps outline how to measure innovation itself as well as, and more importantly, your progress along your innovation journey. It's a refreshing change from the usual innovation books that reinforce why we need to innovate, this time the authors have shown us how to communicate innovation, engage people in it and ultimately, make it happen. * Nikki Wray, Delivery Director and Head Of People Faculty, QinetiQ *
Innovation, the Holy Grail to which the majority of forward-thinking organizations aspire, has at last been turned into an understandable and very readable step-by-step guide to creating a culture of innovation. Make no mistake, this is not a prescriptive 'one size fits all' model for creating a culture of innovation and the challenge to achieve it is certainly not for the fainthearted, but what the authors set out to do (and achieve) is to provide clear direction and simple models through which there is a clear journey for any organization to follow in order to move towards creating an innovative culture. * Dr Sue Waldock, Group HR Director, The Rank Group Plc *
A highly useful practical guide to develop a culture of innovation in your business. Very clear and straight to the point. It will prove invaluable to practitioners who strive to change their organization for the better. The authors offer an exciting vision and, at the same time, provide a step-by-step approach to manage change. This book will have a high impact on its readers. * Prof Reinhard Bachmann BA MSc PhD, Chair in International Management, SOAS, University of London *
