Experience Doesn’t Drive Innovation

Teams are still traditionally built on competencies. Who can add what to the organisation and project requirements? Hiring processes are similar. A resumé is submitted and scrutiny of one’s experience is key to a second or third interview. Lacking in experience is deemed a deficit and a possible black mark against a candidates progression towards successful employment. The largest faux pas in today’s war for talent is not hiring a candidate based on cultural fit and their ability to accelerate the team’s agility and innovation.

Alternatively, if the future team members were in the room contributing towards the interview process, who would they hire? A candidate with many years of experience on multiple projects, or an individual who is the right team fit and who can contribute to and challenge thought processes and innovation? Someone who showed initiative, participation and alignment to the core values perhaps?

Culture, at its core, drives teams to be human-centred innovators.

Design and innovation have a very tech and IT-development feel to it. For many years Silicon Valley has been the perceived dominator in the world with innovation. Yet, on closer inspection, it is not only their User Experience (Ux) and Customer Experience (Cx) that continually gain accolades and recognition but their employee experience (Ex) too. One common trend that comes out of many of these tech-trendy organisations is the pride they take in their workplace culture. Putting employees first is not just a platitude but rather an active effort to create the ultimate Ex, and an enjoyable realisation that Ex drives Cx and Ux. The two are linked and symbiotic.

Culture is the manifestation of the individual mindset and the collective behaviours

Teamwork is the basic building block from which culture grows and culture drives innovation. Richard Buchannan’s Fourth Order of Design shows the interaction of the social systems and environments with design. The impact people have on the other 3 orders in the system cannot be understated. Organisational behaviour and workplace cultures either enable design to take place or can dilute it down. The further along the order of design we progress, the more influence human systems and relationships impact design.

What significantly frames the Order of Design are human interactions.

The human experience drives this cultural environment. Employing people into a team with years of experience does not make them the right fit or possess the mindset primed to create the ultimate employee experience to drive human-centred design and innovation. Experiences are what move people and enable design are behaviours. Behaviours viewed from the leadership team down to the team members. Behaviours are catalysts or inhibitors of creativity. Behaviours can motivate, influence and structure performance in a way that drives creativity or turn culture into a political game and employees spectators or players. Adding to experiences and behaving constructively to enable design to occur are voluntary acts. Culture is the manifestation of the individual mindset and collective behaviours. Culture is voluntary.

From Fear to Fearless

Leaders that inspire agile cultures are those that have nurtured a unique type of working environment. They have enabled a culture with the understanding that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for each business or each sprint. Cultures are pliable. Leaders also select a team that has an agile mindset with ‘fit-for-purpose values’ not necessarily the longest resume. Leaders that are ready to create fearless cultures flirt with risk and find learning opportunities in failure. They celebrate the person who is willing to put their hand up and be obscure and vulnerable in their thinking and challenge the status quo.

There is an interdependence of culture and innovation, and innovation with the experiences that people are willing to create.

Contributing to the Employee Experience

There are positions being created for Heads of User Experience, Customer Experience and Employee Experience. The global market is all about mapping a journey and creating the experience. In order to compete and create this ultimate experience for users and customers, we need to first take a step back and get creative. Create environments for our employees which offer them the ultimate employee experience. An environment to unleash their creativity and a culture that experiences and supports design and growth.

Not sure how to create a culture that drives innovation? No problem.

Contact me at: kylie.deklerk@foxp2consulting.com