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[Amy DeWolfKeymaster]

Nowadays, the word “innovation” gets a lot of hype, but how does innovation really happen in organizations? A recent Oracle-sponsored study by the Economist Intelligence Unit surveyed 226 global respondents to determine why some organizations are consistently on the cutting edge and others are far, far behind. You can check out the full report here or read Oracle SVP Bob Evans’ top 10 insights, as both offer ideas on how innovation can be nurtured more productively.

One insight I found interesting was that the term “Chief Innovation Officer” can be dangerous. In order for an organization to be successful and innovative, ideas should come from all levels and many different people. As one managing director said, “innovation is not something a special team does—it is something which must be ingrained in the mindsets and behaviors of everyone and for which, ideally, there should be no special process.” While this is often difficult to implement, the more people an organization can creatively engage, the more likely you will strike gold.

Another nugget I liked was the idea that failure can help foster innovation. So many times we try something new, it fails, and we quickly move onto the next project like it never happened. As Evans point outs, “companies invest time, money and other resources in a failed innovation effort without finding out what went wrong.” Analyzing what went wrong is obviously important so you don’t make the same mistake twice, but it can also be the first step towards success. The value in making a mistake is that you can learn from it- so we shouldn’t skip this step.

What do you think? Why are some organizations good at innovation and others are not?

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