Page 16 - Australian Defence Magazine September 2019
P. 16

GREGOR FERGUSON | SYDNEY
THERE’S not a Defence-wide definition of an ‘innovation culture’, any more than there is an industry-wide one. Don’t say I told you, but the Director Innovation in CIOG has developed a really good defini- tion that I think is worth sharing. It lists the four Key Innovation Values of Col- laboration; Learning (fostering a culture of learning over just knowing, or not); Passion - believing in what you’re doing; and Impact - what effect, what changes, will result from implementing an innovation? (If they’re not worth the effort, then the ‘innovation’ may not be very innovative.)
Importantly, it acknowledges the imper- fection of reality and the value of timing: innovation requires us to be timely, not per- fect, in our solutions. Any soldier, or sales- man, would agree.
How does the culture manifest itself in an organisation? Again, CIOG has thought about this. It acknowledges the risk and un- certainty that are part of the innovation pro- cess, and the need to manage failure – both actual and incipient – and learn from it; it acknowledges the vital role of a committed leader, and of champions in both the inno- vating organisations and their customers.
There’s a circular argument here: does in- troducing an innovation culture change an organisation, or do you need to change an organisation in order for an innovation cul- ture to flourish? A bit of both, in my view. The key is a leadership that’s invested in the innovation process and the outcomes it can deliver. In practical terms, CIOG reckons an innovation culture enables or provides:
• Access to Safe Spaces: both virtual and physical, to take calculated risks and ex- plore
• Time Autonomy: Time allocated for in- novation and experimentation without being micromanaged
• Recognition: Leaders recognising the contribution of innovators
• Collaboration: Working outside silos for effective innovation.
• Multidisciplinary: Diversity of thought and experience for individuals and teams • Playful Discovery: fostering creativity
through gamified processes or tactile ex-
ploration.
• Champions: Role models for innovation,
including organisation leaders, who are invested in furthering the innovation agenda.
• Future Thinking: Ensuring that the fu- ture is a key consideration in the present- day problem-solving process.
This is a good cultural blueprint for any
organisation looking to enhance its business processes, efficiency and competitiveness. Helpfully, some Australian universities have explored this cultural space in depth – in- dustry can learn from them, if it chooses.
The literature on innovation throws up some persistent lessons: supportive leader- ship, being a subject matter expert on what you’re doing, and customer knowledge.
Leadership is absolutely vital: it’s leaders who (should) set the tone of the organisa- tion and the expectations of its customers and staff; who (should) introduce an inno- vation culture into an organisation and sus- tain it; and who (should) arrange things so that innovators can help the organisation (a manufacturing company, an air force, a law
firm, or a pizza shop) to flourish. If they de- cide to innovate, good leaders can bring the organisation with them; if they don’t choose to innovate or, worse, choose not to inno- vate, the organisation is likely to stagnate.
But it’s important to look outside the organisation. Customer knowledge is the product of customer engagement. For com- panies producing goods or services in a highly competitive market, the more they understand their customers and end users, the better.
Defence is working the engagement is- sue as a customer, but is understandably reticent about revealing apparent weak- nesses and pain points, even to trusted industry players. But Defence’s innovation processes do acknowledge that engage- ment is important, not least because De- fence leaders don’t always know what they don’t know and nor do industry and aca- demic leaders, so they all need to be open to each other’s insights.
That means transparency and trust, two things that Australia’s business culture hasn’t always encouraged. For some reason, Australian industry and academia haven’t always embraced collaboration, and the Defence acquisition system’s need for pro- bity doesn’t help because it deliberately maintains an arm’s length relationship with industry. All players need to learn how to trust. Remember the ‘collaboration’ bit ear- lier? You don’t collaborate without trust, and you don’t innovate if you can’t collabo- rate. That’s the cultural reality.
Dr Gregor Ferguson Ph.D is a former Editor of Australian Defence Magazine and organ- iser of the Pacific 2019 Innovation Awards.
16 | September 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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