03

The Creative Ecosystem. First Factor: the Corporate Culture

1. Culture and Subcultures

A good corporate culture can help you compete in the marketplace and becomes the basis for generating new competitive advantages. Conversely, a confused or disoriented culture, where values and standards are unclear or damaged will become your greatest burden.

The concept of the “corporate culture” finds its origin in Peters’ and Waterman’s bestseller, In Search of Excellence, 1984. The authors take the term to mean the standards, values and thought patterns that define and shape the behaviour of a company. This is not something found in a manual, nor does it form part of some book of instructions, but there is no doubt that it exists and it is a fact that it has a powerful effect on the way things are done in a business. Indeed, it is the single factor that best identifies the nature of an organization.

A corporate culture is all but set in stone. However, its constituent parts may evolve and even change completely over time. This change is slow and often goes unnoticed, but it can drag the corporate culture away from the strategically decided-upon pathway. If this happens, corrective measures will need to be deployed in order to survive.

How can you exercise any influence over this uncharted territory? What are the standards, values and thought patterns you must focus on to convert a stuck culture into a catalyst for creativity? In other words, what elements within a corporate culture degrade entrepreneurial genius, and which ones boost it? The answer is simple: the (sub)culture of innovation, and the (sub)culture of technology.

1.1. A Culture of Innovation

An innovative company is one that can transform scientific and technological advances into profitable products, services or processes; it realizes that uncertainty comes loaded with new challenges but also with fresh opportunities that cannot be ignored. These companies know that a culture which genuinely values and encourages change is essential, since this will endow the process with sustainability while adding power to it.

The organization that decides to develop such a culture may find itself facing a dangerous natural barrier: resistance to change. The human mind recoils from anything that is out of the ordinary. Resistance to change is inherent in human nature. This means that companies will have to ensure that the firm culture of innovation they wish to build and consolidate can persist in facilitating the creative processes of the individual.

So how is this done? Where do you begin? What must you focus on? And how can you measure where you’ve reached – your progress? The answer is in the 4 Ms technique, which covers four basic development areas that require attention for developing and maintaining a true culture of innovation: Movement, Mission, Medium term and Motivation. Fix this little picture in your mind, and you won’t forget:

Figure 3.1 The 4 Ms of Corporate Culture

Companies keen to lead in the world of innovation for the long term must maintain a proactive attitude to change. They must learn to transform and be transformed reactively and proactively. This process may be powered by small innovations, but these may also be very disruptive. What matters is to become part of the change, like a transformation engine, so to speak. In other words, these organizations will have to build a culture that encourages movement (M) both before and after, taking small steps as well as big ones.

Movement itself does not always achieve anything. If movement is backward, the finish line is always getting farther away. If movement is in circles, you just get dizzy and probably end up falling over. You may not always move in a straight line, and again, small steps may be taken in reverse. Even so, all these movements may be valuable, may be a part of the journey, but what matters is that you have a course: what direction do you want to move in? To decide that, you need a mission (the second M), and perception, to throw light on the why and the wherefore of the company. This will generate a sense of corporate solidarity and explain the existence of the organization, and also illuminate the part played by each individual in the overall machine. This will make it much easier for all members of an organization to work together towards common goals and to inject their creativity. Things will make sense.

The third M provides the time frame. Increasing numbers of businesses are recognising the value of innovation and are deciding to adopt this new ‘fashion’ to get out of their rut. Many launch actions designed to encourage creativity and/or an innovative culture and seek to unleash their creative potential in the short term. There’s nothing wrong with that as far as it goes … but it’s usually the way it’s done that fails.

Not many innovations develop like this. The generation of profitable ideas is a process that takes its own time and cannot be hurried. This means that a short-term mentality is genuinely dangerous here. Right thinking demands a change in business attitude which in many cases will be a complete about-face. Or, to put it another way, you have to change the chip. Long-termism? Naturally you shouldn’t lose sight of the long term; it is certainly there, but for now, focusing on the medium term (M number three) is probably enough.

The final M is motivation, the emotional engine that generates the energy you need to achieve your goals. To work to fulfil a mission you need to be motivated, or at the very least, you mustn’t be demotivated. You have to feel a real connection with the company and feel that it matters to you. This calls for developing an environment that motivates the staff to give 100 per cent; to be involved, body and soul.

Given that not everybody is motivated by the same things, nor to the same extent, each company will have to work out its own formula. How? One good way is to begin by example. Innovative companies are managed by leaders who are innovative people themselves. In the long term it has to be this way. This means that when a non-innovative leader decides to take this path, the first thing he or she will have to change will be within him- or herself.

The second suggestion is to inject a little adrenalin into the company’s bloodstream. Adrenalin is a hormone secreted by our suprarenal glands. It acts very quickly to mobilise all our available energy to tackle a situation involving tension or fear. When it flows through your veins, your muscles become tense, your pupils dilate and your heartbeat increases. You’re preparing for fight or flight. But it also charges you with vitality and makes you alert, strong, directed and focused. In other words, it can be very beneficial.

How does this affect the workplace? Adrenalin is present in our relationship with the company. It plays a very important part, acting in a positive way by contributing to your motivation, or in a negative way, by demotivating you. This means that the injection of a little positive adrenalin may be very effective. This isn’t difficult and doesn’t require complex mathematical formulae or wide-ranging statistical analyses. If you just listen carefully to your teams, they’ll tell you what it is that motivates them.

The third and final suggestion lies in a sense of humour. This is the basic key to maintaining a positive state of mind. It is the necessary ingredient for a satisfactory personal and professional life. Organizations keen to construct an innovative cycle that will last in the long term would do well not to forget it.

1.2. A Culture of Technology

Our lives are surrounded by a spiral of change that has revolutionised our socioeconomic environment. Digital technologies are built into our everyday activities at every level. They have built their own space (cyberspace) where it is possible to construct a new identity and an environment that is also governed by its own culture (cyberculture). The digital world has also revolutionised the nature of our social relationships, the way we communicate, and has even created a new lifestyle. New concepts have developed in its shadows, such as distance learning, cyber commuting, e-business, e-banking, e-administration and even remote medicine. And this is far from a complete list – these are just examples of new realities that are becoming more firmly rooted by the day.

This historical acceleration has also transformed the rules of the marketing game. Under this new paradigm, information technologies have taken up positions in opposition to traditional productive factors, finally positioning themselves as the main pillars of the business world. These tools have explosively disrupted their operating mechanisms, something that many see as a new industrial revolution. This has led the communications media, politicians and many public bodies (among others) to call on us all not to miss out on this tide. And yet, in reality, do you have to form a part of this revolution? Why do you have to take on these new technologies as part of your corporate culture? Can’t you leave things the way they are? Actually, no. You have to catch the tide. The consensus is unanimous and rests on two powerful arguments:

The first is based on the importance of incorporating it into in-house procedures, which leads to improved quantity and quality of information available. This has a direct impact on productivity and flexibility, creating greater response speeds and capacities with regard to market needs. This argument considers its effect on the overall value chain, since it allows for instant communication, at low (or no) cost, to stimulate and accelerate the globalisation of business.

The second argument focuses on its role as a generator of new business channels and models. These technologies have transformed traditional businesses, not just by establishing a connection with the end customer, but by making interaction possible. The outcome has been the destruction of a great number of businesses that failed to understand the need to adapt or that were unable to adapt correctly, and also includes the streamlining of businesses that were unthinkable without new technologies. They are a fundamental part of the birth of the most powerful businesses to be found now in the markets.

The benefits, however, are much greater than this. These technologies have grown into an essential tool for achieving both current and future goals. Challenges such as energy efficiency, pollution and the future of transport systems can only be tackled with this tool in hand. And, of course, they are key in sustainable socioeconomic development, particularly for those countries that are bearing the brunt of the crisis.

In other words this is not merely a straightforward development – it is an explosive change that cannot be undone. The new digital world has made it possible to achieve unprecedented productivity levels, bringing along with it a generation of new business models which had previously not been technically feasible. In this paradigm, new technologies play a central part.

This said, it must not be assumed that the mere adoption of new technologies alone is sufficient. Organizations that aspire to leadership positions as innovators will have to adapt their standards, values and thought patterns to these changes which are here to stay. These businesses must be sure to include these tools as part of their core competencies and overall strategy, supply correct training, encourage the use of these tools and provide the resources necessary to enable all who have the necessary courage to innovate as they can. This is the only way that they can drive the reactive and proactive transformation demanded by the markets.

How can this be achieved? How do you grasp opportunities and challenges that result from new technologies? Example-based leadership is a good place to start. Putting recognition and reward actions into play for the benefit of those who take up the challenges would inspire more of the same. But each organization will have to work out its own formula based on its own identity and situation. The secret is to understand that technology is part of the movement forward, and must be adopted with a proactive attitude aimed at shaping new markets.

2. Innova 3DX for the Corporate Culture

A culture that genuinely values and encourages change is essential if the totality of the business genius available is to be liberated. Equally essential is a culture that understands the importance new technologies have assumed and that can import them as part of the company’s essence. Is it possible, however, to assess their importance in more than mere words, to evaluate their relevance for any company at all, including mine and yours?

The corporate culture is normally taken to be solely responsible for between 10 – 15 per cent of innovative behaviours. Some may believe that this is a low figure, but would you still feel that way if they raised your pay by 10 per cent? The same applies here, so explaining between 10 – 15 per cent of people’s behaviour is, indeed, explaining a great deal.

In this factor a significant gender difference is noticeable. More specifically, it tends to affect male behaviour to a greater extent than it does female behaviour, something to be watched if full available potential is to be harvested from both groups.

Nevertheless, its role in the innovative process does not end here. The corporate culture exercises a clear influence on our potential and passion for innovation. We should focus on this, with motivational expectations used as an example (a factor from the model’s third dimension).

Suppose that you work in a company that does not innovate, that traditionally rejects change. And let’s also suppose that it is proud of that. Hard to believe, I know, but it is still true of some organizations. What do you think about the likelihood of an innovative idea gaining traction? Would you invest your energy to do battle in support of it? Maybe you’d take your idea elsewhere.

The outcome is that, whatever the direct consequence, there will also be an indirect consequence, one that plays a very important part in the overall context. This means that it is essential that entrepreneurial acumen be very carefully monitored if is to be developed to its maximum.

Figure 3.2 Corporate Culture Test

Instructions: score your opinion on each statement from 0 – 10, 0 being the lowest and 10 the highest. Use decimals if you need them.

The Innovation Culture
1.	I work in an innovative company.	— — , —
2.	I work for a dynamic company.	— — , —
3.	Change is encouraged in this company.	— — , —
4.	The company really appreciates those of us who strive to innovate.	— — , —
5.	I believe that innovation plays an important part in company strategy.	— — , —
Average score		— — , —
Technology Culture
1.	The new technologies are part of our day-to-day work experience.	— — , —
2.	The company makes use of new technologies to be competitive.	— — , —
3.	The company makes the most of the internet’s potential.	— — , —
4.	The company makes the most of mobile phone apps.	— — , —
5.	The company makes the most of the potential of social networks.	— — , —
Average score		— — , —

Result: from 0–3.5 (inclusive) very low, from 3.5–5 (inclusive) low, from 5–6.5 (inclusive) satisfactory, from 6.5–10 (inclusive) very high.

Figure 3.3 The Corporate Culture Quadrant

Square one contains companies that have a culture which does not favour innovation, where the use of technology is also not encouraged. These are companies rooted in their past, companies with a “rooted culture” that could well threaten their survival in the environment of very volatile markets.

The next square contains organizations that are keen use technology, but which fail to innovate in comparison with their competitors. These are companies that adapt to the demands of the market in the style known as second adopters. These businesses have a “techno-efficient culture”, but lose out on the profitability available to those espousing digital leadership.

Square three comprises those organizations which are innovative in the old-fashioned sense of the word, where technology is not the engine of creativity. These are businesses that will not occupy leadership positions in a digital world, but which will take advantage of vacant niche markets that can provide adequate profit. These are known as having an “inno-traditional culture”.

Square four comprises the organizations that have a “breakthrough culture”; companies which value innovation and new technologies that provide them with a good foundation for being competitive. If they manage matters intelligently and with imagination, they have a promising future.

Companies which bank on establishing a breakthrough culture should remember that if such a culture is to be consolidated, it must be built up steadily on the basis of example given by management and by each individual.. Naturally, projects can be set up which will facilitate the process, but if the foundation is not laid, it will not be consolidated over time.

3. Insight Management and Corporate Culture

It is said that culture is what is left when you’ve forgotten everything. So, using the proverbial glass as a metaphor, what is left at the bottom of the glass when water evaporates are values, usages and customs.

Culture in general and a culture of innovation and technology in particular, has an enormous effect on identity, whether company routines are performed well or badly. But it is ethereal, hard to nail down and even volatile when we remember that in the information society, the speed of change is much greater, making culture as fragile as fine porcelain.

Many years have elapsed since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the subsequent public and private banking and economic crashes; and yet the creation of a maximum risk speculative culture – of an ‘everything goes’ attitude and the looting of present and future resources has not yet yielded to a new backdrop that will hide or at least tone down the grotesque reality that lies behind it.

We should be recovering and boosting the spirit of those entrepreneurs who are totally committed to an idea, a project or a product, and who invest their passion, their lives and their joy in bringing it to fruition as though it were one of their children. What matters is that it should work. Every individual will leave his or her footprint, personality, values and customs behind in this process, as will those who come after, taking up the reins of business in their turn.

From so many different footprints just as many different cultures and companies will arise, so first ask yourselves: what is it that shapes a culture nowadays? Is it the result of management, the founding father who framed the image, or what? In a real case, you‘d have to be careful how you treat such a source. If the present management team is a figurehead or a point of reference for all, you’re in no position to gradually change it, as this would lead only to confusion. If a charismatic founder is the focus, he or she must continue to exude a presence that is more impressive than anyone else’s if paradoxes and contradictions are to be avoided. Sometimes nothing is what it seems.

In my work I have listened to people complain bitterly of ghastly experiences in frightful environments where respect for the rights of their workers was sadly lacking. It was not so much that values, standards and thinking patterns were just bad – they bordered on the obscene. You might think that such companies would have to be multinational armament manufacturers, bent on destroying the Amazon rainforest or some such, but this was not the case. The fact was that some of these companies, institutions and other bodies, possessed genuinely distinguished façades, were recognized for their high level principles, beliefs, and attitudes that not only did they not defend, they actually betrayed them to the extreme.

I recall the evidence given by a manager of a well-known theme park, a genuine delight to young and old. He had been given a fright because the performers who moved here and there through the park wearing disguises decided to take off some of their outfits and drift about half-costumed to show that the low wages they were paid left them not just underfed but positively starving. It is impossible to sell magic and fantasy while paying your workers a pittance. Sooner or later it will explode in your face.

This was not an isolated case. Other examples come from all kinds of institutions, public and private, cultural and social, intellectual and leisure-focused, some of them at least theoretically very remote from maximum profit goals. I know some NGOs where the staff was in danger of awarding themselves the supposed virtue of being in the right because they were defending the moral high ground. Alas, many of them turned out to be little better than humanitarian terrorists, forever lobbying for “their” truth which was frequently a long way short of actual reality. Confidentiality agreements prohibit me from mentioning names, but anyone who reads newspapers will find numerous examples of institutions and people who discarded the initial spirit of the organization.

From the worker’s point of view, anybody with a modicum of intelligence and the freedom to do so will vote with their feet, that is, they will simply decide that, “If it’s no good here, I’m going elsewhere”. I remember the case of one member of a foundation’s management team who received a note asking him to look for a secretary for the CEO. The candidate needed to be “someone who had no sense of dignity”, because the humiliation that person would have to tolerate from the boss, which unfortunately would be repeated down the company ladder, would be intolerable otherwise. Evidently anybody with dignity, vision and capability would be swift to leave before they, too, became corrupted. Anyone who could adapt to these kinds of values and practices would end up, whether they liked it or not, turning into yet another thug perpetuating the “culture” of the place.

I might add here that it isn’t a good idea to have enemies anywhere, because sooner or later the past will re-emerge. But if you must have enemies, choose them very carefully because you will end up modelling yourself on them in how you act, the weapons you use and the attitudes you adopt, etc.

But let’s return to paradoxes. How is it that companies that in theory have nothing to do with the moral high ground, operating for example in the fields of technology, pharmaceuticals, insurance or finance, manage to have cultures that are so superior to the rest? What’s different? How is it that people always want to work for them?

The secret is always the same: people. If a person is centred and suggests an idea with a clear, positive and enthusiastic attitude, that person can evoke the same trust and sense of involvement in others, and over time this will spread throughout the company. By contrast, if you start with a management system based on fear, exploitation, envy, unfair competition, etc., you won’t make much progress. “The apple never falls far from the tree,” as the old saying goes.

If the company invests in training and its employees’ well-being, people will want to stay there with those who care about them and give them room to “create” and continue growing and developing their abilities.

Jobseekers should always bear in mind that it isn’t just a good job they need, but a place where they also feel at ease, where the culture suits them. Should they find that they possess higher standards than their employer, they will find themselves demoralised. By way of contrast, a person without scruples and a burning desire to get on at any price could turn out to be a blight on a defenceless company that will then begin to fester from within. We must all be vigilant.

Since we’ve looked at corporate culture from the point of view of a person joining a company, let’s do the same from the company’s position. A crucial question is: what is the right moment to replace a manager who is threatening the culture’s continuity? The answer is always the same: it depends. Some companies strive to maintain a culture that will persevere, that is rigid and immutable and which if lost, would take their essence with it, while others feel that if they don’t evolve they will become extinct. In technology, it is necessary to have the ability to change with the times, and quickly.

In the management/company relationship, there exist companies with a very strong culture of change, where management is very quick to adapt to the position/culture. There are other companies that have a greater mutual commitment to having the staff and business grow together, where time allows for a two-way interaction process.

These are the companies of particular interest to us in this study, since these are the businesses where innovation is best observed, where it is rewarded and capitalised on, and where the two-way bond strengthens connections, motivation and hence productivity.

The temptation to continually look for fresh individuals, who will perform better than their predecessors, professionally or personally, reflects the assumption that the grass is always greener on the other side. This does not mean that change can always be avoided, but it is a fact that someone who is already on the inside, with training and motivation, may produce great results.

Special mention should be made of female integration and the effect this has on innovation. The myth that the truly creative master is always male has been promulgated by a patriarchal society where women are deprived of resources, room and even time. So you shouldn’t be surprised that the majority of the examples of great creativity come from men. But progress has been made in education, principles, training and economic independence where women are concerned. Women and their creativity have become a very valuable resource which no one can afford to ignore.

We can only look forward to the time when, instead of seeing a man or a woman, we see a person, and that person’s creative and productive capacity. Little by little, in more and more organizations, there are racial changes too. Some of us may already have arrived and know that diversity will always provide gifts for those who know how to make the most of them. The alternative is to continue with our ancient resentments and prejudices which demonise change and halt evolution.

With regard to the culture of innovation, analysed according to the four aspects, let’s recapitulate the way the action moves forward in one direction, with a time frame and a mission.

Which direction is the right one? That is something you will know once you start moving and you analyse the journey, because no journey exists that can be traversed in a straight line. In life, success is always a consequence of many movements, some good, others not so good, but where something is learnt with each movement. Lesson one, then, is that fortune favours the brave. Move – and take the risk of making mistakes.

So, let’s return to the matter of which direction to take. How many directions are there? According to Taoism there are five great directions. Not just four: north, south, east, west and centre. Although this may seem contradictory to what has been said above, awareness may urge you to move to the centre, without actually moving, and anchor yourself, not because you are frozen, but because it is the best move. Don’t underestimate it. If you take a look at the swing from one side to another taken by various governments in political economy, you will realize that many would have done better to develop what was already in position and encourage it to mature, rather than dart off in another direction to do something fresh – to innovate, indeed. Do by all means innovate, but please, let it be for the better.

In any case, if you intend to fire an arrow, first centre yourself, look carefully, check the wind, imagine the journey the arrow will make through the air, feel how it will penetrate the target, and then draw and fire. According to the Zen master archers, beginners should never have two arrows. The thought that if you miss with the first you can always succeed with the second means that your concentration is never complete. If you are not convinced about your business, then don’t bother to launch it, don’t waste your energy and your time firing your arrow. Wait for kinder weather. If you are not convinced then you will never devote yourself to anything or anyone, neither a partner nor work contract, but if you have already done so, then live it as though there was never any other possibility. “There are no arrows left,” should be your mantra. This is the only way that you will do your work correctly.

In this sense and contrary to what many think, seeking added time merely anchors you in the past and makes it harder for you to be absorbed into the present and the new adventure you’ve decided to embark upon. I recall an engineer who hired me because he wanted to get out of a loop of wasting hours every day wondering whether he should go back to his old company some months after he had left it. On the personal front, we all know someone who can’t stop sending love letters to the ex-partner in the hope that love lives on, and can be relied upon if the new partner fails to deliver. Let go of the mooring rope, explore other seas, because you can’t reach them from the harbour of the past.

Let’s move on. The fact is that while everyone’s aware of the importance of culture, motivation and mission are just as important. For a lot of companies these qualities are very hard to communicate, especially in times of fast change where survival under threat means that values and traditions shift so quickly. What happens at the macro level happens at the micro level, where as far as the individual is concerned, the mission is a mystery.

Here are the keys to look at: time, the moment, and the tempo. Think for a moment about a surfer who decides that he will catch his wave when he decides, and not when the wave arrives – crazy, right? But that’s what so many people try to do, professionally and personally.

Many people fail to understand that life and work have their own rhythms which are built in, and they resist them like King Canute tried to on the beach. Others feel the solution is to plunge into the waves and devote all their strength and adrenalin to making some progress against them. They get the feeling that they are moving somewhere, but it’s an illusion.

All too often the Canutes just become furious, or attempt to escape from the situation by slumping into passive-aggressive depression and being beaten down. “The system doesn’t understand me; what the boss wants is impossible; the kids are leaving me no time to live.” These are the people who say that if you want work done well, then you must let them do it “in my own way, in my own time”. The others will go down the path of thyroid malfunction, the thyroid being the organ which, among other things, regulates the consumption of energy necessary for the activity involved.

A large number of professionals suffer from hyper- or hypothyroidism. When I say a great many, I should add that there is a significant gender difference in this area. Many women handle their jobs (although some men too) in a cool and effective way, the same way they do at home, and when the ‘to do’ list is nearly all crossed off, they become anxious, fearful to exist unless they are constantly on the go, executing the next task. This is a real problem. If they want to build sustainable personal and professional careers, they need to review their lives and work out how to deal with what is in the present.

With greater or lesser speed, and varying degrees of madness, we all mount this same sort of train at some point in our lives, and get off again at another point, without actually being seen as crazy for our whole lives. But if you want to leave this sort of madness, you have to be aware of it: you have to listen to yourself and to what’s happening around you, learn to see the waves as they really are, and accept that the world is not going to operate at a different rhythm because somebody else says so.

If tempos are as important as rhythms, moments are just as important as time periods: some people make their way through their working lives complaining that too much is demanded of them in the short term, that they can’t deal with the sudden spikes, and that they just can’t win.

But don’t be misled, I’m not saying that all businesses have the same kinds of spikes. You’ll have to work that out for yourself, maybe with the help of a professional. Some jobs have really violent spikes which are then offset by really relaxed periods for recovering; the life of a top level athlete would be an example. Some companies just burn out their staff and then hire more fresh staff to be burnt up.

Both company and worker must keep the medium term in mind as the time period for creation, innovation and the management of resources. Anybody who operates all the time at a rate that looks like the final sprint, as if there were no tomorrow, is dangerously compromising their health. Place your trust in working with stubborn discipline. It often turns out that creative processes make their appearance quite suddenly in the medium term, following an internal maturation process or an interesting construction and deconstruction process that can neither be hurried nor postponed, and that usually arises unexpectedly. In other words, pressure is OK, as long as it’s justified and the term is neither excessively long nor short; the medium term is the right one. Stress, no. Activation, yes.

In any case, you have to take hold of your life’s steering wheel and be responsible for it: if you decide to invest your life in a project, a company, a marriage, a family or whatever it is, you absolutely must learn to keep your finger on the pulse and dance only to that rhythm, with your head held high. If you don’t, you will constantly be broken, swamped, and anxious; the horizon will seem invisible, and your demonstrations of strength will only damage your professional and personal output. You won’t be happy, nor will you be able to change the external rhythm. Believe me.

If you want to surf your way through life, remember the famous sentence which my brilliant English teacher Mike used to repeat every week during the long years when I was a trainee diplomat, a time when I was frankly drowning, but which now I understand and hand on to you:

Keep your head above water!