Newsletter No. 6 | Building Innovation Culture | Navigating the “Teenager Phase” of Your Team

Two weeks ago, we explored the importance of structured innovation and how creating a dedicated team with regular meetings can help your business stay ahead. Today, I want to dive deeper into one critical aspect of this innovation team: their dynamic energy and adaptability. These qualities often make the journey to build an innovation culture feel like reliving your company’s teenage years, full of excitement and challenges.

One Insight from Me

Building an innovation culture is like guiding a teenager through their formative years. In the beginning, your innovation team, while full of potential, is figuring out its identity within the larger business. Like any teenager, they are courageous and ready to push boundaries, but they are also uncertain and in need of guidance.

In an established business, the core team can often be seen as the "parent"—experienced, stable, and perhaps a bit skeptical of the new approaches. Meanwhile, the innovation team—the “teenager”—is testing new ideas, breaking a few rules, and trying to find its place.

Why is this dynamic essential?

Balancing Stability with Growth: Just as a parent provides a safety net, your established business provides the stability that allows the innovation team to take risks. It’s a relationship that, when managed well, can lead to significant growth for the entire company.

Creating a Trustful Relationship: Like any parent-teenager relationship, trust is key. The core business needs to trust that the innovation team’s exploration, even when it seems chaotic, is a necessary part of growth. Likewise, the innovation team must respect the legacy and experience of the core business, learning from it while forging new paths.

Preserving the Good Parts: The beauty of this dynamic is that it allows the best of both worlds—the discipline and structure of the established business and the creativity and boldness of the innovation team—to coexist. This balance is crucial for fostering a sustainable innovation culture.

At SIX Group, where I helped build an innovation unit, we often felt like the "teenagers" of the company—exploring new business opportunities like cybersecurity and private markets that weren’t immediately profitable. We faced skepticism, but over time, these explorations became integral to SIX' strategy.

Building an innovation culture requires more than just structure—it requires understanding and nurturing the dynamic between the "parent" business and the "teenage" innovation team.

One Question for You

How is your innovation team navigating its "teenage years"? What steps can you take to build a more trustful relationship between your core business and innovation unit?

One Opportunity for Us

I'm organizing a next dawn.friends lunch! Join me and others who, like you, are navigating topics like innovation, change, and digitalization within established businesses. It’s an informal setting where you can share experiences and gain fresh perspectives.

Next dawn.friends lunch in Zurich @LaFontana

Date: July 5, 2024

Time: 12:00 PM

Location: La Fontana, Zurich