In the open and collaborative spaces that exist in the coworking community and other loosely formed business collectives, innovation is an organic happening. Communication and shared vision and values bring like-minded people and complimentary skills together. In large firms, it’s not so simple.

We’ve been railing here against lumbering corporate organizations that are locked down in fear and hierarchy to such a extent that innovation is something of a four-letter word. This, even though they love to talk about how much they value it. Why is deep innovation subversive for large firms?

Because consistent innovation in large firms requires cultural commitments in 5 areas, each of which challenges traditionalist corporate assumptions about control, reporting, communication, freedom, autonomy, etc. Creative entrepreneurs in the coworking community already know these things and breath them everyday, but for BigCo, this is ‘radical’ stuff.

Firms such as Southwest Airlines, Google, Shanghai Tang, Whole Foods, Starbucks, SAS Institute, and Innocent Drinks do these five things particularly well:

1. External Focus: Employees in innovative companies are closely attuned to and care about customer experience.

2. Collaboration: Innovative cultures easily and naturally work in teams that cut across departments and functions.

3. Constraints: Innovative firms recognize that what often appear as insurmountable problems are in fact innovation opportunities in disguise.

4. Up/Down Communication: Innovative companies allow all employees, regardless of where they sit in the company’s hierarchy, to weigh in on important matters.

5. Ideas-to-Action Mechanisms: Companies that consistently innovate have established procedures for guiding and nurturing customer insights into new products, services, and experiences.

Unfortunately, most companies can’t or won’t do these things. As a result, they fail the innovation acid test.

If you hail from BigCo USA, do you think your company can pass the test? I doubt it!

The Butcher