9 INNOVATION
SPENDS & TRENDS REPORT
“Culture is about how people are feeling; the emotion in the organization.”
a good result this year,’ then we’re not thinking about the long-term future. What’s needed, it seems, is a refocus on culture. Culture is about how people go about their everyday work. It’s their instincts, it’s how they react to things. You can write a process and build a structure that says Colleague A has to talk to Colleague B, their boss will tell them they have to abide by the process and they will comply. But culture is about doing the job in good spirit, in a positive way and so on. If a company says let’s change the innovation culture in two years, they’re dreaming. Culture is like a rubber band. You can stretch a rubber band and say, “Hey, now the rubber band’s completely different shape. We’ve done it.” But as soon as you let go of the rubber band, it goes right back to where it was. And I think that’s a metaphor for culture, whether it’s innovation culture or
any type of culture. The senior leaders who’ve answered this survey are saying that their companies are trying to transform, but it’s difficult to find the time for long-term thinking; difficult to find time for creativity. They’re putting more money into it and encouraging people to do more breakthrough-type work but the problem seems to be more cultural than structural. It very much matches my own historical experience. Creating, and maintaining, an innovation culture is the “Holy Grail,” and it’s not only elusive to find but difficult to retain.
Mike Hatrick Group Director IP Strategy & Portfolio Volvo Group Trucks Technology, Volvo
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