Future Proof
A key component of driving an entrepreneurial
culture is making space for innovation.
W
hen people are across
multiple organisations,
industries and sectors,
which leadership practices can be
used to drive success?
Amy C Edmondson
Novartis Professor of
Leadership and
Management, Harvard
Business School
hbs.edu
a compelling-but-
1 Offer
adaptable vision
In cross-industry teaming, projects
are complex and dynamic, and the
vision must be expected to evolve.
Many aspects of the innovation are
unclear at the outset. A dynamic
vision provides room for participants
to help shape it as the work unfolds.
For leaders, this means managing
tension between clarity of purpose
and shifting goals. Be clear about the
project’s values while explaining,
inviting input into, and celebrating
the vision as it shifts.
safe spaces for
2 Create
sharing expertise
Clashing cultural values undermine
cross-industry collaboration.
Leaders must help diverse experts
share goals, insights and values.
Investments in cross-domain learning
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prevent problems, from small delays
to major project failures. Leaders
can frame cultural differences as a
source of strength. Tensions between
fields point to areas for focused
innovation, which starts with mutual
understanding.
small,
3 Promote
experimental action
No daring innovation project has a
blueprint, so leaders must promote
small, fast actions to test and develop
ideas, that embrace an experimental
mindset and method. This puts a
premium on collaborative analysis of
interim results as work unfolds.
When uncertainty is high, many early
experiments fail, but some failure is
unavoidable and rich in lessons.
Given this, leaders must help people
cope with the contradictory demands
of envisioning an audacious future
while engaging in small, imperfect
action in the present. Together, these
leadership practices are useful in any
kind of innovation project, but in
cross-industry settings they’re vital to
success and to building the future.