MODERN BUSINESS
favour profit over purpose. We think
of the soft drink company trying to
find innovative ways to sell more of
their sugary product into schools.
Or the tobacco company trying to
work out how to get around strict
government advertising restrictions
to sell more of their deadly
products.
challenges as they try to reach
targets and meet objectives in the
relentless ‘innovation race’. Yet
perhaps there is another way.
Perhaps business also need to start
thinking about the purpose of this
‘race’, and about setting different
targets that make more sense over
the long term.
Purpose-driven innovation
measures up
CEOs love to espouse the
importance of innovation and
growth from the annual conference
pulpit, but with research showing
that only 21% engagement from
staff in many companies, perhaps
employees also can’t see the point.
A recent Deloitte survey revealed
that 9 out of 10 millennials believe
that “the success of a business
should be measured in terms
of more than just its financial
performance.”
So how do you improve this sense
of purpose, and still ensure the
all-important bottom line financial
needs are met?
Those companies that understand
the need for strategic innovation
have been found to have better
employee engagement, higher
productivity, more decision making
effectiveness and increased growth
(according to a study of 450
organisations by Bain & Company).
Companies that focus on purpose
and sustainability, not just on profit,
also have increased engagement
and outperform control groups
on a number of different financial
measures over time – according to
one study by almost 70%.
‘Great companies work to make
money, of course, but in their
choices of how to do so… they
invest in the future while being
aware of the need to build people
and society,’ says Harvard Business
School professor Rosabeth Moss
Kanter.
Of course every business needs
to make a profit to survive as
a commercial enterprise, but
innovative thinking can make it
possible to effectively focus on
purpose and still make a profit.
Like the Indigenous group in
the desert, perhaps it’s time for
businesses to start thinking about
setting more purpose-driven and
sustainable innovation goals.
Companies that get it right
We have had the privilege
of working with a number of
companies that have been aiming
to bring this sense of purpose into
their organisation, and ultimately
into the way they innovate – and
who have also been highly profitable
in the process.
We have seen a major food
company in Europe explored ideas
around more sustainable food
preparation solutions for developing
countries. In California’s Silicon
Valley a tech company developed
exoskeletons to help paralysed
people to walk again. An innovation
centre in Latin America has made
a commitment to improving dental
hygiene education for impoverished
communities.
On the other side, we have also
been disturbed by our encounters
with organisations that clearly
Gaia and Andrew Grant, founders
and Directors of Tirian International,
are innovation culture consultants,
facilitators and top-ranking keynote
speakers who work with a range
of organisations from Fortune 500
companies through to not-for-profits
worldwide.. Together they have authored
The Innovation Race: How to change
a culture to change the game (Wiley),
the international bestsell