FROM EXPERIENCE - DREAMS TO MARKET - CRAFTING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION

Do certain common principles guide uncommonly innovative companies dow n the risk-riddled road to value creation? Or do successful innovators break boldly through the barriers to new product development along pa thways of their own unique making? Karen Anne Zien and Sheldon Buckler discern a strikingly consistent model of how companies craft and sust ain cultures in which innovation is nurtured rewarded, even demanded. An article by the authors in the September 1996 issue of JPIM recounts seminal tales from the cultures of innovation consciously nourished b y 12 leading-edge corporations in the United States, Europe, and Japan . Gathered through an extensive series of interviews with key personne l in the management technical, manufacturing, and marketing divisions of each firm, the stories revealed seven traits widely shared from one company to the next irrespective of business focus, geography, or nat ionality. These traits, as discussed in this article, not only serve t o reconcile the culturally contradictory demands of the three critical stages of innovation-the ''fuzzy front end,'' the product development process, and marketplace operations-but also condition the company as a whole to sustain its innovative capacity over time. The principles at work in highly innovative companies encompass corporate as well as individual attitudes and behaviors. On the one hand, company leaders d emonstrate in every decision, action, and communication that innovatio n propels profitability. So, for the CD project at Sony: the R&D gener al manager heeded ''a voice from above that does not question the poss ibilities and absolutely believes'' in the potential of the enterprise . On the other hand, actively helping individuals create a linkage bet ween their ''work life'' and longer term ''life work'' is a crucial st ep in generating an environment where innovation and high productivity flourish together. Thus, a divisional chief executive at ICI/Imperial Chemicals Industries recognizes the need to ''create an environment w here people will work at what they are best at doing and what they lik e doing best.'' Although the trail to successful innovation inevitably follows the unique contours of any company's environment, some univer sal guideposts point the way.