“The paradox of innovation is this: CEO’s often complain about lack of innovation, while workers often say leaders are hostile to new ideas” -Patrick Dixon – Building a Better Business

Innovation in Fortune 1000s today is commonly limited to those who create products or a marketing message. And even in these situations, true innovation, as I define it, is often left out. True innovation is some thing or way of doing something new that brings measurable value to the recipients of that thing.

The most powerful seed that many corporations allow to germinate and prosper freely throughout their departments and employees is mediocrity. This spirit of mediocrity is born from the fruit of a management team lacking a vision and a practical framework to execute that vision capable of genuinely touching every department and employee. Now I’m not talking about bullshit feel good words. I’m talking about a vision that inspires and delivers opportunity, satisfaction and a harvest to every employee, not just people who receive them because they happen to be in a certain department and the company had good sales that year. There are so many people that are part of delivering a product or service to a customer who work behind the curtain. Human Resources has to find the right people; Accounting and Finance need to make sure that money is managed wisely: IT needs to make sure that the company’s information and tools to conduct business are capable of facilitating business objectives; Facilities Management has to make sure that a suitable work environment is delivered to all employees and customers; Call Centers have to provide positive experiences to customers and should be knowledge centers full of nuggets for customer insights on how to improve products and services. All of these groups are part of the customer value chain. That value chain needs to be fine-tuned and optimized regularly.

Innovation in how we work is just as important as being innovative in product development and how we communicate the brand’s voice.

I speak from experience. Having spent over 20 years in the workforce in the US from washing dishes to developing and implementing global solutions for multi-national corporations, innovation in how we work is simply not considered much across the entire company. As a result, the waste of resources, time and lost opportunities is sadly mind-boggling.

The greatest threat to mediocrity is an employee fueled by innovation.

There are some who understand that innovation is a way of life and not relegated to a product, service or message. The CEO who leads the charge of innovation throughout the entire organization and is less concerned with his or her compensation package creates longer lasting equity for himself/herself and others. The executives that will set aside the pressures of quarterly targets and stand in the reality that having a great company means nurturing an environment that is an Eden of Innovation throughout the company will inspire those they lead; they’ll discover that they won’t have to pay recruitment fees anymore because people will beg to work for them.

Idealistic? Maybe a bit. Possible? Look around you…anything is possible.

Dennis Pannuto is the President & Founder of Aha! Insight Technology. You can reach him at dennis.pannuto@ahainsight.com