Beyond Innovation Theater: Building a True Culture For Innovation

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 02/07/2025

Despite executives recognizing innovation as a top growth driver, 94% say their companies’ innovation performance falls short. Often the problem centers on culture—an abstract concept relegated behind tangible, process‑oriented goals.

Why Leadership Teams Fail to Drive Innovation: The Cultural Challenge

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 12/12/2024

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, a leadership team’s ability to foster innovation often determines an organisation’s success or failure. Yet, the stark reality is that many senior teams urgently need help creating the cultural conditions necessary for innovation to flourish. Based on extensive work worldwide with CEOs and senior executives, my experience reinforces that […]

Leadership’s Critical Role in Shaping Culture For Innovation

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 03/12/2024

While many companies proudly display values like “Innovation” and “Excellence” on their walls, few successfully translate these aspirational concepts into meaningful cultural change. The key to building an influential innovation-led culture lies not in proclamations but in embedding behaviours that support creative problem-solving and breakthrough thinking throughout the organisation. Leadership’s Critical Role When leaders claim […]

How to Reboot Your Innovation System

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 16/07/2024

Having written several books over the past decade and contributed small snippets of thought leadership or entire chapters to over a dozen other books, I still return to the book I wrote with Derek Bishop and Jo Geraghty of Culture Consultancy fame. Despite the world of corporate innovation seemingly moving on from when we wrote […]

Fostering the Right Culture FOR Innovation – The Vital Role of Psychological Safety in Leadership

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 27/06/2024

Innovation has become one of the cornerstones of success because leaders know that failing to adapt and embrace new ideas risks their organisations being left behind by more agile competitors. However, innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum – it requires an environment where employees feel empowered to take risks, challenge assumptions, and contribute their unique […]

Cultivating a Thriving Culture for Innovation: A Practical Leadership Approach

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 23/05/2024

Innovation has often been treated as a cyclical phenomenon, eagerly embraced during prosperous times and relegated to the sidelines during economic downturns. However, in today’s globalised business landscape, where geographic boundaries and market barriers are rapidly disintegrating, a company’s innovation ability has become a constant imperative rather than a passing trend. The capacity to tap […]

When Building a Culture For Innovation, Form Follows Function

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 16/05/2024

First, let’s unpack a Culture OF Innovation vs A Culture FOR Innovation. Innovation is not a monolithic entity that can be injected into an organisation’s cultural fabric. Instead, it emerges as the synergistic product of elements intentionally combined within a nurturing environment. With this understanding, we can delineate two distinct cultural paradigms regarding innovation: The […]

The Critical Role of Culture for Innovation

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 20/06/2023

Organisational culture plays an essential role in fostering successful innovation, yet it is often overlooked or discounted by those responsible for driving that growth, i.e. the executive team. But to drive tangible change and propel a business forward, there needs to be a conscious effort put into curating the leadership style of each internal group […]

Attention all Leaders – You Need to Create Psychological Safety if You Want Your People to Innovate

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 06/06/2023

As a leader, you need your people to perform at their best if innovation is going to happen. But as essential players in that process, people need psychological safety, i.e. when they feel they can comfortably express ideas and opinions without fear of repercussions or judgement. If you want your organisation to be able to […]

Managers drive innovation from the heart.

Posted by Cris Beswick
On 15/09/2022

This is a piece about and for managers. They could be line managers, middle managers, or team leaders; in a way, the title is immaterial. But in any organisation, these individuals sit at its heart, interpreting the vision, delivering the strategy, and ensuring that the engine runs smoothly, and the business stays on track. You […]

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