How to Foster Innovation within Corporate Strategy

2 June 2025

Look, let’s get one thing straight: “innovation” is not some magical pixie dust you sprinkle onto your corporate meetings to suddenly turn your company into Apple or Tesla. It’s not a wand-waving exercise. It’s a grind—it’s messy and, if done right, downright uncomfortable. But hey, if you want to survive and thrive in today’s cutthroat world where your competitors are probably plotting your demise while sipping oat lattes, fostering innovation needs to be a big ol’ priority.

So, how do you squeeze creativity and groundbreaking ideas out of a bunch of suit-wearing professionals who probably haven’t had an original thought since they switched to decaf? Buckle up, buttercup. Let’s break it down.

What Even Is Innovation, Anyway?

You hear the word “innovation” thrown around a lot in business circles, don’t you? It’s the corporate equivalent of “new year, new me.” But what does it actually mean? Spoiler alert: It doesn’t mean rebranding your product with a shinier logo or adding “synergy” to your PowerPoint slides.

Innovation is about creating value in a way that’s fresh, forward-thinking, and maybe even a little disruptive. It’s about taking risks, thinking outside the box (or just smashing the box altogether), and doing things differently. Basically, it’s the “you can’t sit with us” of the corporate strategy world—it’s unique, it stands out, and, when done right, it makes everyone else wish they’d thought of it first.

Why Corporate Strategies Are Where Innovation Goes to Die

Okay, let’s talk turkey. Most corporate strategies are about as inspiring as yesterday’s cold coffee. Why? Because they’re risk-averse, painfully bureaucratic, and obsessed with playing it safe. The result? Stagnation. And nothing kills innovation faster than a comfy little hamster wheel of sameness.

You know what corporate strategy meetings usually revolve around? “Let’s increase market share” or “maximize shareholder value.” Yawn. What about “let’s come up with an idea so bold it’ll make our competitors cry in the shower”?

Look, I get it. Innovation feels risky, and nobody wants to be the person pitching an idea that flops. But playing it safe is the riskiest move of all.

Step 1: Build a Culture That Doesn’t Smell Like Stale Cubicles

Let’s be real: nobody’s coming up with groundbreaking ideas when they’re stuck in drab offices with fluorescent lighting and that one coworker who microwaves fish. If you want innovation to thrive, you’ve got to create an environment where people actually want to think outside the box.

This starts with company culture. Encourage collaboration, open communication, and, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t punish people for making mistakes. Innovation won’t happen if everyone’s terrified of failing.

Think about it—how many “lightbulb moments” happen in places where people feel judged or micromanaged? Spoiler: Zero. Give your team the psychological safety to make bold moves, even if some of them fall flat.

Step 2: Hire People Who Are Cooler Than You

Here’s a harsh truth: if you’re the smartest person in the room, your room is a problem. Innovation thrives when you’ve got a diverse group of people bringing different perspectives and experiences to the table. Translation? Stop hiring clones of yourself.

Want to foster innovation? Recruit the weirdos. The rebels. The people who make you slightly uncomfortable because they’re just that out-of-the-box. These are the folks who will challenge the status quo and push your company toward groundbreaking ideas.

And don’t just stop at hiring. Listen to them. Just because someone’s junior or “not a good culture fit” (ugh, please retire this phrase) doesn’t mean they don’t have brilliant ideas.

Step 3: Stop Worshipping the Gods of ROI

Ah, ROI. The holy grail of corporate decision-making. Don’t get me wrong—it’s important to make smart investments. But if every single decision has to come with a guaranteed financial payoff, you’ll never see the kind of wild, out-of-the-box ideas that lead to real innovation.

Think about it: When Netflix first launched its streaming service, it wasn’t a guaranteed moneymaker. But it was bold, it was risky, and now it’s the standard. Meanwhile, Blockbuster was sitting there like, “Nah, we’re good.” Fast-forward to today, and Blockbuster is a punchline while Netflix is thriving.

Bottom line? Be willing to take some calculated risks. Sure, not every idea will pan out, but the ones that do could be game-changers.

Step 4: Give Your People Room to Play

Here’s the thing about innovation: it doesn’t always happen on a schedule. You can’t just slap a “brainstorming session” on the calendar and expect game-changing ideas to roll in. Creativity needs freedom, spontaneity, and—dare I say it?—a little fun.

Encourage your team to experiment, whether that’s through dedicated innovation labs, hackathons, or even just unstructured time to work on passion projects. Google’s famous 20% time policy, which lets employees spend one-fifth of their work hours on personal projects, led to the creation of Gmail. If that’s not proof that a little playtime can pay off, I don’t know what is.

Step 5: Make Innovation Everyone’s Job

“But I’m not in the creative department…” If I had a nickel for every time I heard this excuse, I’d have enough to fund my own startup. Innovation isn’t just for your product designers, marketers, or that one quirky person in HR who’s really into improv comedy. It’s a company-wide thing.

Encourage every single employee—from your interns to your executives—to think innovatively. Why? Because sometimes the best ideas come from the least expected places. Who better to tell you how to improve your customer experience than the person working the front lines of customer service?

Pro tip: Offer incentives for innovative ideas, no matter how small. And no, I don’t mean a pizza party. (Do better.)

Step 6: Death to Bureaucracy

Let’s get real: bureaucracy is the innovation killer lurking in your office, sipping on lukewarm coffee and clogging up your approval processes with red tape. If every new idea has to pass through 16 committees and three PowerPoint presentations just to get a maybe, guess what? That idea is DOA.

Streamline. Simplify. Create a system where ideas can move quickly from concept to execution without getting bogged down by endless approvals. Because nothing screams “we don’t value innovation” like forcing your team to attend 12 meetings just to try something new.

Step 7: Measure Innovation Without Killing It

I know what you’re thinking: “How do we track progress if we’re just winging it?” Fair question. But here’s the thing—if you over-measure and overanalyze every single step, you’ll suck the life out of the creative process.

Yes, you should have metrics and goals to guide your efforts, but don’t let them strangle the very spirit of innovation. Set broad objectives, like “increase customer satisfaction” or “solve X problem,” and then let your team figure out the best way to get there.

Step 8: Celebrate, Then Celebrate Again

Remember that time your team came up with a killer idea that totally changed the game for your company? No? That’s because you probably forgot to celebrate it.

If you want your employees to keep innovating, you’ve got to acknowledge and reward their efforts. And for heaven’s sake, don’t just focus on the successes. Celebrate the bold ideas that didn’t quite work out too. At least they tried, right?

When you make innovation something worth celebrating, you create a culture where people actually want to keep pushing for big ideas.

Wrapping It Up: Innovation Ain’t for the Faint of Heart

Let’s be honest: fostering innovation within corporate strategy is not a walk in the park. It’s more like a rollercoaster—equal parts thrilling and terrifying, with the occasional nausea-inducing drop. But here’s the deal: if you want to stay relevant in today’s hyper-competitive market, you can’t afford to sit still.

So, take a deep breath, loosen that tie, and start making some bold moves. Sure, there will be failures along the way, but hey, even the best ideas start out rough around the edges. Just remember: it’s about progress, not perfection.

Now go forth and innovate like your business depends on it—because spoiler alert, it kinda does.