How to build a culture of innovation

In this article, Kate explains how to develop a culture of innovation, even when your current culture is risk-averse

Most organisations say they value innovation, but few have a culture that supports innovation at scale. 

In 2026, I’d argue that workplace innovation is more important than at any point over the last decade. Organisations are operating in a landscape defined by rapid AI adoption, shifting workforce expectations, economic and geopolitical uncertainty, and rising pressure to deliver better services with fewer resources. In this environment, innovation isn’t just a “nice-to-have”. It’s crucial for survival. 

And while there are many factors that influence workplace innovation, such as structure and governance processes, technology and external pressures, I believe that culture is usually the biggest barrier to innovation. After all, trying new things is a behaviour, and behaviours are shaped by culture. 

Renowned organisational culture expert Schein said that cultural change starts with behavioural change, but that it’s only possible if there is some ‘compatibility’ between the existing and the desired culture. If your company has been around for decades, and its culture is very risk-averse, it’s going to be harder to embed more innovative behaviours. But I don’t believe it’s impossible. My own research into encouraging innovation amongst professional services staff at universities found that it is possible to create a ‘change-able’ culture where people are more open to adopting new behaviours. 

My advice is therefore to take a dual approach: focus on driving specific innovative behaviours, while also working to create an adaptable culture where people feel open to change. 

Driving more innovative behaviours

It sounds obvious, but if leaders want to see more innovation, they need to make that really clear to employees. But vague statements aren’t enough. When behavioural science practice More Than Now conducted research with biopharmaceutical company Astrazeneca, they found that behaviour change was more effective when leaders targeted a specific behaviour, decision or outcome. This requires serious thought about which behaviours will add most value to your organisational priorities. For example, if you want employees to innovate to get better at solving customer problems, you might specify that they should invite customer views at the early stage of each new project. 

As well as being specific about which behaviours they want to see, leaders should be clear about why they’re important and how they will lead to success. This requires an ability to paint an inspiring vision for the future and use storytelling to build emotional commitment and motivation. If you can connect each innovation with a real-world outcome, like improving customer experience, enhancing patient safety, or raising more money for something exciting, employees will be motivated to keep coming up with new ideas. 

Perhaps most importantly, leaders need to role model innovative behaviours themselves. When there’s a gap between what leaders say is important and what they actually do, trust quickly erodes and behaviour change stalls. 

In one organisation I worked with, I found that innovation varied hugely across departments, depending on leadership behaviour. For example, one employee said their head of department “allowed us to test new ideas, even if it meant diverting resources” while another said their leader talked about innovation but was afraid to take risks, “so it was all just lip service really.” 

Reward and recognition is another significant driver of behaviour change. In my own research at a UK university, around half of employees said that recognition encouraged them to be more innovative. But how best to recognise people can be personal: some enjoy public praise, while others would prefer a handwritten note from a senior leader. A note of caution: when leaders recognise the wrong type of behaviour, such as promoting someone who is known to oppose change and shoot down new ideas, it can undermine other messages about the importance of innovation. 

Developing a culture where people feel open to change 

Work to drive new behaviours can stall if the new behaviour is just too counter to the existing culture. For example, encouraging staff to be more innovative when they’ve been trained for years to avoid risk at all costs is going to take huge effort and time. 

That’s why it’s important to also focus on the bigger picture and develop a culture where people feel more open to change. That will help you introduce other new behaviours too, such as enhancing collaboration or data-driven decision-making. 

In her book, The Agile Organization, Linda Holbeche wrote about the importance of factors like trust, shared purpose and employee voice in creating a ‘change-able’ culture. Factors like strong interpersonal relationships and psychological safety have also been linked specifically to innovation: people are much more likely to suggest new ideas if they have good relationships with colleagues and trust they won’t face negative consequences for speaking up. 

In my own work, I’ve seen how psychological safety (or indeed, a lack of it), can hamper innovation. For example, I once worked on a project where leaders were encouraging staff to solve problems and suggest ideas via an internal social networking tool. But the channel stayed worryingly quiet (while the conversation on the company’s social channel was flowing). When I interviewed staff to work out what was going on, it turned out people were afraid to suggest ideas. They worried about being shot down by colleagues, or even getting told off by managers for using the online tool. When people stay silent, it’s not usually a lack of ideas: people are just afraid to speak up. 

There are many ways to help people feel safer to speak up and suggest ideas. In my own research, I found that informal, regular opportunities for employees to meet with leaders and each other was useful for driving collaboration and innovation. Employee listening networks can also add a lot of value, but only if leaders are genuinely willing to listen and consider ideas. And remember the importance of leader role-modelling? When leaders show that they also make mistakes, learn from them and move on, they signal that it’s OK for others to do the same. 

Getting started

While developing a culture of innovation takes time and effort, you can treat it as an innovation project in its own right. 

Choose a small team or project and intentionally create the conditions for a change-able culture: trust between leaders and employees, strong interpersonal relationships, employee listening and psychological safety. Make sure leaders are clear about desired behaviours and why they matter, connecting them to the company’s purpose. Encourage leaders to recognise, reward and role-model the desired behaviours. Treat is a pilot, measure what’s working and review your approach every few months. 

In a world where innovation is now essential for survival, the organisations that thrive will be those that unlock their people’s creativity — by creating cultures where people feel safe, supported and motivated to share their best ideas.

If your organisation is navigating a transition and you want to close the gap between strategy and behaviour, I’d love to help. Book a free intro chat or explore how I can help organisations like yours.