Unlearning to Innovate: Top Three Takeaways from BDO’s Unlearning to Innovate Webinar

Cultivating a company culture that encourages ongoing and diverse innovation is crucial in today’s fiercely competitive marketplace. 

BDO hosted a webinar featuring Jonathan Hughes, National Managing Principal and Global Practice Leader, Management Consulting and Jessica Wadd, Segment Leader, Strategy & Innovation to share insights into the most impactful ways to build an organizational culture of innovation.

Read on to see our top three takeaways, as well as polling data from our webcast audience.

Takeaway 1: Exploring multiple forms of innovation can help unlock new business value

Innovation comes in multiple forms.  Our speakers defined three key types of innovation to ground the conversation: 

• Product innovation, which includes new products or product features that satisfy previously unmet customer needs, or that meet customer needs more effectively. 
• Business process innovation, which entails significant changes in the way work is done, leading to substantial increases in speed, flexibility, and/or quality – and/or that substantially reduce costs.
• Business model innovation, which is characterized by a fundamental change in the way a company delivers value to customers, and/or the way it generates profits.

41% of professionals who responded to our live webcast poll stated that all three types of innovation delivered equal value to their respective companies over the past five years.

Many companies invest significant resources, time, and effort on product/technology innovation. But, focusing only on product/technology innovation often leaves value on the table. For example, Apple upended traditional music consumption in the early 2000s through the business model innovation that enabled purchasing individual songs versus albums.

Takeaway 2: Companies that prioritize external innovation achieve greater revenue growth

60% of professionals who responded to our live webcast poll report that the amount of external innovation taking place at their companies will increase “some” or “a great deal” over the next five years.

Companies that embrace external innovation can significantly boost their revenue growth and profitability by tapping into a diverse pool of ideas, expertise, and resources beyond their organizational boundaries. Notably, according to research conducted by BDO professionals, organizations that prioritize innovation through collaboration with external partners experience a 178% greater increase in revenues compared to those that do not.

Takeaway 3: Innovation success requires a culture of smart risk-taking

Despite the clear benefits of building a culture of innovation, 26% of professionals who responded to our live webcast poll characterized their company as generally risk-averse and with little tolerance for mistakes of any kind.

In such corporate environments, innovation and creativity are often stifled, leading to stagnation, missed growth opportunities, and potentially jeopardizing the company’s long-term competitiveness and sustainability.

On the other hand, companies that recognize the concepts of “good failures” and “smart risk-taking” ultimately generate a 38% greater increase in revenue when compared to “risk-averse” companies, according to research conducted by BDO professionals. Building such a culture requires leadership to consistently encourage calculated experimentation and foster an environment of mutual trust. But, organizations that invest in cultivating a culture of continuous learning and innovation will reap the benefits for years to come.

Related resource: Unlearning to Innovate: What Makes Innovation So Hard, and What to Do About It