In his groundbreaking book, This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans, Seth Godin, a renowned author and marketing expert, presents a unique perspective on strategic thinking. His insights deeply resonate with the challenges I’ve witnessed in innovation leadership during my extensive work with organisations worldwide.
Godin’s approach to strategy, which he defines as “a flexible plan that guides us as we seek to create a change,” is a beacon of light for leaders striving to foster effective innovation-focused cultures. His insights are not just valuable, but also enlightening, offering a new perspective on strategy that can inspire leaders in their innovation journey.
Beyond Innovation Theater to Strategic Transformation
One of Godin’s most powerful observations is that:
“Strategy is the plan—it is what we will do. And it requires us to say ‘no’ to things—things that we could do, but won’t—as we make a commitment to the things we say ‘yes’ to instead.”
This sentiment perfectly captures what is missing in most organisational approaches to innovation.
My work with global organisations has consistently revealed that while 84% of executives consider innovation essential to their growth strategy (McKinsey, 2021), the vast majority remain trapped in what has become commonly known as “innovation theatre”—displaying innovation values on walls and establishing labs without addressing the fundamental conditions required for innovation to flourish. They struggle to say “no” to comfortable incremental improvements while claiming to prioritise transformative change. Research by Pisano (2019) in Harvard Business Review reveals that many organisations create “innovation-friendly” cultures but fail to implement the necessary trade-offs and tough choices required for a genuine innovation strategy.
As Godin puts it, “It’s easy to fall in love with how clever we are, how fast we’re sure we’re going to change things and how easy it might be. However, the reality is that real change comes from culture and expectations and systems.” This insight cuts to the heart of why innovation initiatives so often fail—they focus on the visible symbols of innovation rather than the underlying systems and behaviours that enable it. A study by Capgemini found that 87% of organisations have dedicated innovation centres, yet only 17% of these have achieved their expected business outcomes (Capgemini, 2020).
The Innovation Garden: Strategy as Patient Cultivation
Godin uses a powerful metaphor that aligns perfectly with my perspective on building innovation-led cultures: “A gardener plants seeds but doesn’t expect that they’ll have an orchard or a bushel of crops in an hour or even a week. Planting is simply a step in the unfolding of what is to come later. That’s strategy.”
This patient, cultivation-focused approach is missing in most innovation efforts. Organisations oscillate between chasing quick wins through incremental improvements and pursuing unrealistic “moonshots” that promise immediate transformation. Both approaches ultimately fail to build sustainable innovation capability. Research by Nagji and Tuff (2012) in Harvard Business Review found that companies with the strongest innovation performance dedicated about 70% of their innovation resources to core offerings, 20% to adjacent innovations, and just 10% to transformational initiatives—a balanced portfolio approach that requires patient cultivation rather than instant results.
In my work with organisations, I have become known worldwide for “Differentiated Innovation”—the middle ground between incremental improvements and radical disruption. This approach embodies Godin’s gardening metaphor: we plant seeds of innovation capability throughout the organisation, nurture them through appropriate resources and psychological safety, and allow the culture to develop organically over time. This aligns with findings from Accenture, which show that companies with balanced innovation portfolios achieve 3.5 times greater shareholder returns than their industry peers (Accenture, 2018).
Systems Thinking in Innovation Leadership
“Better waves make better surfers, but we seem to spend all of our time on the board instead of finding a more satisfying place to go surfing in the first place,” Godin observes. “Systems are the invisible forces that push us around, and systems are resilient.”
This systems perspective is crucial when it comes to leading innovation. Traditional approaches focus exclusively on developing innovation skills in individuals or establishing innovation processes while ignoring the broader system in which innovation must operate. When leaders fail to address systemic barriers—from performance metrics that punish risk-taking to resource allocation processes that favour established businesses—their innovation efforts inevitably falter. Research by Senge and colleagues (2022) demonstrates that organisations that apply systems thinking to innovation are 2.3 times more likely to sustain innovation performance over time than those focusing solely on individual capabilities or isolated processes.
My ODC Framework (Own-Drive-Contribute) provides a practical structure for leaders to apply this systems thinking to build an innovation culture. It recognises that different organisational layers operate within distinct systems, each requiring different conditions for innovation to flourish:
- Executives must ‘Own’ the innovation agenda by shaping the systems that enable or inhibit innovation
- Middle managers must ‘Drive’ innovation by navigating and optimising those systems
- Front-line employees ‘Contribute’ by operating effectively within properly designed systems
As Godin notes, “If we choose not to see the system, we will always be at a disadvantage.” Leaders who fail to recognise and address systemic barriers to innovation will fight an uphill battle regardless of how many innovation initiatives they launch. A study by IBM Institute for Business Value found that organisations that address systemic barriers to innovation are 2.5 times more likely to outperform their peers in revenue growth (IBM, 2021).
Empathy as the Foundation of Innovation Strategy
“Empathy requires the humility to realise that other people have the independence and power to make choices, which will always be based on their experience, worldview, and self-interest. You can’t force others to do what you choose,” Godin explains.
This insight has profound implications for leading for innovation. Many innovation efforts fail because they do not account for the psychological reality of loss aversion—our brains are naturally programmed to feel the pain of potential losses about twice as intensely as the pleasure of equivalent gains (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979). When leaders ignore this reality and expect their teams to embrace uncertainty and risk because “innovation is a priority,” they demonstrate a fundamental lack of empathy. Research by the Corporate Executive Board (now Gartner) found that 60% of employees have chosen not to pursue innovative ideas, specifically due to fear of negative consequences (Gartner, 2019).
Effective innovation-focused leadership begins with empathy—understanding the legitimate fears and concerns that make innovation challenging for many employees. It requires creating psychological safety where appropriate risk-taking is encouraged, and failures are treated as valuable learning opportunities. When leaders acknowledge and actively work to overcome these psychological barriers, they create environments where creative thinking and problem-solving can naturally flourish. Google’s Project Aristotle identified psychological safety as the most important factor in team innovation. At the same time, Amy Edmondson’s research at Harvard quantified that teams with high psychological safety are 67% more innovative than their counterparts (Edmondson, 2019).
Big Problems, Small Solutions: The Middle Management Imperative
“Giant initiatives get a lot of our attention, but it is the incremental shifts that transform our world,” Godin observes. This insight perfectly captures the often-overlooked role of middle management in building innovation-led cultures.
The mistake many organisations make is expecting innovation transformation from senior leadership proclamations or front-line employee ideation programs. Both approaches bypass the critical middle layer that translates innovation aspirations into practical reality. Middle managers operate at the perfect intersection to leverage Differentiated Innovation—they understand both strategic priorities and operational realities, directly influence the most significant portion of the workforce, and can facilitate cross-functional collaboration.
According to research by Quy Nguyen Huy published in the Harvard Business Review, middle managers are critical to innovation implementation because they can balance change with continuity, making them “the most effective agents of transformational change” (Huy, 2001). A study published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management found that middle managers contribute to innovation success through four key roles: championing ideas, synthesising information, facilitating adaptability, and implementing deliberate strategy (Kuratko et al., 2005).
MIT Sloan Management Review highlights that middle managers play a crucial role in connecting the company’s overall values (big-C culture) with the day-to-day experiences of employees in their teams (small-c culture) (Margolis & Walsh, 2003). They act as conduits for information, ensuring that employees have the necessary knowledge to implement innovations effectively. They also synthesise different perspectives and ideas, creating a more holistic understanding of the innovation process.
When properly empowered, middle managers create precisely the type of “small solutions” to “big problems” that Godin advocates. They make the daily decisions about resource allocation, risk tolerance, and employee recognition that collectively shape culture around innovation far more powerfully than any corporate initiative or innovation lab. Research from the Academy of Management Journal demonstrates that middle managers who act as “knowledge brokers” between different organisational units can increase innovation implementation success rates by 17-22% (Shi et al., 2009).
Elegance in Innovation Strategy
Godin highlights the importance of Elegance in strategy: “Elegance is simplicity, efficiency, and effectiveness. It’s the least complex and clearest way forward. Working with systems instead of against them.” This principle applies powerfully to innovation leadership.
The most effective innovation-led cultures are not built on complex frameworks or elaborate processes but on clear principles that help everyone navigate common innovation dilemmas. Rather than abstract values statements like “We value innovation,” successful organisations establish principles like “We share early and often, valuing customer input over perfection” or “We empower employees to pursue promising ideas, even when success isn’t guaranteed.” Research by Sull and colleagues at MIT found that organisations with simple, well-communicated guiding principles outperform those with complex strategic planning processes by 30% in rapidly changing environments (Sull & Eisenhardt, 2015).
These elegant principles provide clear direction for decision-making while remaining broad enough to apply across various situations. They work with human psychology rather than against it, acknowledging our natural risk aversion while creating safe spaces for experimentation. They represent the “least complex and clearest way forward” in building a culture of innovation. A study from Deloitte found that organisations with simple, principle-based approaches to innovation are 2.7 times more likely to be high-performing innovators than those with complex processes (Deloitte, 2019).
Becoming an Innovation-Led Organisation
“Strategy is the philosophy of becoming,” Godin writes. This perspective perfectly captures the journey of building a culture of innovation. It is not about implementing a specific program or achieving a particular metric but about who the organisation becomes through embedding innovation in its cultural DNA.
Organisations that successfully build innovation-led cultures do not view innovation as something they do but as something they are. They recognise that the journey involves thousands of daily decisions and interactions rather than a handful of high-profile initiatives. They understand that sustainable innovation capability emerges from consistently aligned systems and behaviours, not occasional breakthrough projects. Research by Pisano (2019) shows that successful innovation cultures require making explicit trade-offs and establishing priorities that may seem counterintuitive but are essential for creating genuine innovation capability.
As Godin notes, “Who will we become? Who will we be of service to? And who will they help others to become?” These questions lie at the heart of innovation strategy.
Organisations must decide what kind of innovators they want to become, whom they will serve through their innovation efforts, and how their innovations will help others transform. This is also why much of my work with clients worldwide is helping leaders first define innovation. Just like value statements, definitions tend to be weak and without substance. “Innovation is new ideas that add value”, for example, does not help an organisation understand what kind of innovator it wants to become, who it will serve through its innovation efforts, and how its innovations will help others transform! Research from the Stanford Innovation Review shows that organisations with clear innovation purpose statements linked to their overall mission are 42% more likely to sustain innovation performance over time (Stanford, 2020).
A Call to Action for Innovation Leaders
Inspired by Godin’s thinking and based on my experience working with organisations around the world, here are five key actions for leaders seeking to build a genuine culture of innovation:
- Define your innovation philosophy: Clarify what kind of innovator your organisation wants to become and how this will create value for those you serve. This philosophy should guide all innovation decisions and investments.
- Map your innovation systems: Identify the key systems that enable or inhibit innovation in your organisation—from performance metrics to resource allocation processes. Focus on leveraging these systems rather than fighting against them.
- Empower middle management: Recognise middle managers as your innovation ecosystem’s critical “Drive” layer. Provide them with the capabilities, psychological safety, and resources they need to translate innovation strategy into everyday reality.
- Cultivate empathy: Acknowledge the psychological barriers to innovation and create conditions where appropriate risk-taking is encouraged. Understand that innovation requires people to work against their brain’s natural wiring.
- Embrace elegant simplicity: Develop clear innovation principles that help everyone navigate common dilemmas. Focus on making innovation “how we do things around here” rather than a separate function or occasional initiative.
Building a culture of innovation is neither quick nor easy, but organisations that successfully embed innovation in their cultural DNA position themselves to thrive in an increasingly dynamic business environment. Godin wisely observes, “If it’s important enough to do the work, it’s important enough to take the time to articulate your strategy and make it better.”
Sources
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Capgemini. (2020). Innovation Centers: Designing for Success.
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Cris Beswick is a strategic advisor and recognised global thought leader on innovation culture. The co-author of the bestselling book Building a Culture of Innovation, he believes every organisation can become truly exceptional if it makes innovation ‘part of how we do things around here’. Cris works with executive teams worldwide on the strategy, leadership, and culture required for innovation-led growth.