Reinventing how we work and what we deliver? It’s a winning strategy.
Here’s a conundrum: one of the best ways for an organization to get ahead is innovation, but there’s often nothing harder than getting institutional buy-in for a big idea. Here are some winning strategies for how to rally support for your innovative idea.
Modern Mentor is hosted by Rachel Cooke. A transcript is available at Simplecast.
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Hey, it’s Rachel Cooke, your Modern Mentor. I’m the founder of Lead Above Noise—a firm specializing in helping teams and organizations create better working experiences that deliver better results.
One of the best ways for an organization to get ahead? It’s innovation. Big or small, product or process. Reinventing how we work and what we deliver? It’s a winning strategy.
And yet, as much as companies love to talk about how innovative they are, most people within an organization will say there’s nothing harder than getting buy-in to your idea. Than getting permission, support, resources—all the stuff required to power that innovation.
This challenge has crossed my desk many times—and I’ve coached leaders and teams across various industries on this one. So whether you’re sitting on an idea right now, or you hope to launch one in the future, let’s talk about how you can get yours off the page and into the world.
Innovation is never the goal. It’s the means to an end. So start by getting people excited about your end.
Like, one of my clients, Todd, was the head of Finance for a retail organization. And he developed this snazzy new dashboard that would collate a bunch of finance data to be delivered to leaders across the business.
Todd fell in love with this dashboard. It was beautiful and rich with data. And he just needed some resources to get it fully built out. He kept showing it to his superiors but wasn’t having luck triggering enthusiasm or support.
When he asked for my advice I told him, “You’re too focused on what you love about the innovation. You need to begin with what problem you’re solving.”
So he changed his tune. Within a week he was showing it to leaders once again talking not about its features but about its utility. It’s value to the business.
He explained that business leaders were making flawed spending choices—on inventory, on vendors, etc.—because they didn’t understand the full picture of their budgets. And this dashboard was designed to put all—and only—the most relevant data at their fingertips so they were better armed with info and insight.
It’s OK to fall in love with your features—the bells and whistles that make you smile. But you gotta get clear first on why it should matter the person footing the bill.
His story shifted from one of innovation to one of cost-containment and profitability.
Guess which one excited his leadership more?
OK, so your “why” is designed to trigger excitement. To get ears and minds open.
Now it’s time to talk through a plan.
Here’s where I say it’s great to have a vision. But if that vision feels too distant, too many steps away, too far into the future, you may lose them here.
Like maybe you work for a tech company. Your customers love your products. But you? You see an opportunity to break into a whole new market, to really drive new profits for your company.
Your customers are mainly healthcare providers. But you’ve got a vision for building a similar product designed for accounting professionals. You’ve thought through it all—product design, marketing, sales, all the buzzy things.
But you go to pitch it and you see your leaders’ eyes glaze over. This is a sign you’ve thrown too much at them too fast.
People are pretty overwhelmed these days. They can only digest so much at a time.
So to get buy-in here? You share your why (new market, new profits) and then you just focus on the earliest steps. Like maybe doing just a bit of market research. Like reaching out to some accounting professionals in your network, testing your ideas with them, and getting some feedback.
And from there you’d like to build a prototype.
Can you convince leadership to just support this one bite for now?
This can be a more manageable and digestible step. And if it goes well, you ask for more as you go.
As long as you stay in alignment with your vision, you’ll still be walking the same path. Just a few steps at a time.
Here in the U.S. we’ve got a national day for everything. From cousins to hot dogs to tequila and more, every day is a day to celebrate.
Some think it’s a little much.
Me? I love a reason to celebrate.
I think celebration is a deeply underrated means of driving momentum at work.
We set big, audacious goals, we effort and strive, and if we eventually achieve them months or years down the road, we celebrate.
I believe in pulling the goal posts in. Celebrating not just giant outcomes, but small victories along the way. This creates momentum and keeps people engaged in a long journey.
You’ve got a big vision. Awesome. Let’s strive for it. But also, what are the small victories you can define to help you know—early and often—if your plan is a good one?
Sharing these upfront—giving leaders confidence that you’ll know sooner than later whether you’re on the smart path—will help earn you support.
Maybe your big idea is to overhaul the customer experience. But you’ll be watching for a 10% increase in your Net Promoter Score within 3 months to know if you’re on track.
Maybe your big idea is to add some wellness programs to your company’s offerings designed to reduce your overall healthcare costs and rates of absenteeism. Fabs. But maybe you start with just inviting 10 people to pilot the program for you—and you’ll watch the impact on them over just a few weeks.
Small wins fast are a great motivator.
And finally.
Think big. Not just in content. But in core team.
I know you can build a great thing.
But if you had a small but mighty team—of right hands and minds—imagine how much better, faster, and more inclusive your outcome might be.
One of my clients—an HR leader—wanted to reinvent how her organization assessed performance. Make it less focused on evaluation and rating—more focused on coaching to strengths.
It was a great idea. But she was struggling to get traction.
So we talked about who she might involve in order to add richness to the idea, while gaining support along the way.
And we agreed that involving some engaged leaders—from the business, from compensation, from recruitment—and even a few employee voices—would land her a more rounded-out solution. With more minds and voices.
Taking this approach—building a small coalition around her idea—helped her gain the support she needed. And it flew.
Whatever your idea—whether it’s already arrived or sitting in the wings—I hope you’re feeling inspired to go get it.
Join me next week for another great episode. Until then, visit my website at leadabovenoise.com if your organization is looking to dial up its Employee Experience or deliver some leadership development that activates change. You can follow Modern Mentor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Find and follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks so much for listening and have a successful week.