Holistic innovation
Holistic innovation represents a comprehensive approach where every person in the organization contributes to improvement and innovation, whether in the core product or service or in supporting processes and practices. Even processes that have been relatively unchanged for decades — such as payroll or expense approvals — can benefit from innovation around the User Experience, metrics, or notifications, making the processes less "black box" and more transparent.
The benefits of holistic innovation include:
Improved organizational efficiency
Everyone contributes to advancement
Innovation is tightly coupled with value creation
Effective innovation scaling
Built-in continuous improvement
Explore holistic innovation within your organization — book your discovery call today.
Holistic innovation needs people
The foundation of holistic innovation begins with the hiring process. Organizations that excel in this area select people who expect to innovate in some way. This isn't limited to traditional innovation roles; instead, it's an expectation that permeates all positions and levels within the organization. The hiring process looks explicitly for individuals who demonstrate not only technical competence but also the ability and desire to contribute to organizational improvement.
A distinctive characteristic of holistic innovation is how improvements in ways of working are seen and celebrated as innovation. When your organization recognizes process improvements, workflow enhancements, or new approaches to collaboration as valuable innovations, you can foster a culture where everyone contributes to organizational growth and advancement.
Aligning innovation with value creation
Innovation within your organization would then be closely tied to value creation. Rather than pursuing innovation for its own sake or creating something merely because it's new, the focus remains firmly on better meeting the needs of your value consumers. This value-centric approach to innovation ensures that your innovative efforts remain grounded in practical outcomes and measurable improvements.
To maximize the impact of innovation while minimizing waste, exemplary organizations actively discourage unneeded duplication of innovation efforts. Your organization could encourage its teams to seek out and promote existing or emerging approaches rather than reinventing solutions that already exist elsewhere within the organization. This approach not only reduces waste but also helps you to scale successful innovations across your organization more effectively.
Perhaps most notably, these organizations encourage innovation even in areas that are relatively stable in terms of business processes. This recognition that potential for improvement exists everywhere, even in seemingly mature or routine operations, ensures that no area of the organization becomes stagnant or resistant to positive change.
Benefits of holistic innovation
The effectiveness of holistic innovation is measured not just in terms of new features or products, but also in what it delivers:
Improved efficiency
Enhanced team satisfaction
Better organizational outcomes
In practice, your organization could manifest holistic innovation through a variety of organizational behaviors and structures. Your teams would be encouraged to share their innovative approaches through regular showcases and knowledge-sharing sessions. When innovations prove successful in one area, mechanisms exist to help spread these improvements across your organization.
Holistic innovation represents a comprehensive approach to organizational improvement that extends far beyond traditional product development. By embedding innovation expectations in hiring, celebrating improvements in ways of working, focusing on value creation, preventing duplication, and encouraging innovation even in stable areas, your organization can create an environment where continuous improvement and innovation become integral to its organizational DNA.
Conflux can help you implement holistic innovation in your business
As the leading group of industry experts around fast flow and Team Topologies, Conflux can help you to become a thriving organization, delivering at speed.
We’ve identified nine key dimensions common across organizations using fast flow to shape effectiveness and alignment, and successfully drive innovation and growth.
Book your free discovery call where we’ll take a deep dive into your key areas of focus for alignment with fast flow, including holistic innovation:
Assess your organization against the nine dimensions of fast flow
Gain valuable insights into areas of strength and opportunity
Strategically prioritize initiatives for fast flow
Already taken our benchmark? We'll dive deep into your results. Haven't taken it yet? Benchmark your organization here.
