Innovation Culture And Innovation

Innovation is an integral part of American culture. An open market not only fuels innovation but also creates vast opportunities for anyone willing to put forth the effort to create a product or idea to fill a gap. However, the innovative process is like a young sapling. Without the proper environment to encourage and pursue innovation, the process can become a struggle for managers and business leaders. To nurture the process, leaders must foster an atmosphere that encourages and recognizes innovation. This ideology is not lost at Colorado Springs’ up-and-coming Triple S Brewing Company. The organization, which has been open for only six months, encourages innovation through open communication, valuing individual experience, and mitigating risks with new products.

Berlingieri (2016) notes a strong, specific link between experience in brewing and the success of the company for which she works. Balsmeier & Czarnitzki seem to agree with this. They found an indirect yet tangible link between management experience and innovation culture, though familiarity with market anticipation (Balsmeier & Czarnitzki, 2014). The experience to which these two parties refer assists in navigating uncertainty, as well as offering a seasoned approach to the specific product. This, in turn, mitigates some of the risks associated with a new product. One of the most valuable risk management tools that an innovator can use is product testing, both internally and with the intended consumer or audience.

Sometimes, a product will test well, yet the final product will not succeed. Some notable examples of this are Crystal Pepsi, Coors Spring Water, New Coke, and Microsoft Zune (Frohlich, 2014). These examples represent large sunk costs for organizations, and if the organization is not sufficiently stable from a financial vantage, the company could fail. Other times, a great new product can be conceptualized, yet fail to produce a working proof of concept. Therefore, the aforementioned concepts of communication and experience are instrumental in avoiding such pitfalls and ensuring that quality ideas manifest into a workable product.