When trying to stimulate innovation in your IT organization, it's easy to turn to tactics like hackathons and Shark Tank-style competitions. But to truly create a culture of innovation, there are some other steps CIOs need to take, says Larry Bonfante, a CIO executive coach.
Bonfante explains more in this video interview. Watch the video or read the transcript below.
The Enterprisers Project (TEP): How do you encourage innovation in your enterprise?
Bonfante: To me the biggest part of innovation is creating a culture of innovation. What that means is eliminating a culture of blame. So a lot of companies talk about having a culture of innovation and allowing people to innovate, but the first time someone "fails" they are punished for it.
There is no failure. If you learn from something and you move on and are better reformed from that experience, then you have learned something from that experience and you can innovate better moving forward. We don't punish people, we actually reward people for trying things, taking risks, and going out of their comfort zone.
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Larry Bonfante is the CIO of the United States Tennis Association and an executive coach at CIO Bench Coach. As an award-winning CIO, Bonfante's mission is to help develop world-class technology leaders and teams who enable their organizations to deliver outstanding business results. Bonfante has been recognized as a leader within the industry having been nominated for the CIO Hall of Fame in 2013, receiving the 2011 CIO 100 Award and the 2009 Premier 100 IT Leaders Award.
