The MTP drives innovation DNA

Organizations that make innovation part of their DNA are more successful in the long run than those that treat innovation as a trend. The innovation process is not a one-off practice. It should be a culture to solve problems as they arise or culture to pre-empting challenge for resolution.

It is best to start innovating in small steps. Things that require a lot of work are unlikely to be implemented and sustained in the long term, but what is useful is to break things down into small steps so that each step is imminently scalable. In other words, one single act of innovation does not make a company's success.

Based on the above, how do we then make innovation as part of organizational DNA? From my perspective, a massive transformative purpose (MTP) drives people's behaviors and mindsets towards the journey of innovation in creating something new in the world.

An MTP is a higher, aspirational purpose of the organization, and it is not about the company vision nor the business. It expresses the company's passion that creates an emotional connection with others. It is the source of inspiration that drives the company and others towards meaningful and impactful change.

A highly aspirational MTP attracts people within and outside the company, and it defines the problem space that the organization is aspired to solve for the betterment of the world. Some MTP examples are Spotify's Music for everyone, Waze's Outsmarting traffic together, Tesla's Accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy, Ikea's Create a better everyday life for people, Phillips' Make the world healthier.

The MTP also defines the organizational beliefs and values in making impactful changes. Therefore, the MTP helps to incorporate innovation DNA into the organization. For example, Google's MTP to organize the world's information is unleashing people's creativity to change the lives of billions of people.