Reflections from the red centre of Australia, where I recently experienced an intriguing reverse culture shock.

Within 36 hours I had travelled from camping in the harsh deserts of central Australia, and visiting the awe-inspiring ancient first nations sacred sites of Uluru and Kata Tjuta, to present at an international digital conference on 'Reimaging the Future' for a large investment company.

I had been asked to help global leaders question their assumptions about the future to better prepare for rapid change through the topic of 'Purpose-driven innovation'. After being completely out of phone and internet contact for a number of days and enjoying a relatively 'slow' and simple life, which was a rare and welcomed occurrence, I had to quickly get my brain back into gear. It became an interesting instant time travel exercise.

I had been spending time in a place with a 65,000 year old sustainable caretaker philosophy and a strong spiritual connection between the indigenous people and the land they inhabit. This forced me to rethink the importance of sustainable innovation for contemporary businesses.

Why sustainable purpose-driven innovation matters

Innovation has been called ‘the buzzword of the decade’. Every company is pushing for innovation, and it has to happen. Businesses need to push boundaries, take risks and generate new ideas to remain competitive. Even more than that, we need innovation to solve the grand challenges we are all facing globally.

If we are not driven by the ‘why’ or the purpose, we could in fact be creating more issues than we attempt to solve. If we are not looking for sustainable solutions that align with strong core values, we could be in danger of being irrelevant at least or of creating a Frankenstein in the worst case scenario.

Jim Collins’ influential book “Built to Last” measured successful companies which had survived 100+ years. Collins and his colleagues looked for common principles from today's organizations that could be used to ensure future preparedness and sustainability. Yet when compared to survival over tens of thousands of years, survival over a hundred or so years may not prove much.

Becoming future-proofed

A significant number of leaders in the finance and insurance sector often want to tell us that unlike tech companies (such as the MAMAA companies - Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet), insurance and finance need to be safe and conservative.

However all companies that want to be future-proofed need to be able to focus on breakthrough future-focused solutions at the same time as ensuring the maintenance of sustainable systems and structures. I have identified the core concepts of EXPLORATION and PRESERVATION as being at the core of these two approaches. Through my research it has become clear that too much of an emphasis on either can be detrimental.

Too much focus on cutting edge innovation or EXPLORATION, for example, can risk stability. Too much of an emphasis on maintaining legacy systems through incremental change or PRESERVATION, on the other hand, can risk irrelevance and can mean being passed over by nimble, agile competitors – who will appeal to the younger, more tech-savvy generations.(Gen-Z & Gen-Alpha).

Embracing BOTH / AND

Keeping a dynamic balance of both EXPLORATION and PRESERVATION can ensure sustainability through a rapid shifting landscape. The key is ensuring there is a foundation of strong core values that integrates both.

We typically think you have to choose between A or B – such as between technology (EXPLORATION) or tradition (PRESERVATION). But a focus solely on one or the other polar position will not be sustainable. An innovative leader recognises that we must pursue both simultaneously – A and B.

This dynamic tension can either rip an organisation or team apart - or if recognised and challenged effectively the energy can be used to fuel sustainable innovation.

Leadership ambidexterity, which involves the ability to deal with multiple competing demands simultaneously, is essential for sustainable innovation.

The core purpose is what holds everything together – makes alignment between apparently opposing positions possible.

What if there is a conflict between innovation and values?

The idea of innovation for the sake of it – or pure Exploration – can be dangerous. New ideas need to initially be able to be explored without judgement, but then they need to be tested against the core values without losing the essence of the innovation.

Here are some questions you can use to ensure an ambidextrous approach and to test ideas against the core values.

If you keep coming back to the core values that focus on the deeper purpose your company aspires to that should help to ensure there is alignment. Try asking: What innovations would we all be proud of to talk about to future generations?

Similarly, if you keep analysing and testing ideas and without taking risks its possible to become paralysed. At some point you will need to find consensus and move forward. Having a core value that allows for experimentation and potential failure as a learning opportunity can help with this. This might involve asking: Can we move forward with this new idea or innovation confidently enough to stay on track with our core values, or could it pose a deeper threat to our values at some stage?
Innovation is one thing, but sustainable purpose-driven innovation is another.

How successfully can you implement purpose-driven innovation with your team and organisation?

About the author
Gaia Grant is a lecturer and doctoral researcher at the University of Sydney Business School in the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, focusing on research into innovation paradoxes and ambidexterity for socially responsible and sustainable innovation. Gaia is also the Managing Director of Tirian International Consulting, the co-author (with Andrew Grant) of a number of books including ‘The Innovation Race’, and a consultant and keynote speaker. Gaia worked on the academic research with Professor Martin Dowson, who is a Doctor of Psychology and Director of Academic Development at Excelsia College also completing a doctoral dissertation on Philosophy at Macquarie University. For more information see The-Innovation-Race.Com.