Strategy & Leadership

Purpose – The paper aims to identify the lessons CEOs of large established organizations need to learn to make continuous innovation a part of the firm's DNA. Instead of innovation and organizational learning being the responsibility of a few iconoclastic, courageous and rare individuals or departments, it needs to become institutionalized as an organization-wide capability.

Design/methodology/approach – The author has drafted a lesson plan for top managers based on the best practice suggestions for introducing and fostering an innovation culture – pull management, authentic and interactive communication and putting the customer value zone at the center of the organization.

Findings – Pull management poses the complex challenge of delivering steadily increasing value to customers and engaging employees and customers in conversations. This is a radically different business environment. It requires understanding and mastering a radically different kind of management.

Practical implications – The management lesson plan: learn the skills required to practice pull management, authentic and interactive communication and putting the customer value zone at the center of the organization.

Originality/value – The paper postulates that organization-wide continuous innovation, which will be vital to survival in the coming years, requires a radically new approach to management and the learning of a completely new set of skills.