Why does the average Chief Innovation Officer last about 22 months in the role before leaving or getting kicked out of the C-Suite?

Well, if a survey by McKinsey & Co is right [aren’t they always], 94% of executives are dissatisfied with their companies’ innovation performance, but I contend that’s not always the fault of the innovation team.

Large corporations often grapple with the “innovation gap” – a disconnect between their capacity for innovation and ability to harness it effectively. This chasm stifles creativity, impedes adaptability, and hampers long-term success.

One primary culprit? Inertia. Bureaucracy, rigid hierarchies, and risk aversion can stifle the entrepreneurial spirit necessary for innovation to thrive. And I’ll throw in – the lack of executive buy-in at the highest levels and the narrative to support it throughout the organization.

Sure, blatant interia like legacy systems, entrenched processes, and resistance to change act as formidable barriers to innovation. Our friends at Deloitte found that only 21% of survey respondents believe their organizations are effective at fostering innovation.

However, a big part of fostering innovation is ensuring that the story is effectively told from the C-Suite and translated into every level of the organization.  Each layer, from executive to senior leader to manager to frontline employee, has to be informed of the innovation strategy, align it to their division’s strategy, and enable each team member to share their experience of the shift happening. Increasing capacity is critical, but so is the ability for every employee to see themselves as key to getting “unstuck.”

I’m curious: how is your business bridging the innovation gap? Does your team:

  • Cultivate a culture that celebrates creativity and encourages risk-taking?
  • Embrace failure as a catalyst for learning?
  • Foster interdisciplinary collaboration?
  • Establish agile frameworks for rapid experimentation and iteration?

And most importantly, are you creating mechanisms to get people talking about and sharing their experiences of amazing innovations in your business? If not, you’re missing out on the most significant catalyst for culture change, employee engagement, and maybe the chance to keep employees longer, even the Chief Innovation Officer.