Fin Whitehouse discusses organisational culture, and how it could be the key to successful innovation within impact assessment
It has been two years since IEMA published its digital impact assessment (IA) primer (bit.ly/IEMA_DIAprimer), and while it remains a hot topic, digital tools are still not used enough within environmental impact assessment (EIA) .
Innovation is the process through which ideas are produced, developed, assessed and implemented; it is not itself a ‘thing’, but all of these actions amalgamated. It has become an organisational imperative and a key driver for growth and longevity.
While IEMA can raise awareness of digital IA to help stimulate technological advances, the development of digital tools is beyond its remit; the onus is on organisations. The digital IA primer included a nod towards organisational culture and its role in the facilitation of innovation activities and outcomes, stating: “The availability and effective application of digital skills for EIA are influenced by organisational culture and approaches. Without a clearer understanding within management structures and processes within organisations, existing digital skills will not be used to their full effect, and opportunities for developing new digital skills will not be fully embraced.”
Organisational culture is an intangible but powerful social force. It comprises the values and beliefs that give members the behavioural norms they are expected to adhere to. Research has shown that organisational culture can influence members’ behaviours beyond formal means of control, so it could be key in evoking desired organisational outcomes.
Innovation culture
‘Innovation culture’ is a collection of organisational cultural values and behaviours that support innovation.
To foster it, an organisation must be open to uncertainty and provide the freedom to take risks; employees need to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. Research has shown that a flexible or decentralised approach to decision-making in terms of digital technologies could foster greater risk tolerance, integrating more diverse opinions.
This would enable a more active, open approach to innovation, within which employees receive recognition for experimenting, failing and learning from mistakes. This engenders a learning orientation, which is pivotal in embedding innovation culture, pointing organisations in the direction of creating and using knowledge. Applied to digital IA, a learning orientation will improve an organisation’s desire and ability to create and use digital technologies.
However, a lack of strategic intent could lead to duplication of technologies created, and thus redundant effort, so it is vital that there is top-down articulation of innovative intent. Senior people must convey a clear and stimulating strategic vision for how digital technologies should be used. When this is met with the enthusiastic bottom-up generation of creative solutions, it will lead to digital solutions that are fit for the purpose conveyed by the strategic vision.
IA professionals need to have a reactive mindset to deal with the day-to-day problems they face, but a proactive mindset is necessary to convey a strategic vision. The two are not mutually exclusive, but when articulating a strategic vision, one must adopt a holistic viewpoint and a proactive approach –not just thinking about today’s issues, but also about how digital technologies can improve processes in future.
A shift in organisational culture is not a silver bullet to achieving digital IA, but it is a self-reinforcing factor in organisational life. If a conscious effort is made to embed these values into an organisation’s culture, they will be useful in enhancing innovation over time.
Fin Whitehouse, GradIEMA, is a graduate specialist and scientist at Arcadis.
