NAFCU Journal July August 2021

CREATING AN INNOVATIVE CULTURE STARTS AT THE TOP Providing structure and support critical to encouraging performance improvement ideas By Sheryl S. Jackson 21 THE NAFCU JOURNAL July–August 2021 Innovation in the workplace can be defined in different ways, but Theodore Levitt, a German American economist and professor at Harvard University said, “Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.” Before implementing programs and processes to inspire innovation to improve performance in a credit union, lead - ers need to be clear about what they mean by innovation, says Peter Myers, senior vice president of DDJ Myers, a leader in credit union development. Innovation is often associated with technology, but it can also be about chang- ing processes that have been part of the organization for a long time, he explains. “Leaders have to be willing to change core processes—they can’t say that they want inno- vation and also say some things cannot ever be changed.”