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Seeing as we’re all raised in a culture without giving it a second thought, the idea of creating one can seem daunting, particularly when the fate of your company rests on its success or failure.

As Soren Kaplan at Fast Company points out, though, a company with a culture of innovation is far more likely to fulfill their goals of creativity than one that just occasionally gives lip service to the concept.

For all those without a background in cultural anthropology, Kaplan offers six suggestions of ways to create a dynamic, innovative company culture with real world examples of how they worked for the big names and explanations of how they can work for you.

Are you ready for some culture shock? Read on.

1. Be intentional with your innovation intent.

…The goal: Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer. For example, the software company Intuit–the developer of Quicken, Quick Books, and TurboTax–makes its mission abundantly clear: “To improve our customers’ financial lives so profoundly they can’t imagine going back to the old way.”

2. Create a structure for unstructured time.

…Giving up control when the pressure is greatest is the ultimate innovation paradox. That’s why iconic brands like 3M and Google give their employees about 10% “free time” to experiment with new ideas. The software company Atlassian encourages employees to take “FedEx Days”–paid days off to work on any problem they want. But there’s a catch: Just like FedEx, they must deliver something of value 24 hours later…

Full story at Fast Company.

Paving the road to innovation.

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