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Your team isn't innovating because they can't
They're not innovating because the system won't let them.
This is something I see a lot in healthcare, fintech, and logistics.
The issue isn't capability.
It's misaligned incentives.
When personal performance isn't tied to company outcomes, people optimize for survival, not innovation.
- They'll publish papers nobody reads.
- They'll claim breakthroughs that don't scale.
- They'll check boxes instead of solving problems.
Here are three things I would do to fix a broken system:
- Tie compensation directly to business outcomes.
If you want revenue, reward revenue. If you want cost savings, reward cost savings.
Make it simple and measurable.
- Stop rewarding activity metrics.
Conference talks, patent filings, and pilot programs mean nothing if they don't move the business forward.
Track what matters, ignore what doesn't.
- Give people skin in the game.
When teams share in the upside and downside, they start thinking like owners.
They'll vote with their feet if you take that away.
Innovation follows incentives. Get the incentives right, and the innovation problem solves itself.
Originally posted on LinkedIn.