What is innovation? The basic definition is the act of introducing new methods, ideas or products. When thinking about innovation, we have to think about innovative leader Vineet Nayar and how he introduced this concept to HCL in 2007. His strategic vision and global point of view propelled the then gloomy firm into the leader of the industry in a short amount of time.

Factors in the global environment that influenced Nayar’s need to create a more innovative organization.

Vineet Nayar was appointed CEO of HCL Technologies, an IT services provider at a moment when the company, although it was presenting revenue growth, it was losing market share and mindshare. Nayar (2010) mentions how the competitors were growing at a rate of 40% to 50% a year, while HCL was growing at a rate of 30%. The IT services industry was changing rapidly. Customers wanted long term partners that would provide end to end services.
These factors alongside the traditional pyramid organization that HCL had influenced Nayar to transform the company into what was known in 2009 as India’s best employer. The company was able to triple their annual revenue and double their market share.

Nayar embrace the culture of Employees First Customers Second, this practice was about alignment towards a common goal and making sure everyone is involved. An engaged organization is one where people are aligned towards the organization’s goal, and where management is in the business of making sure they have the tools to succeed – so the key is alignment. One way to achieve this alignment is by making the organization focus on the employee’s objective by helping the employee find the answer to the question, what is in it for me? (Leaders Magazine Inc., 2013)

Nayar’s use of the five discovery skills to create an innovative organization.

The use of the five discovery skills according to Dyer, Gregersen