Episode 84 Alex Goryachev - Cisco: “Mid-managers are ideal drivers of innovation.”

Almost all companies talk about innovation, but regretfully most of them have no idea what it really entails. Innovation is not about inventing new technologies and developing disruptive products – it is about people. Innovation is a mindset; an entrepreneurial spirit that must be embraced by every employee. That is exactly why those in middle management are ideal drivers of innovation, and why organizations must ensure that they are the ones setting the example with this innovation mindset.  

Research from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, demonstrated that middle managers have a much larger impact on organizational innovation than those individuals with assigned innovation job roles, and that middle managers are particularly essential in driving strong performance in creative, innovative and knowledge-intensive industries.  

As such, Alex Goryachev - Managing Director of Innovation Strategy at Cisco - recognizes that middle management is the real change-makers and leaders of innovation within their organization. In this week’s episode, Alex shares the top ways middle managers can effectively spearhead this initiative of developing a culture of innovation and remaining competitive in this fast-changing, disruptive, digital economy.  

Today with Alex we talk about: - What innovation means at Cisco and how it drives employee engagement. - Why middle managers are pivotal to innovation within any organization. - How can such managers help develop an innovation culture, and drive engagement and innovation?

This video originally appeared in People First Community on April 7, 2019

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