Five Ways to Lead with Innovation while keeping the Customer at the Core

Agility seems like the name of the game these days. It’s simply the new way of working and is more important than ever. I’ve learned over the last few months that adapting to long-term planning with short-term wins helps us focus on optimizing our priorities to change with what we learn about our customers and our business. 

Back in May, I shared my thoughts on leading through a crisis. It seems like a lifetime ago, but I think we can all still agree that standing up and being a leader for our teams is more important now than ever. Amid external chaos, our goal is to create a vision for the future, even when it seems a bit uncertain.

Not only has our ways of working changed, but customer behavior has changed. The need to foster an organization that listens to customers is critical. I recently told my team that things are changing more in one day than they have in the last five years. Today it’s more important than ever to be agile and forward-thinking. Of course, this comes with challenges – but if we keep a customer-centered foundation for all we do, we’re able to serve today and prepare and innovate for the future.

That starts with you, the leader. I’ve mentioned this before (here), but the truth is, the best ideas don’t come from the top, they come from the team.

It’s been incredibly inspiring to see the teams create solutions for customers like summer drive-in movies, Camp by Walmart, Express delivery, and most recently, the ultimate life hack Walmart+. When you create an environment of outside-of-box thinking, you are setting yourselves up for success. 

Throughout my career I have learned from some incredible leaders, have had really impactful conversations with my teams and while I never met him, Mr. Sam tells us so much about innovation. All have taught me a great deal about ways to implement and encourage innovative thought-leadership not just for my teams, but also for me.

It is all about culture. 

As leaders, we need to engage with our teams, hear from them, and encourage them to think differently. Yes, you can hire creative thinkers; but that may not always be the best solution. Focus on fostering a culture of innovative thinkers that put your customer first. Be their biggest fan. As Mr. Sam said, "There's absolutely no limit to what plain, ordinary, working people can accomplish if they're given the opportunity and encouragement to do their best."

Stay Focused on who your customer is today. 

When you make the customer the foundation of everything you do, it is easy to paint a picture of who they are. However, today, customer behavior changes every day. Instead of painting a picture, think about it like a whiteboard or a stack of sticky notes. If you personify the customer, you begin to empathize with them. The power of empathy is crucial in innovative thinking. It requires you to seek insight from the human experience – it’ll set you apart. 

Have fun!  

Working remotely can become monotonous. Sometimes I wonder if we are living at work or working from home? Helping teams feel connected is super important right now. Continue to motivate your team to come together often. Continue to be transparent and acknowledge current challenges.

Companies like Pixar are creating a "brain trust," where people are sharing ideas in a judgment-free zone. When this happens, neurons start firing, and teams begin to create innovative solutions that solve customers' problems.  

As a leader, your job is to support open dialogue, this allows your teams to have an opportunity to speak up about an idea they had penned a few weeks ago or work cross-functionally to execute an idea. As we head into the busiest time of the retail year it’s even more important for you and your teams to feel connected, appreciated, and heard. Encourage your teams to take time to reset. It may not be the typical vacation, but a few days to clear the mind can go a long way.

Another great Sam Walton quote - "Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everyone around you will loosen up."

Expect the Unexpected. 

Setting expectations and goals is a big part of being a leader. But what if the expectation was "be unexpected." Mr. Sam once said, "Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be. Don't become too predictable."  

When you give your teams the flexibility to think outside the box. When Walt Disney was rejected over 300 times to purchase and develop his Florida theme park, did he give up? No, he used a dummy corporation to buy the land.  

Keep people guessing about what you are going to do next. Sometimes you need to examine a problem multiple ways before you can find the solution. When you can come at a from problem multiple angles, you might find additional problems, leading to more solutions for your customers. That is where you can really find unlocks for the customer. 

Commit to the follow-through. 

 It can seem tough to change your way of thinking from long-term to short-term. Don’t get me wrong, we all need to thinking long term. However, when customers change as rapidly as they are currently are (and I do not see that slowing down anytime soon), short-term goals and planning are essential to success. 

If a customer problem is identified, commit to finding a solution to it. Sometimes the structures, systems, and technology we have in place do not allow us to solve a need immediately. The solution to problem A led us to uncover problems B, C, and D - which now we need to solve, in order to solve Problem A. Don’t consider that a failure - it’s actually great! As I said, that is where the unlock can happen!

Solutions can seem daunting. But an innovative leader does not let that overwhelm the team. An innovative leader commits to solving problems for their customers.  

If we were to continue to operate by our historical no-membership model, Walmart+ would not exist. Instead, we’re unlocking incredible value for customers by continuing to democratize products and services for customers … the entire reason Walmart exists.

Applying these five core principles to leading with innovation will help your teams keep the ever-changing customer behavior front and center. Where are you and your team at in leading with innovation? Are there ways you can become more agile, more innovative? How can you become a thought-leader for change and innovation? 

At Walmart, I am so thankful to have leadership that wants to hear the out-of-the-box solutions. The more minds that come together, the better that idea becomes.