Building and Sustaining a Culture of Innovation in an Academic Health Centre

Although innovative organizations have the advantage of superior performance, the idea of adopting innovative practices and embracing risk taking at work can be intimidating, especially for those working in healthcare. When responsible for the health and safety of others, healthcare workers tend to gravitate away from ideas that could result in failure. The challenge of promoting innovation in a healthcare context can be addressed by creating an organizational culture of innovation - where innovative thinking is normalized, rewarded and even expected of employees. In this article, we share our journey and outline lessons learned in creating a culture of innovation at Holland Bloorview, Canada's largest pediatric rehabilitation hospital. It is our hope that those seeking to create a culture of innovation within their organization can learn from and apply these lessons in their own contexts.