Innovation is for everyone

When we think of innovations, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Probably technological gadgets, heavy machinery, or something similar. It’s true that many innovations are like this, but as we know, this is not all that innovations can be. Innovation, by definition, is a new idea that can be commercialized. If by default we think that innovations are only gadgets, many new inventions and business ideas never see the light of day. 

When we think of an innovator, who’s the first person to come to mind? Probably a man. This is because innovators are mostly men. If we accept this as truth and believe that innovators can only be men, we again stifle many new inventions and business ideas. 

Making such generalizations is very human, but there is no universal law requiring that all innovations be gadgets, or that all innovators be men. This kind of default thinking is not harmless, so I want to stop here for a minute and discuss the value of diversity in innovation and business. 

We know based on a wealth of research that diverse teams are more innovative, leading to better products and services. Ultimately, this means superior business performance. But we also know that achieving diversity is not a walk in the park. If it were easy, every company would already be diverse! 

Achieving diversity is not a walk in the park.

One main bump on the road to diversity is our unconscious biases. Our brains automatically assign different characteristics to different groups of people. Maybe we think that innovators are men because men are naturally good with technology. And that women aren’t, so they cannot be innovators. Of course, this isn’t true. There are many men who aren’t interested in technology, and there are plenty of women who are. Consider for instance fire escapes, life rafts, windshield wipers, dishwashers, and Kevlar – all invented by women. Moreover, there are many existing and potential innovations that have nothing to do with technology. 

Last year, we decided to take a look at the diversity in innovation activities in Finland. We analyzed our funding data from a gender perspective, as that is the diversity data we could extract. Our findings confirmed that indeed, innovators are mostly men. Women submit significantly fewer applications and seek smaller amounts of funding than do men. This means that the overwhelming majority of public innovation funding is granted to projects led by men. 

There are many barriers to women’s entry into innovation activities and leading roles. I have seen this firsthand: for ten years, I was the only female CEO in a listed company in Finland, and it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of competent women. 

But, as we know, diversity is not just about two genders. It’s also about sexual orientation and gender identity, ethnicity, race, religion, age, socioeconomic background, and so on. Diversity also means diversity of human perspectives, and the more unique perspectives we have, the better. Furthermore, we all deserve to be seen as our whole selves instead of just some aspects of who we are. 

Diversity means diversity of human perspectives, and the more unique perspectives we have, the better.

How are we doing with diversity, equity, and inclusion at Business Finland? We still have ways to go, but I believe we’re firmly on the right trajectory. We’ve been proactive in raising awareness about DEI and encouraging our employees to spend time learning about the different aspects of sustainability. And this spring, we conducted a survey to understand BFers’ views on equality, discrimination, and diversity within our organization. 

The results were eye-opening. We learned that while about 80% of all respondents feel that equality and non-discrimination are well or very well realized at BF, nearly a third reported experiencing unequal treatment or discrimination for various reasons in the past five years. This I found alarming. Moreover, in many cases these incidents were left unreported, which means that we didn’t have an accurate picture of the overall situation. We’ve taken the results seriously and renewed our equality and non-discrimination plan for 2024–2025 based on the findings and expanded it to include activities to promote diversity and inclusion. We’re also going to measure our progress with annual surveys. 

I want to see Business Finland as a truly diverse, equal, and inclusive organization. I also want to say out loud that we accept everyone as they are, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, age, physical capabilities, and so on. I find it important that everyone can be their realest, most authentic self at work. I know that just saying it isn’t enough, which is why we’re going to focus on listening to our people and implementing the measures we’ve included in our plan. 

I encourage every company to take a good look at their data and their culture. See where you are right now, where you have room for development and state your values and goals out loud. It’s not enough to say it once, write it down in a document, and then forget about it. We all want to feel like we belong and are accepted as ourselves, every day, so we need to express this firmly, and we need to express it often. 

If we limit opportunities to a select group, we risk stifling the potential for incredible innovations that benefit us all.

In honor of Pride month, we wanted to use our social media reach to amplify this message. We asked a few of our customer companies who are pioneers in these matters to share on our social media their perspectives on DEI and Pride. They were all enthusiastic to participate, share valuable insights, and inspire other companies to act. As Sievo emphasized: “You might think that your workplace is already safe and that there’s no discrimination against anyone. Nice thoughts, but it’s not enough. We must do better.” 

We can’t predict who will make the next big innovation, but we know that diverse teams are more likely to succeed. Diverse perspectives fuel creativity and lead to novel solutions. If we limit opportunities to a select group, we risk stifling the potential for incredible innovations that benefit us all. And of course, working towards diversity, equity, and inclusion is simply the right thing to do.

Innovation is for everyone.