Trust, Teamwork, and Testing Ideas: The Keys to Future Business Growth
New analysis from global advisory firm WTW emphasizes that leadership engagement and a culture conducive to experimentation are essential for innovation to take hold in organizations. As the insurance industry faces emerging risks and client demands, innovation is increasingly viewed as a strategically led business function rather than an opportunistic pursuit.
Leadership’s Influence on Organizational Innovation
WTW’s internal review of innovation practices revealed that many organizations struggle to achieve innovation outcomes not due to a lack of ideas or funding, but because of insufficient leadership support. When senior leaders lack a clear understanding of how innovation functions or fail to foster a supportive workplace culture, barriers such as resistance to failure and rigid mindsets dominate. Innovation readiness stems from how leaders define risk tolerance, support testing environments, and encourage ideation across the organization.
Cultural Pillars Supporting Innovation
The research identified specific cultural components that support innovation:
- Experimentation and Continuous Learning: Encouraging trial-and-error processes and reducing the stigma associated with failure can improve long-term agility. Leaders must visibly participate in these efforts to establish behavioral norms.
- Psychological Safety and Trust: Building a space where employees can suggest, critique, and revise ideas without negative repercussions enables more effective problem-solving.
- Collaborative Mindset: Cross-functional dialogue and inclusivity are essential for identifying practical solutions to client and market challenges.
Embedding these behaviors within daily operations leads to more consistent innovation outputs. Institutionalizing innovation through structures such as early-stage prototyping, peer-to-peer idea sharing, structured training, and internal discussion forums can advance both incremental and transformative innovations.
Shifts in Risk Tolerance and Business Models
Gallagher’s “Five Years of Business Risk Evolution” report documented how companies have altered their approach to risk since the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly two-thirds of 1,200 surveyed executives indicated their risk environment had become more complex and unpredictable. Organisations are shifting from assuming large-scale disruptions are rare events to realising they must prepare for inevitable crises. In response, 78% of firms modified their revenue streams or market strategies, adopting diversified sourcing models and emphasizing domestic suppliers to manage supply chain uncertainty.
Interconnected Risk Drivers Require Integrated Solutions
Aon’s “Client Trends 2025” report outlined four interdependent forces transforming the global risk landscape: trade disruption, environmental volatility, technological advancement, and workforce change. CEO Greg Case emphasized the need for holistic responses, stating that leaders need access to integrated data, analytics, capabilities, and expertise to effectively respond to increasingly linked risk and people issues.
