88. Nic Parmaksizian: How to create an environment that encourages innovation

Global CEO of Designit, Nic Parmaksizian talks to Sue Stockdale about why he is passionate about creativity and innovation. Nic outlines how leaders can create environments that encourage innovation, and why ambidexterity is needed to be able to focus on both profitability today and tomorrow. An accomplished global business executive, Nic is known for his strategic, visionary thinking. His contagious entrepreneurial approach and humanity-centred work methodology have contributed to an impressive track record of industry-leading transformational change in the areas of technology innovation and human behaviour. In 2022, Nic joined Designit as CEO and was previously Head of Digital practice at the global technology and management consultancy Capco, a Wipro company. During the eight years that he headed the digital department, Nic built a renowned digital innovation team that challenged the norms to deliver highly successful digital transformation strategies for financial services around the world.Key Quotes:'I have a very associated mind. So I connect things and I try to find patterns'.'I still try to make sure that I can still tap into that little voice, that intuition to help guide me when I come to make decisions'.'There needs to be a clear mandate from the top of a business that this is a priority and that leadership will create an environment where people, have the time, the opportunity and the safety net that they need to be able to innovate'.'Innovation is not just about coming up with ideas. It's also about following up on those ideas and making sure that's they land and there is execution behind them'.'Do your day job, but also think about tomorrow'. 'As a leader, what I try to do is lead from the front, lead by example, and role model the behaviours that I would want to see from everybody else'.'You need ambidexterity between profitability today while thinking about your profit for tomorrow. And I find that sometimes one can compromise the other'. 'I find it very important from a wellbeing point of view to give people access to learning'.Connect with Nic Parmaksizian:Designit - https://www.designit.com LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicparmak/ This series is kindly supported by Squadcast –the remote recording platform which empowers podcasters by capturing high-quality audio and video conversations. https://squadcast.fmRead the transcription for this episode on www.accesstoinspiration.org and connect with us:Twitter www.twitter.com/accessinspirat1 Facebook www.facebook.com/accesstoinspiration Instagram www.instagram.com/accesstoinspiration LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/access-to-inspiration/Sign up for our newsletter http://eepurl.com/hguX2b Read our Impact Report https://bit.ly/3hElalv Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/access-to-inspiration--4156820/support.