Dinner with Ernest: How to Lead Innovative Teams

June 07, 2017

DinnerWithErnest

Apple CEO Tim Cook told Fast Company, “The fact that we really want to change the world remains the same … You want a very diverse group with very diverse life experiences looking at every problem. But you also want people to buy into the philosophy, not just buy in, but to deeply believe in it.”

A recent study from John Wiley & Sons proves Cook’s words beyond a doubt: deep belief in corporate culture drives performance. In fact, companies with happy employees outperform their competitors by 20%. Zappos continues to demonstrate and be recognized for how its company culture starts with a mission and results in happy customers.

For over 70 years, we’ve been changing the world of packaging solutions, but we couldn’t have done it without the entire Ernest team supporting us every step of the way, from every position within our company. At Ernest Packaging Solutions, building an open and fulfilling work environment is something we believe in and live every day. Building a great culture is the key to attracting the best and brightest talent, and that philosophy is how we have managed to thrive through constant economic and industry changes.

Ernest Packaging Solutions President, Tim Wilson, believes that the Ernest team has figured out the secret sauce to create a culture of innovation. First, you must create a culture of openness and encourage outside-the-box thinking from every employee.

“These far-out ideas like creating a cardboard skateboard or Fender Stratocaster come to life very intentionally,” says Wilson. “It’s part of our culture to push ourselves and to innovate. What inspires me day after day is how enthusiastically our team delivers on these principles with every project, and not just our Cardboard Chaos creations. It’s what differentiates us—our employees and our customers expect us to bring innovative ideas to them every day.”

Dinner with Ernest – The Leadership Series

At Ernest, we invest in our company culture so that our team can focus on innovating packaging solutions. Our new “Dinner with Ernest” video series kicks off the conversation about what it means to lead an environment of openness and creativity, and how that generates client success.

Be sure to follow along on this episodic adventure here. You’ll meet some of the people who built our culture that revolves around making our customers more successful. How can we help you?