Business Innovation
Stepping into the unfamiliar
Corporate respect was once closely associated with size, longevity and legacy. Organisations that had endured for generations were often assumed to have earned respect simply through survival. But in this fast changing world, Yohann de Zoysa believes that legacy alone is no longer sufficient.
“The assumption was that an institution that had endured for generations must be doing something right simply by virtue of legacy. While such an assumption was once reasonable, it is no longer the case today,” he asserts.
De Zoysa continues: “The clearest signal that a brand can deliver is its instinct to innovate and step into the unfamiliar. An organisation with a long and successful history could comfortably stay within what it knows. But choosing to enter an entirely new sector with the intention to disrupt is what drives real innovation.”
This readiness to challenge itself, rather than rely on past achievements, helps a brand sustain respect. Innovation shows that a company isn’t merely protecting what it has built but preparing for what comes next. Innovation also strengthens relationships with customers, investors and employees. For customers, it signals the confidence and capability to deliver something genuinely new.
“For investors, innovation signals resilience. A business that is building up for the next decade is always going to deliver stronger returns than one that’s defending its last decade,” de Zoysa explains.
However, he believes the most underrated connection is between innovation and employees. People are not only the beneficiaries of innovation; often, they’re its source. Diverse teams that combine industry expertise with experience from other fields are better placed to challenge conventional thinking and find new solutions.
“It’s important to mix people who bring experience from different fields with industry experts. When they work together to disrupt an industry, they approach challenges in novel ways and find solutions that a team of traditionalists would not spot,” he adds.
This makes culture central to innovation. A company that encourages employees to question received wisdom, keep learning and challenge themselves is already pursuing a form of innovation within its own walls.
“Organisational culture should encourage everyone to question received wisdom and always challenge themselves to keep learning. Such a culture is itself a form of innovation – it is one that a company has the most direct control,” de Zoysa notes.
Long-term relevance also depends on innovation being treated as a discipline, rather than an occasional initiative. He argues that “organisations that treat innovation as a discipline rather than an occasional event make headway because innovation is what fuels relevance.”
For Sri Lanka, de Zoysa sees wider national importance in local companies choosing to innovate. When a local enterprise enters a frontier sector, builds capability and proves that a Sri Lankan company can lead rather than follow, the impact extends beyond the business.
“It creates expertise that didn’t exist here in the past, opens opportunities for people to grow into emerging industries and helps move the wider economy towards where the world is heading, rather than where it’s been,” he adds.
De Zoysa believes an organisation can remain respected without continually innovating – but only for a while. Reputation has momentum and legacy can carry a company further than it deserves.
“Respect that isn’t renewed through real progress gradually turns into nostalgia. While that sense of affinity can last for some time, it is not the same as having confidence in what a company will deliver tomorrow,” he claims.
Innovation without stability can become recklessness while stability without innovation leads to decline. The strongest organisations pursue both through values and governance. “Ultimately, that is the reality behind a respected company – to be bold about what it pursues and dependable in how it stands behind it,” de Zoysa concludes.
