There’s a misconception that innovation is about big, bold ideas from the top. That it comes from the founder, the CEO, or the strategy team. But in reality, the best ideas don't always start in the boardroom.
They sometimes start on the front lines—with the people closest to the product, the customer, and the problem.
At Vacaay, our job as a leadership team isn’t to come up with every idea. It’s to create the conditions where ideas can thrive. That means removing roadblocks, giving people room to move, and building a culture where experimentation is encouraged—and failure isn’t fatal.
Structure supports creativity
One of the myths in startup culture is that freedom equals chaos and structure kills creativity. We’ve found the opposite to be true.
The right level of structure actually unlocks innovation. Clear roles, defined goals, transparent priorities. When everyone understands the playing field, they’re more confident taking shots.
We’ve built cross-functional teams that work autonomously but stay aligned. Daily standups, fortnightly sprint goals, and open channels between leadership and the rest of the team all contribute to a culture where great ideas surface fast—and get acted on even faster.
Don’t just hire smart people—trust them
We’ve been deliberate about who we hire, but even more deliberate about how we lead them.
If you bring talented people into the business and then micromanage them, you’ll crush their creativity. Innovation requires trust, room to move, and a sense of ownership.
At Vacaay, we don’t just want employees—we want internal entrepreneurs. People who think deeply, challenge assumptions, and take the initiative to solve problems before we even know they exist.
Leadership isn’t always about giving answers. It’s about asking better questions—and backing your team to find the answers themselves.
Progress over perfection
Speed matters in innovation. But so does autonomy. We’ve worked hard to build a culture where people don’t wait for perfection—or permission—to try something new.
Whether it’s a bold new UX flow, a creative campaign strategy, or a fresh approach to a partner problem, we encourage our teams to test and learn. Ship small, iterate quickly, and own the result.
Some things won’t work, and that’s fine. We’re not interested in a culture of blame, we’re interested in forward momentum.
Leadership sets the tone
Culture isn’t a slide deck. It’s not a set of values painted on the office wall. Culture is determined by what happens in meetings, in how decisions are made, and how wins (and losses) are handled.
As a leadership team, we know our actions set the tone. If we shut down ideas, people stop offering them. If we get defensive, people stop challenging us. If we’re not open to learning, neither is the team.
So we try to lead with humility, clarity, and consistency—because that’s the environment where great ideas flourish.
Final thought
Empowering teams to innovate isn’t just about culture. It’s about trust, structure, and leadership that gets out of the way when it needs to.
At Vacaay, we believe in impact, giving people the clarity to focus and the confidence to push boundaries. And we believe the best ideas are still ahead of us.
%2520b.png)
