Empower, don’t blame: Richard Eu on how to build a culture of innovation
Company leaders should take responsibility if a project fails, as the one who greenlit it, says the Eu Yan Sang chairman
[SINGAPORE] To foster a culture of innovation, business leaders must empower employees to take risks and not blame them for failure, said Eu Yan Sang International group chairman Richard Eu.
“If you want innovation, you will want people to try new things…(But) you’ve got to accept that people will make mistakes,” said the leader of the home-grown traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) brand in a virtual fireside chat on Thursday (Apr 3).
Rather, if an innovative project fails, senior management should take responsibility for approving it in the first place, he added.
Moderated by The Business Times’ memberships editor Dylan Tan, the session was part of the launch of the Enterprise 50 2025 Awards.
Organised by BT and KPMG in Singapore, and sponsored by OCBC, the award recognises 50 of Singapore’s most innovative and competitive home-grown, privately owned businesses that have contributed to the nation’s economy, both domestically and abroad.
Employees must be “empowered” to risk trying new ideas, said Eu. “If you have a culture whereby you cannot take a wrong step, then no one’s going to do anything.”
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He credited much of his company’s own success in overseas expansion to “very good country heads” who came up with strong ideas.
“My job was to facilitate and allow them to do that.”
Lessons in failure
For instance, he cited Eu Yan Sang’s decision to purchase herbal tonic bar Elixir in Los Angeles in the early 2000s.
The US store, which transformed TCM formulas into tonic beverages, featured a Japanese-inspired garden and a stylish interior. It was a hit even with movie stars, said Eu.
Still, the store eventually had to close when the property owner tore down the building in which it was located.
Eu Yan Sang has not been able to replicate that success, even with a similar idea in Singapore in 2007, noted Eu. The Red White & Pure concept store at VivoCity brought together several elements under one roof, including a retail space, a restaurant, a TCM clinic and a spa.
Yet the company “couldn’t quite get it to work”, said Eu, musing that the idea might have been too ahead of its time.
Despite the setback, Eu Yan Sang took the core idea of a one-stop shop and created wellness clinics that integrate both Western and TCM medicine.
When Tan remarked that failure is part of the learning process, Eu agreed: “Many times.”
Expect the unexpected
With a focus on innovation and resilience, the wide-ranging discussion covered topics from artificial intelligence (AI) to succession planning.
AI could aid the TCM industry by analysing patient data to identify patterns and enhance treatment outcomes, said Eu.
Meanwhile, Eu Yan Sang’s succession planning approach involves bringing in “institutional shareholders and large strategic partners”, said Eu, without naming names.
This is instead of relying solely on family members – who may have fewer resources – to take the company forward.
Eu also spoke about the importance of being prepared for disruption and the unexpected.
“I think competition can come from anywhere, so you never know who’s going to disrupt you.” Threats may not even come from within the same industry, he added.
Urging businesses to keep this in mind, he said that Eu Yan Sang prepares for such scenarios by actively exploring how the company itself can be disrupted.
This inward-looking strategy helps the company develop potential solutions to address weaknesses which competitors are bound to exploit, he said.
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