As a partner for MPR’s Conversations on the Creative Economy, last week The Bailey Group had the privilege of watching a live interview with Mary Brainerd, president and CEO of HealthPartners. She commented that innovation is about leadership—the people you have, how you lead and whether executives and leaders at all levels “get it” that their job is all about nurturing and rewarding the sparks of creativity within their organizations.

The interview got me thinking about Brian Cornell and Target. It is hard not to be impressed by the transformation Cornell and his teams are leading.

In January of 2015, Target announced that it was shutting down all 133 of its stores in Canada. In March of this year, Target announced plans to lay off 1,700 employees and to not fill 1,400 open positions. More recently, there was news of outsourcing some of its business lines. These were undoubtedly difficult decisions. That said, these decisions have already contributed to an improvement in Target’s financial results. Equally important, these changes are providing resources for investments in new initiatives to continue Target’s transformation.

Like many CEOs we work with, Cornell is concerned that his organization has been too insular and inwardly focused and is pushing Target to be more outwardly focused. Toward that end, Target has recently announced a new Entrepreneurs in Residence program to stimulate innovation in its business model. Three experienced entrepreneurs have been brought in to “push Target to think broadly and find new opportunities.”

Based on our experience working with other organizations struggling to transform themselves, it struck me how particularly bold (and smart!) Target’s approach is. We have seen that it is extraordinarily difficult for executives who are steeped in their current business model to find the creativity and objectivity to re-imagine their industry and their businesses. Target is confronting this problem head-on.

Last winter, Cornell hired Casey Carl as chief innovation and strategy officer. Carl has a team of about 45 designers and managers experimenting with new store concepts. Just this past week, Target announced that it is becoming the first Twin Cities partner for Techstars, a company that nurtures budding entrepreneurs.

The challenge that Cornell and his team now face is building and sustaining a culture at Target that supports innovation and new thinking. Time will tell if they have what it takes to do it successfully.