Many managers are proficient in leading a team that has a solid reputation for maintaining the status quo and producing consistent, high quality results. These managers lead teams that are good at making small incremental improvements. For example, the changes they implement one month will lead to a 3 percent improvement in future productivity. Those improvements are all good, but most likely would not be described as innovative.
In a 2009 study in the Journal of Marketing, after examining 759 companies across 17 countries, the authors found that the number one determinant of whether a team or organization was going to build a reputation for innovation was the culture that the leaders create. The survey found that innovative cultures create engagement and enthusiasm and encourage people to be independent thinkers who operate in a safe environment that encourages them to take risks.
What can we learn from these innovative cultures about encouraging a creative environment?
Create Time to Think
Creativity and innovation take time. If all you have time to work on is operational tasks and solving existing problems, then you will have zero time to think creatively or come up with innovative ideas. Great companies like LinkedIn or 3M allow their employees to spend a certain percentage of their working time devoted to projects of their choice which will promote the mission and vision. With time set aside to think and experiment with new products, technologies, processes or systems, you have laid the ground work to be a leader who builds an innovative team.
Have an Open Mind
To be innovative, you have to have a curious mind that is willing to ask “Why?” and, “What if?” Great leaders need to get outside of their own silo and look at opportunities from their customers’ perspectives as well as be curious about how things are done in other industries. When you see something interesting being done in another industry, great questions to ask are, “Why did they create that product, process or service?” and, “What if we were to adapt it to our industry?” Willingness to ask the right questions is the first step to innovation. However, you need more than an inquisitive nature; openness will help you to quickly recognize that sometimes, the best ideas do not come from the experts; they just may come from a thinker on the front line.
Identify your Team’s or Organization’s Strategic Driving Force
When it comes to innovation, you need to give team members guideposts in which to operate. If your strategic driving force is to drive customers to your website, any innovative ideas that encourage clients to connect and do business with your organization is going to be welcomed. If your strategic driving force is to wow your customers even more in a specific market with additional products that will grow their business, any innovative products that will be in demand by your customers will be welcomed. Great leaders are focused on defining the outcomes that need to be achieved. Great leaders do not tell people “how” to achieve the outcomes. That is where the creativity and innovation become the keys to success.
Welcome Mistakes
If you are not making mistakes and throwing away ideas that did not work, it will be harder to build a culture where employees are willing to take an innovative risk. People need to feel that they work in an environment where it is safe to make mistakes. There is a great story from Sheryl Sandberg’s time at Google when she confessed to a mistake to Larry Page that cost the company millions of dollars. Page let Sheryl know, “I am so glad you made this mistake because I want to run a company where we are moving too quickly and doing too much, not being too cautious and doing too little. If we don’t have any of these mistakes, we’re just not taking enough risk.” How welcoming are you when it comes to one of your team members confessing to a big mistake?
Set BIG Goals
Great leaders set big goals. Why? Because most big goals are not easy to achieve. Big goals inspire team members to figure out what they need to do, or do differently to achieve the outcome. When team members are inspired, it is a lot easier to find creative and innovative solutions.
Make Innovation a Part of Everyone’s Job
Some organizations are fond of creating an innovation team or “Skunk Works” who are given marching orders, free from bureaucracy to create, innovate and, most importantly, get significant stuff done. Many swear by the success of these teams, even when the statistics tell us that close to 70 percent of all new ideas, products, or services actually fail. A better strategy is to have every employee be held accountable to find new and innovative ways to improve the work they do and maintain alignment with the team’s or company’s strategic driving force.
Reward Innovation and Risk
Ideas are a dime a dozen. We all have a few great ideas. The challenge is that most innovative ideas hit a wall when confronted with a strong support for “the way we currently do things” within a team or organization’s culture. Kodak, who originated the phrase, the “Kodak Moment” fell to Digital Darwinism by becoming irrelevant to new generations of consumers. Kodak had great scientists, but they had an even stronger executive team. Rather than rewarding the cutting-edge scientists who were developing new digital technologies, they rewarded people who supported the then highly profitable film business. Einstein once said, “Great spirits will always meet violent opposition from mediocre minds.” Because many organizations are risk adverse, they reward people for not rocking the boat. Mediocrity kills innovation and creativity. Mediocrity has stifled innovation and creativity to the point that some organizations were paralyzed, could not change and went out of business. When team members are rewarded for innovation and willingness to take a risk, you will find you have more creative ideas than you can implement.
Great leaders recognize they do not have to be the one who come up with all the ideas. They know when to step up and when to step back. To be the kind of leader who creates a culture rich in innovation and creativity, and then steps back to let it all happen, put the above tips into play.
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