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9 Ways Your Company Can Encourage Innovation
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Innovation in business
The idea of innovation is taking off just as fast as the businesses that embrace it.
But, not all companies are prepared to push innovation within their organizations. Changing workplace systems and procedures requires resilience and flexibility, and it’s an unfortunate reality that many people are afraid of or continue to resist change.
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Intrapreneurship
An intrapreneur can be defined as someone who thinks like an entrepreneur but brings their ideas to the company where they are employed instead of launching their own business.
Instate a "no idea is a bad idea" policy, gather the support your employees need to try out their ideas and let them pitch decision-makers at your company.
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McKnight’s 15-percent-time rule
This allows employees to spend 15 % of their paid work time daydreaming, doodling or experimenting with ideas that don’t necessarily have to do with their work at the company.
This kind of daydreaming is the genesis of invention and fosters passion for one’s work.
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Reward experimentation - even failure
Beyond just giving your employees time to experiment, you should also reward innovative habits.
Nothing kills creativity faster than the fear of failure, so celebrate the success as well as the failures.
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Encourage research
Encourage your team to do their own research as well.
Let your employees’ personal interests and passions do the leading as they look into new technologies, reading articles and writing reports for your company.
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Employee forums
Whether it’s a weekly all-staff meeting or a company bulletin, foster a space where employees can meet across teams to discuss and present their research, experimentation or intrapreneurial ideas from their 15 % time.
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Shake things up
Get your employees to think outside the box by assigning them new and exciting projects outside the scope of their daily activities.
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Don’t put yourself in a box
Successfully innovative companies know that they are more than just their products and services.
Instead of only defining your company by what it sells, identify your assets and strategic skills.
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Utilize vacation time
Studies show that certain activities that foster a truly unplugged environment, such as hiking in nature, can actually boost creativity by up to 50 %.
Encourage your employees to use all of their vacation time despite work pressures so that they come back to the office refreshed and full of new ideas.
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Be a progressive leader
Innovation starts at the top -- leaders should be role models for workplace passion, positive outlook, clear direction and vision, and of course, embracing change.
Start small, with any one of the mentioned ideas, and slowly layer in more until your company is a pinnacle of creativity and innovation.
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The Breed Myth
A lot of people think that creative ability is a trait inherent in one’s heritage or genes. In fact, there is no such thing as a creative breed.
Creative minds are not born, they are made. People who have confidence in themselves and work the hardest on a problem are the ones most likely to come up with a creative solution.
The Originality Myth
There's a long-standing myth about intellectual property - the idea that a creative idea is proprietary to the person who thought of it.
But history and empirical research revealed that new ideas are actually combinations of older ideas and that sharing those helps generate more innovation.
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Benefits of a learning culture
During the last recession, companies that invested in their employees, in part by providing the training they needed to move forward in their careers, enjoyed profit gains of 26 percent, compared t...
When hiring, screen for learners
- Ask about passion projects. Learners tend to pursue something else outside work (training for a marathon, playing with a band, etc.)
- Focus on curiosity as much as hard skills. Bring up problems currently facing the team and see how the candidate responds.
- One of the most important things to a learning mindset is the ability to admit you don't know something. So be aware of how they approach the things they don't understand.
Learning as a company policy
This means explicitly defining ongoing learning as a core company value.
Empowering employees can mean providing the time or money to enable learning - in other words, offering learning opportunities as a job benefit like health insurance.
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Introduce some greenery
One study found that workers in spaces with plants showed a 15 % higher productivity compared to those in plain...
Show appreciation
Creating motivation and making your team feel appreciated is a critical part of long-term productivity.
Encourage your team to keep gratitude journals - writing down a couple of sentences about what you are currently grateful for a couple of times a week. This practice improves productivity by increasing happiness.
Create some privacy
If people can't focus on their work, they are less effective in areas like collaboration and learning, and they are less likely to be satisfied with their jobs.
Workplaces with a balance between individual focus and collaboration are more innovative, creative and encouraging.