If
any organisation wants to thrive going forward, innovation should be a way of
being, not just something they occasionally do, when they want to try come up
with new and innovative ideas. As Bill Damaschke, chief creative officer for
DreamWorks says. Each new movie starts out with tiny teams of two people. He
believes that is where true innovation comes from. Two people given free rein
to be creative and innovative, thereby coming up with new ideas.
Bill
says that, as the writer and director need more support; more people are added
to the team as they go along. As the teams get bigger, they once again break up
into smaller creative units. This keeps people thinking, creative and no one
feels like just a cog in the wheel. Everyone feels valued and remains creative.
Lines of communication between the various teams, is kept open with regularly
weekly “show and
tells”, where all the teams get to share and support each other’s
creativity.
I
believe that the secret to innovation within any organisation is to encourage a
culture of creativity, where everyone is made to feel important and their ideas
are given a voice during “show and tell” sessions.
Avoid the Lure and comfort of
your Brand
Bill
Damaschke, also believes that companies should avoid the lure and comfort of
their brand, as this can severely restrict and limit any organisations ability
to be innovative and creative. He believes that the key to innovative success
is to forget about branding altogether.
He
believes that the moment you allow yourself to think narrowly about what you do,
is the moment you become restricted and lose your ability to innovate. When you
allow yourself to be too attached to your brand, you kill any possibility to be
really innovative and creative.
I
believe that Branding is a crucial part of any business, but take cognisance of
what Bill says, he is after all the leader of one of the most creative and
innovative organisations around. The secret I believe is to find a positive
compromise between building and supporting your brand, yet never allowing this to
limit the culture of creativity and innovation within your organisation.
Learn the art of Living in the
Now
One
of the most important requirements to be innovative and creative, is to be
observant. Learn the art of always being present, observe what is going on
around you and try to uncover better or new ways of doing things. You can only
innovate, if you have open eyes and see opportunities to innovate and create.
Encourage an environment of
Innovation
Most
people are creative, when encouraged and supported to be so. As a leader,
encourage your team to be innovative and creative. The best way to do this is
to project an attitude of creativity and innovation yourself. As you know
people always mirror what they see. When they observe that an atmosphere of
innovation, permeates through the organisation and they experience it as a way
of being, within the organisation, you will be amazed at how innovative and
creative people will become.
Self – Belief
Encourage
people to believe in their ability to be creative, by showing support and understanding
for any innovative ideas they may have. When it comes to creativity, nothing
will support people to be creative, more than their own self-belief in their
ability to come up with great new ideas. Society has forced people to comply
with rules for so long, that most people doubt their ability to be creative. When
you encourage, support and reward creativity, you create and environment, which
is conducive to innovation. As your team experiences this new supportive
environment; creativity will gradually become a way of being, within your
organisation.
Creativity Mentors
If
you are really serious about creating a culture of innovation within your
organisation, then it is crucial that you support key people, with creative
mentors to help them to unlock their creativity. These mentors can come from
within your organisation or they can be external people you hire to support
your team.
Study Creativity
Encourage
your teams to study creativity. The more books they can read around creativity,
innovation or the use of creativity models, the better equipped they will be to
become creative. As they discover new ideas or strategies, which will help them
with their creativity, encourage them to have the courage to try them. Support
your team to incorporate the study and use of creativity into their daily
routine. Encourage your team members to study the history of your business,
markets and environment and to search for better or more innovative ways of
doing things.
Action Idea: Here are a few examples of books on creativity I recommend
that you get your team to read.
·
Serious Creativity –
Edward De Bono
·
Lateral Thinking –
Edward De Bono
·
Cracking Creativity –
Michael Michalko
·
Thinkettoys – Michael
Michalko
·
Six Thinking Hats
Eaward De Bono
Creative
Models
There
are a number of excellent models in the books, which I have described above.
You can encourage your team to use any of the models described in the books
above. All of them work really well. As I am in the business of sales, I like
the SCAMPER model, as I feel it works really well for sales people. Based on
your industry and requirements, you may find a more appropriate model for your
industry.
Risk Failure
Creativity
and innovation is most certainly not an exact science. To become successful and
to consistently flex your creativity muscle, you must accept that not every
idea is going to work out quite the way you wanted it to. You must make your
team feel safe to innovate. Never punish people for any failures, as this will
put a huge damper on any creative concepts and ideas, any other team members may have. You must encourage team
members to put their necks out and risk failure. As Tom Watson, President of
IBM said, “If
you want to succeed, double your failure rate”.
Support all creative ideas in
action
To
really instil an environment of creativity within your organisation, you must
encourage and support all creative ideas. As your team experiences positive
support for creativity and innovation, they will gradually incorporate it into
the unwritten corporate code or the way they see things within the
organisation. As you know it is never the way the leadership sees things, but
rather the way the team experiences things within the organisation, which adds
up into the corporate culture.
Creative
and innovative organisations are the ones, which are flourishing and prospering
in these times of massive change. If you want your organisation not to only
survive, but to thrive going into the next 10 years, it is crucial that you
start the process of developing and encouraging a culture of innovation and
creativity within your business. Innovation is no longer a nice to have. It has
become a crucial cog in the wheel of every business.
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