Unbuilding the Box - The Path to Innovation
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We all aspire to success, don’t we? We each define success in different ways but have at least a few measures, both in our personal and our professional lives, that we think of as success.
So, what if you’ve achieved it? Well, first and foremost – CELEBRATE! Now you can sit back and rest on your laurels, right?
Yes. And no. You certainly deserve to give yourself some time to relax, but your life and your business environment continue moving, and both can leave you behind.
As an example, I have a great marriage. But the marriage we had as newlyweds does not resemble that which we have now, 30-plus years later. Life -- in the form of maturity, kids, jobs, moves and world events -- has had an effect on us, and if we had continued in the same patterns of behavior, I doubt our relationship would have survived. A good marriage requires not just love, but also intention and innovation.
Should you have the good fortune to achieve a measure of success in your professional life, it’s tempting to sit back and get comfortable. But rest assured, the market and your competitors are not relaxing!
The comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity; moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears.
~ Dan Stevens
If you are leading a company, a team or an initiative, you are accountable for sparking innovation. It would be cool if you could just call a meeting, say “1, 2, 3, …. Now innovate!” Who knows? That might work occasionally. But getting people to think outside the box as a habit requires a little more work. Per Wikipedia…
…thinking outside the box is a metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking.
Market innovations, new perspectives, improvements and new ideas all require creative thinking.
The most important thing you as a leader can do to nourish creativity is to give it a safe environment. Your team must feel safe proposing changes, improvements and new ideas.
When new ideas turn out poorly, is more time spent finding and blaming the individual responsible or unpacking the process to determine how to improve it?
If finger-pointing, blame, and retribution are the norm, few people will contribute innovation. The best way to get people to think outside the box is not to build that box in the first place. If that box restricting innovation exists, break it down; if it hasn’t been built yet, be diligent about keeping it that way.
If you have a story about how you or someone else successfully created a fertile ground for innovation, please share it with me!
Kind regards,
Fundamental #6: CREATE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
Both physical safety and feeling it is safe to speak up without judgment are important. Safety requires accountability, awareness and diligence. Never take shortcuts that compromise your or others’ safety. Performance thrives in a safe environment.
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