Innovation Juice: 3 Keys for Great Ideas
Well we are quickly approaching that time of year again. Come December, we will see lights up on houses, snow on the ground and ads filling up our inboxes. However, it goes without saying that this holiday season will be very different from the ones we have experienced in the past. For example, I have already heard from many friends and family members how the majority, if not all of their Christmas shopping, will be done online. Yes, things are looking very different indeed.
Let’s face it. Our world is undergoing a lot of change right now. Businesses are having to rewrite their strategy on the fly and shift to a model where their new storefront is online rather than physical. While some of this may be pandemic influenced, we have seen time and time again in history that crisis is an accelerator. The marketplace was already trending towards a virtual focus; covid simply accelerated that movement. And with that change comes an increasing need for organizations to get creative. Innovation is no longer a luxury but a necessity, because after all, the success of your business model is only one global catastrophe away. Furthermore, as attention spans shorten, consumers are having more of a tendency to chase the next shiny thing; a “what have you done for me lately?” mentality.
However, we also know that innovation is not easy. We as human beings can often get stuck in our ways of thinking and like to create echo chambers around us with the information we consume, and social groups we surround ourselves with. This makes it very difficult to think outside the box. In fact, if these kinds of ideas were easy to reproduce would it even be innovation at all? Well yes and no. There is no magic innovation juice (sorry coffee lovers) we can drink that will supercharge our brain’s creativity centers. But while we can’t streamline a process that produces new (and useful) ideas, we can cultivate an environment where innovative ideas are more likely to appear.
So rather than trying to find the juice, let’s get to work building and growing a garden in our workplaces that will yield more ideas. Some will be good and some not so good. That is up to us as leaders to sift through these ideas. However we will be far more likely to recognize good ideas and see them through to completion. So with that said here are 3 principles for cultivating innovation in your organization:
1. Embrace Healthy Conflict
Now I know when you read this point some of you were probably thinking “conflict!? Why would I want that?” Conflict has typically been something that makes us uncomfortable and we would prefer to avoid. This is evidenced by the fact that studies have shown 8 out of 10 leaders have a fear of conflict. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 employees have seen it negatively escalate in the workplace. This is where the “healthy” caveat comes in. This is the kind of productive conflict that revolves around ideas and concepts rather than interpersonal issues. When conflict is done in a productive way it can be one of the best things we have going for our teams.
This is because when we engage in healthy conflict, we are able to leverage the full diversity of skillsets and opinions on our teams. In other words, good ideas are not being left at the table. This allows us to draw from a greater pool for creativity and innovation. As an added bonus the level of trust will increase on our teams, leading to better quality of conversations. Author and coach Patrick Lencioni put it this way: “At the heart of every great movie is conflict. It's the same with a meeting. There should be conflict and tension.”
2. Make curiosity your best friend
We like to say at Capstone Coaching that great leaders ask great questions. Remember what I said about how human beings tend to create their own echo chambers? This makes it very difficult to truly lead our teams and organizations without bias. Often, we find ourselves turning to the same kinds of tools, principles and ideas to solve a variety of problems. In fact science shows that during times of stress, anger or fear, our brains are hardwired to act quickly rather than considering all our options. This is good and while it might be efficient at times, it rarely produces the best ideas. This is why we have to train ourselves to ask more and better questions, rather than leaning on our expectations.
Expectations are the enemy of trust and productive conflict. When we lead with our expectations of what we think things should look like or how they should be done, it stops great conversations short of their resolution, or from ever happening at all. It also stops us and our people from learning and growing. Once again, so many opportunities for innovation are being lost in the process. So train yourself to be more curious and step out of your common patterns of thinking. This can take time and effort but is so rewarding when pursuing innovation.
3. Filter with Vision and Values
For many companies, Vision and Values are a bit of an enigma. We may say something like, “people are our greatest asset.” But often that remains simply a plaque on the wall or buried in our employee handbooks and doesn’t actually inform the way we do business. However at their core, your vision and values are meant to protect and orient your operations.
When you have a clearly articulated vision and values, it acts as a filter for your meetings and brainstorming sessions. As a team you can ask yourselves, “does this serve the vision/mission? Does it fit with who we are as a company?” This takes personal preferences and biases out of the way so great ideas have room to grow. Furthermore it means you are spending less time on bad ideas that are incongruent with your company values.
So there you have it! Three principles for helping innovation thrive in your workplace. So take some time to drink these in, and watch the creativity and innovation flow. Also if you or organization are looking for a boost or a fresh start in the new year, I would be happy to have a conversation about how Capstone Coaching can help you reach your goals and achieve success that matters. We are passionate about building better people, teams and organizations together. This looks like us working alongside you and your team to equip you in the skillsets you need to work more happily and productively together and be more effective as leaders. We offer coaching in the areas of:
Leadership
Communication
Conflict Resolution
Team Building
Goal setting
Success habits
And more!
For those leaders who are serious about growth and making a positive impact in their spheres and would like some help with that, you can reach out to Michael Walker for a complimentary 45minute coaching conversation. You can reach Coach Mike at michael@capstonecoaching.ca We look forward to helping you achieve your desired success!
