Where creativity is planted, innovation grows
Innovations can give organizations a real boost. The feeling of being part of something new and of entering terrain where no one has gone before can lift you up. In addition, innovations and innovative ideas provide an amazingly quick organizational advantage. For these reasons, many organizations want to get started with innovations. But coming up with a few innovations does not necessarily gives you a head start. You will have to build an organization that has innovation in its genes. But how do you build that innovative organization?
Use your creativity – to implement
First of all, you have to realize that there are more innovative products in the market than you can ever imagine. Inventing is something not many organizations will need to move forward. How do you use what is already there? Many innovations are designed for one application or one branch, but expand your horizons. You can apply consumer innovations in healthcare or industry. Or a business innovation could become the consumer product of the future.
Innovative organization structure
If you want to innovate, you should not look for innovations, but invest in the innovative potential of your organization. Invest in the your own employees. Ensure that your organization gets creative, to become a truly innovative organization. And, it has perseverance to implement new ideas successfully. If you succeed, you will give your organization a boost. It is then no longer some who innovate, but all. How do you manage that? Try using the three T’s:
Time
Give people time. That sounds simple but it is not. Time costs money, at the expense of productivity and perhaps the growth of your organization. Give time to think, brainstorm, search, try, fall and get up again. And that time results in enthusiasm, new ideas, innovations and thus progress. Google is known for giving its employees 20% of their time to spend at leisure (Read more >>).
20% may be a bit ambitious for your organization. But give people 1%, or one team 20% and link that to a target. Then see what happens.
Trust
Give people trust. First of all, let go the idea of doing it yourself. You don’t build an innovative organization on your own. Give people confidence to get started with opportunities, ideas and new plans. Of course, ask them to keep you informed and a deadline always helps with creative processes. Because under pressure the best performances are achieved!
Tools
Give people the tools. A tool may be a budget to test innovations. It may also involve support from staff departments. Sometimes it is about small things, snacks to pair with the coffee during a brainstorming sometimes works wonders with the innovative power of people.
If you implement these three T’s in your organization, you will really grow towards an innovative organization!