How to Harness the Power of Creativity in a Corporate Culture
Develop a Successful Environment of Innovation
Developing an environment of innovation and fostering a culture of creativity is a desirable journey in the world of business. Perhaps you would like to encourage a continuous improvement mindset. Maybe you are faced with the challenge to launch a strategic initiative, develop new products, or find unique methods to attract and retain clients. Whatever your goal: harnessing the power of creativity in a corporate culture is both rewarding and terrifying.
“The biggest single variable of whether employees will be creative is whether they perceive they have permission.” – David Hill
Challenging the Status Quo
Gravity is a powerful force and, if you are not prepared for its pull, you and your organization may find yourself smack in the middle of status quo. Status quo is often paired with popular thinking. We are social creatures that long to be a part of a community. Most communities are governed by a degree of popular thinking models designed to keep status quo.
Popular thinking resist change and dampens innovation. People may stick with habitual processes because it’s the path of least resistance. Others fear rejection or perhaps they believe there’s a wisdom in doing things the way we’ve always done them. Regardless of what holds you or your organization back: [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”CoachEurban” suffix=””]you must reject common thinking to achieve uncommon results.[/inlinetweet]
One of the reason change agents find it incredibly hard to establish an innovative environment: they are bucking company tradition and habitual processes. People don’t like change and they fear failure. [bctt tweet=”To encourage creativity, you must create a safe environment for people to try new things.” username=”CoachEurban”]
Develop a deep appreciation for how other people think. Popular thinking is comfortable, but it’s not how you or your organization can stay competitive. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”CoachEurban” suffix=””]If you want to embrace achievement, you’ll need to embrace being uncomfortable.[/inlinetweet]
Characteristics of Creative Thinking
One of the number one misunderstandings about creative thinking is that it is original thinking. Innovation isn’t always new and radical ideas. In actuality, innovation is often a fresh look at a current state. It’s asking “How can we do this better?”
Common characteristics of creative thinkers:
- Value Ideas – creativity is about having lots of ideas, regardless of source or feasibility. Diversity is not just skin deep. Embrace intellectual diversity.
- Explore Options – exploring possibilities stimulates the imagination and imagination are crucial to creativity. By placing a high value on options because they provide the keys to best answer, not just the only answer.
- Connect Ideas – often the most breakthrough ideas are a collection, or a chain of ideas – some seemingly unrelated.
- Don’t Fear Failure – creativity embraces failure, they just don’t let the ideas that don’t work stop them from coming up with (and trying) ideas that do work.
Creativity can increase your capacity and revolutionize your business. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”CoachEurban” suffix=””]When you develop an environment of innovation: you will foster a culture that comes up with more solutions than problems.[/inlinetweet]
Creativity and Collaboration
In corporate America, brainstorming through collaboration is one of the very first tools that most professionals use when trying to think creatively. While this is a concept that I’ve blindly believed for years, scientists have found that collaboration actually doesn’t work well to develop innovative ideas.
“[The] evidence from science suggests that businesspeople must be insane to use brainstorming groups.” – Adrian Furnham | Business Strategy Review
Studies have shown that unique idea generation suffers in group settings, particularly as the group size increases. This confusing outcome is due primarily to three factors, according to Susan Cain in her book, Quiet. Brainstorming, or any collaborative activity can be hijacked by:
- Social Loafers: In any group, some individuals will just go along with the status quo and let others do the challenging work.
- Production Blocking: Only one person can speak at a time, so one idea is proposed at a time while others listen. Often, the most prolific speakers are not the ones with the best ideas.
- Evaluation Apprehension: This springs from the fear of being judged by others. It has often stifled good ideas because we would rather “fit in” than raise any eyebrows.
At first, I was shocked to realize that the groupthink ideal wasn’t the best idol for the corporate world to worship. Then I realized that 100% of my most innovative moments happen when I am alone. Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and James Clerk Maxwell, three of the greatest creative contributors to the world of physics, worked almost entirely alone.
I’m no Einstein, but I recognize that most innovation comes to a mind free of distraction.
Harnessing the Power of Creativity in a Corporate Culture
Is there a way to leverage the creative need to focus in a solitary state while still harnessing the energy of a team? There is vital energy and synergy when you work in a team. Here are some ways to harness the creative soul of innovation and the energy of teamwork:
- Fly solo first. Allow your team to first brainstorm in private. Ideas can then be shared with the team lead
anonymously. There are also plenty of free online software offerings that can manage this for you. Or, you can go old fashioned and use the dropbox method or sticky notes on an idea wall. - Interview individuals. When I lead process improvement work, I often interview individuals one-on-one. I find that people speak more freely without the fear of judgment by their peers. Individuals are more open to sharing ideas and asking questions.
- Vote anonymously. To further remove evaluation apprehension, have the team’s brainstorming ideas voted on anonymously without knowing who contributed the suggestions.
- Keep the team small. More than four people on a team can become cumbersome. I’ve found during my facilitations that three to four people are all it takes to make a significant leap forward in innovation and implementations.
- Celebrate individual talent. Another issue I often find in teams: overlooking one person’s significant contributions in order to avoid offending the other players. Acknowledging and supporting individual contributions are just as important as working together as a team.
Develop an Environment of Innovation
Creating a safe environment that encourages intellectual diversity, a continuous improvement mindset and a fail-forward attitude can be challenging but deeply rewarding for an organization. If your company wants to stay in front of your competition, it’s critical to embrace the power of creativity in innovation with all of its adventurous mindset with a platform that supports employee empowerment.
[bctt tweet=”Companies stay competitive by encouraging a culture of creativity where innovation will flourish!” username=”CoachEurban”]
Erin Urban LSSBB, CPDC – is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, a certified professional development coach and culture change leader with over 8 years of mentoring and coaching successful professional transformations. With an extensive background in leading individual, cultural and organizational change initiatives: her mission is to lift others up to defy their limits and exceed their goals.
