Foster Innovation
How can a leader foster innovation and creativity?
Lead with curiosity, about your people and work.
Ask deeper questions. And celebrate what you discover.
Leaders can stimulate creativity by asking open-ended questions and encouraging employees to challenge the status quo. Leaders can provide opportunities for employees to exchange new ideas with each other in communities of practice.
Communities of Practice
Communities of practice are any group of people who share a common interest and who regularly come together to learn and share knowledge. Communities inside the workplace can be a powerful tool for fostering innovation and creativity.
Employees who have organized opportunities to connect with others:
Learn from each other's experiences and expertise
Generate new ideas and solutions (unexpected applications of current skills)
Get fresh and objective feedback on their work
Build relationships and internal support networks
Leaders can support communities of practice by providing them with resources, such as protected time, and by encouraging employees to participate. Did we mention time?
Leaders can also participate in communities of practice themselves, which can help to break down perceived silos and promote cross-functional collaboration.
Celebrate Failure
Leaders can create a culture of innovation by embracing failure as learning. Employees need to feel safe to take risks and share their ideas without fear of judgment. Leaders can create this environment by being open to new ideas and encouraging experimentation.
REPEAT: Celebrate failure.
Failure is a natural part of the innovation process. Fear of failure kills innovation.
Embracing failure can be difficult when teams need to drive results, but we can help.
Celebrate success.
When employees are publicly recognized and rewarded for innovation and creativity, innovation and creativity become values that are valued by the organization. Leaders can do this by publicly recognizing employees for their contributions and creating opportunities for employees to share their work with others. Also, bonuses are good.
“Would an internal community of practice be a good opportunity for an employee to share successful work with others?” - Dave M, Iowa
Great question, Dave. You already know the answer.
If you need help, Involved Leaders can help you set them up.