Has your organization been so focused on the bottom line and cost cutting that innovation has atrophied? Do creativity muscles need some heavy lifting to get them working again?
Samuel J. Palmisano, Chairman, IBM Corporation, stated in a recent publication from IBM entitled Capitalizing on Complexity, "events, threats, and opportunities aren't just coming at us faster or with less predictability, they are converging and influencing each other to create entirely unique situations. These first-of-their kind developments require unprecedented degrees of creativity -- which has become a more important leadership quality than attributes like management discipline, rigor, or operational acumen." Palmisano goes on to state that in light of the world's increasing complexity, creativity is the single most important leadership competency needed.
If you are a leader and need to refocus your workers on innovation, start by setting a creative tone in your meetings. Here are some ideas:
1. Get people laughing. Assign workers to look for the humor in their day and share the humor at your meetings. This technique helps people learn to laugh at themselves as well as setting a playful atmosphere for creative ideas.
2. Get 4-5 ideas for solutions. After attendees come up with one or two solutions for problems, ask them for two or three more. Who knows, the best idea may be number five.
3. Apply solutions to the problem. After ideas are on the table, ask employees to judge how well each idea solves the identified problem.
4. Make assignments. Always close your meeting with clear implementation assignments complete with followup deadlines. This safely moves the innovative ideas from the right brain to the left brain task list.
Follow these steps regularly and your employee's creative minds will steadily find solutions to the tough challenges of our multifaceted economy. Pump up the creativity muscle today for innovative products for tomorrow's world.
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