Key Takeaways from this newsletter:

• It is critical that the right environment exists for innovation.
• Leaders and managers are responsible for the development of an innovative mindset in the organization.
• The requirements for an innovative leader are spelled out in this newsletter.
• Approaches to make your team more innovative are described.

The title of the June 2024 Newsletter was Innovation, Part One.  In that Newsletter I address the questions of what innovation is and why it is important.  The focus of this Newsletter is how to create an innovative mindset which is the precursor to innovation itself.

Let’s start by reiterating the beginning of the June Newsletter:

“During my career I have noticed that innovation is both a desire of an organization, and a desire of the technical individuals working for an organization.  An organization is always looking for the next big idea which gives it notoriety and a new business.  For us technical folk, well, we didn’t go to college and maybe grad school to join a company  to work on just the meat and potato projects; we want to work on something cool too, and ideally something that we initiated.

Sounds good, right? Then why does it seem so difficult?”

If we know what it is, and why it is important, then why is it still so difficult?

It is critical that the right environment exists for innovation, and the responsibility for the development of an innovative culture falls on the shoulders of the managers/leaders. Without the right leaders in place, innovative ideas may not be put forward or even worse could get dismissed when presented; leaders can either facilitate innovation or kill it.  Manager responses that are skeptical , dismissive or critical when new ideas are presented can be sabotaging to innovation and development of an innovation culture;  such behavior is at odds with having an innovative mindset.  Managers need to have innovative mindsets so that they can establish a culture where everyone feels safe in sharing their ideas.  What are the requirements for a leader with an innovative mindset?

Innovative leaders are

• Curious.  They are open to doing things differently.  Curious leaders ask “what if.”   If the team members know their manager is curious they will be very happy to share their latest thoughts and ideas with the manager.
• Open to change,  open minded and comfortable with ambiguity.  The development of an innovation might take unexpected twists and turns.  An innovation project will push leaders and team members out of their comfort zones;  they are  ready for that and enjoy it!
• Positive with their team.  An innovative manager points out the pluses of a new idea and won’t  focus on roadblocks when first presented with an idea. They  give positive feedback on all ideas to keep employees motivated.
• Persistent. They don’t give up on ideas too easily and encourage their team members to stay persistent too.  Of course, they also have to know when to let go of an idea. 
• Creative and more importantly value creativity.  The innovative leader’s team  knows that they can experiment with ideas.  The team members are encouraged to learn from experiments that don’t go as planned; experiments are only failures if you don’t learn from them.
• Collaborators and encourage collaboration.  Innovation is not an individual sport. A good manager helps their team establish connections across the organization and with other organizations.
• Courageous. They are risk takers and that should cascade down to the team. 

To make your team more innovative 

• Encourage your teams to be creative and challenge the conventional wisdom.
• Have them think and act fast.  The world is changing rapidly, and your organization needs to do the same.
• Encourage your teams to think big.  Ideas should have the potential to move the needle and help an organization get to its desired future state.
• Don’t kill new ideas.  Work with team members to think through ideas.  Flat out killing ideas will extinguish motivation.
• Practice innovation thinking.  Switch out of a current business thinking mode when addressing innovation. 
• Frame and clarify the idea’s purpose.  What problem is it trying to solve?  What are problems and unmet needs?
• Use the POINt technique to work through ideas.  The team members should appreciate that ideas must be thought through.
  • P=Praise. Look at the pluses of an idea.
  • O=Opportunities. Discuss the opportunities that could arise if the idea is put into practice.  Who is the customer that wants this idea?
  • I=Issues. What are some of the challenges to putting the idea into practice?
  • N=New thinking. How can we solve the challenges?

An organization with an innovative mindset is more likely to regularly develop innovations.  A future newsletter will address some of the steps to take to increase the flow of innovative ideas.

References for this newsletter:

(1)  How to Foster an Innovative Mindset at Your Organization | CCL David Magellan Horth, Michael Mitchell, “How to Foster an Innovative Mindet at Your Organization,” Center for Creative Leadership, February 11, 2024. ( https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/how-do-you-respond-to-a-new-idea/)

(2)  How to build an Innovation Mindset? — 6 steps to cultivate the Innovation Mindset | by Mukund Kulur | muku. | Medium  Mukund Kulur, “How to Build An Innovation Mindset?-6 Steps to Cultivate the Innovation Mindset,” Medium, August 11, 2021.

(photo credit: jawedgfx, vecteezy.com)