3 Keys to Intentionally Building a Culture of Innovation That Embraces Change
Ideas are the currency of success. And with the pace of change never being faster or larger in scope, it is critical that organizations become more agile and innovative than ever before. Here are 3 keys to success when it comes to creating a more innovative, agile, and creative workplace culture.
Are You Being Intentional When it Comes to Building
an Innovative Workplace Culture?
Are you being intentional in your workplace when it comes to getting more ideas and better ideas at work? Are you being intentional when it comes to creating a culture of creativity and innovation?
I think you have to be intentional.
One of the many reasons why you have to be intentional is every single survey I’ve done with my audiences, with my clients, or every survey I’ve come across that asks this question: “Where do you come up with your light bulb moments?” the top-5 answers that show up time and time again are: in the shower, driving, exercising, in bed, or in the washroom!
Guess what never shows up? Work! Evidently, work is where ideas go to die! So, we have to be intentional if we want to get more ideas and better ideas in our workplace.
Here are three things you need to do in your workplace to create a culture of creativity and innovation.
#1. Create a culture of questioning where you value questions. The creative process starts with a question. So, value questions in your workplace culture. Champion the power of questions. Let employees know that they can ask any question, no matter how weird it is, no matter how bizarre it is, because all ideas begin with a question. Have a question of the month and encourage employees to bring questions home to their families so they can ruminate over ideas in your workplace. Have a question jar where you open up your meetings with a different thought- provoking question. Be intentional about creating a culture of questioning.
#2. Create a psychologically safe space for people to bring up their ideas, for people to bring forward any ideas without risk. And at this point in the process, people need to understand there is no risk! All they’re doing is talking about an idea, you’re not implementing it yet. So, there should be zero risk, as long as you intentionally create a psychologically safe space for people to bring forward their ideas.
#3. Turn ideas into action as often as you can. There’s nothing like momentum of turning ideas into action to build more ideas and to encourage and inspire more input from your employees. And there is nothing, in my books, more motivating, more rewarding for employees than when they see their ideas turned into action!
So, what about you? What are you doing in your workplace to be more intentional about getting more ideas and better ideas at work? Please leave a message in the comment box, in the comments below. And if you haven’t yet subscribed to the Inspiring Workplaces channel, I would invite you to do so. Please join our growing community as we talk about creative, inspiring workplaces that rock.
Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame business speaker specializing in inspiring workplace cultures, inspiring leadership, and humor in the workplace. He is the author of 8 books, including The Jerk-Free Workplace, Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire, and The Humor Advantage.
