How do ideas come, germinate and turn into reality, and what environment is conducive to this happening? That is the essence of my Top Tip today.
I am privileged enough to work in a place where ideas are encouraged. And when I say encouraged I don’t mean the “Yeah we want you to come to us with ideas but none will see the light of day” kind of encouraged
I mean seriously encouraged like “Love it”, “Do it”, “Go for it” kind of encouraged.
Despite what you may think, every business has the opportunity to let the free flow of ideas happen, but very few take it. In my experience, most businesses are stuck in the “It’s easy to keep doing what we’ve always done” mentality rather than being innovative and always pushing forward towards an improved outcome for their team and their clients.
So what’s the secret? Well in my 20 plus years working in a range of creative industries, the businesses who harness the power of ideas have a few things in common.
Hire talented people and then get out of their way
Have you ever heard this saying? I reckon this saying captures exactly what sets innovative businesses apart from the rest. What is the use of hiring the perfect person for the job and then keep stifling them as they come up with one great idea after another (or get to a point where they stop coming up with them in the first place)?
No one has a mortgage on good ideas
Just because it’s not exactly how you would do it doesn’t mean the idea has no merit. Who knows, it might even be better than your idea. Or what if the combination of both of your ideas creates some sort of mega idea? If you let ideas run free, you’ll be surprised how often this happens!
Ideas are infectious
Another reason to encourage the spread of ideas (no matter how weird they may sound at first) is that once the first, second and third idea has been accepted and voiced, your team’s collective mind will be more open to new ideas germinating (whether that is consciously or subconsciously). Environments like this don’t sustain themselves, leaders (and I don’t necessarily mean people in positions of power) need to continue to push and foster a culture of ideas exchange. For businesses who have great ideas and implement them, there is plenty of room at the top, but no room to sit down.
Ideas without action are meaningless (and stifle creativity)
I have worked in environments where ideas are listened to but never actioned. This is the number one killer of creativity in a team – and for team members, it can become really disheartening. Of course not all ideas are good (mine are often terrible… at first) but working in an environment where sub-optimal ideas are embraced and refined, or great ideas are championed and implemented, is the most conducive to more, better and a different variety of ideas in the future.
So this all sounds great, but how and where do the “free flow” of ideas in your business or team start?
Well it all starts with LISTENING… I mean really listening. Section some time aside regularly for your team to talk about what’s not working or what can be improved or kick-started. Keep an open forum (this can be a regular meeting, working group or even online collaboration through Skype chat for example) and let the team decide who needs to do what by when. Trust in their ideas and execution; they may not get it right the first time, but you’ll all learn a lot in the process and begin inching your way to a better tomorrow. Better still, you may be surprised at what can happen when you’re not ‘in the way’… it all starts with a change in mindset and a culture that encourages its members to let the ideas flow.