Workplace innovation is a necessity. Businesses have to keep coming up with new ideas in order to stay ahead of competition, keep up with trends, and keep turnover rates at a minimum. Unfortunately, the idea can also be highly intimidating for some. Most businesses fall back on brainstorming, a process that is in no way guaranteed to work, or sometimes even outsource their creative thinking, costing money that could be better spent elsewhere. So how then, does a leader make the idea of innovation and creative thinking accessible to everyone? Well, the geniuses over at Wharton have published another one of their brilliant Nano Tools for Leaders that outlines the best way to do just that.
Wharton’s Ethan Mollick presents a concise set of seven steps that will spark creative thinking and help overcome hurdles. Based on The Breakthrough Game, which Mollick co-created with game developer Justin Gary, this nano tool is a fun approach to something that not everyone is inherently good at.
First, says Mollick, frame the question. When relying on team-think to come up with creative ideas, open-ended questions lead to more inventive solutions and new ideas. Second, build the team. Get as many diverse opinions and backgrounds as possible for the best outcome. Third, generate raw ideas individually. While this may seem counterintuitive, research shows that many ideas discussed as a group get shot down before their time to conform with the hive-mind mentality. If everyone takes time to come up with a list of ideas before coming together as a group, the more creative ideas get a chance to shine. Fourth, add constraints. Whether time constraints or boundaries about the types of ideas, studies show that these can lead to better ideas. Fifth (which gets back to the third tip), recombine as a group and watch ideas flourish. Sixth, vote! Mollick suggests voting along more than just yes and no lines. Give awards for which ideas stand out as most efficient, most cost effective, etc. And lastly, commit. Without protocols to follow up, and dedicated team member accountability to each step in the process, ideas will eventually fall flat.
Innovation can be intimidating, and having steps can greatly help teams and businesses achieve goals and solve problems. Sometimes it just helps to have it broken down in a seven-step path before we can really get into the meat of the ideas. Check out the full article here for a deeper dive and see what your team can come up with!