Innovation – Creativity and Strategy January 26, 2005

Planting the Seeds of Innovation

Elaine Dundon and Alex Pattakos will present "The Seeds of Innovation" (S102) on Sunday, June 2 at 12:00 - 1:30 pm during the ASTD International Conference & EXPO in New Orleans. Dundon is the founder and chief strategist of The Innovation Group Consulting Inc, and author of “The Seeds of Innovation: Cultivating the Synergy That Fosters New Ideas” (AMACOM Books, May 2002). Elaine can be reached at elaine@innovationguru.com

Many organizations are declaring “innovation” as their new corporate mantra but are failing to follow up with the support needed to truly capitalize on the power of innovative thinking. Innovation is an essential core competency for all employees, in all areas of the organization, not just a select few in a few select departments.

Consider building your innovation curriculum in the three core areas of creative thinking, strategic thinking, and transformational thinking (the “human side” of innovation). All three areas are needed for innovation. For example, one cannot focus solely on creative thinking without considering the strategic implications of choosing one idea over another. One can not focus solely on the strategic side of innovation, including maximizing the added value of ideas, without considering how willing others may be to change from the “tried and true” idea to a new, potentially unproven idea.

Consider planting and cultivating the following nine “seeds of innovation” in your organization:

THE SEEDS OF CREATIVE THINKING
(Encouraging employees to challenge the current “ways of doing things” to find new and distinctly better ways.)

• Seed #1 Believe in Creativity
  It is not enough for a leader to simply encourage creative thinking. Everyone must believe in their own creative thinking abilities. They must also be willing to unlearn some of their old habits in order to truly participate in the innovation agenda.
• Seed #2 Be Curious
  The foundation of creativity is the curious mind. Without a curious mind, many great opportunities will simply slip by unnoticed.
• Seed #3 Discover New Connections
  Creativity involves connecting diverse objects or thoughts in a new way. For some, this is an easy task. For others, specific creativity connection techniques are beneficial for jumpstarting their creative thinking.

THE SEEDS OF STRATEGIC THINKING
(Encouraging employees to look for ways to add value to their creative ideas and then choose the best idea among many options)

• Seed #4 See the BIG Picture
  Many opportunities can be spotted if one looks to the BIG picture to see new connections, as well as learn from others who have succeeded in finding a new way.
• Seed #5 Look to the Future
  We need to challenge employees to look to the future instead of holding too tightly onto the present or the past. Once employees have insights into the future, they need to integrate them into their new plans.
• Seed #6 Do the Extraordinary
  Great innovators evolve from ordinary to extraordinary. Employees can learn from the strategies and ideas of great innovators.

THE SEEDS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL THINKING
(Encouraging employees not to overlook the “human side” of innovation)

• Seed #7 Seek Greater Awareness
  Innovators can benefit from gaining a greater awareness of themselves and their effect on others, as well as the dynamics of innovation in the team and organizational setting.
• Seed #8 Ignite Passion
  Passion is really about linking creativity with a higher purpose. Employees can benefit from developing skills to overcome resistance to change as well as skills to continually ignite their own passion while they work to identify, recommend, and implement new ideas.
• Seed #9 Take Action
  Great ideas are not innovative unless they are successfully implemented. There are specific action steps that can maximize the probability of an idea being accepted and implemented.

The seeds of creative thinking, strategic thinking and transformational thinking need to be integrated in order to capitalize upon the innovative thinking potential of all employees.

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