KnowledgeBrief clients were joined this month by Professor Helen Shipton, Nottingham Business School, to develop an action plan for success, in fostering creativity and innovation from the bottom-up.
An organisation needs to produce many diverse ideas from many different sources, in order to capture the few that have the potential to become new offerings and improvements. Organisations that recognise and value creativity and innovation from all employees at all levels, have a better chance of achieving productivity improvements.
We all expect good ideas to come from the creative roles, and most companies put a great effort into fostering creativity in these roles. What Professor Helen Shipton, Nottingham Business School, encouraged at this month’s Innovation Day, was to further push creativity where it is not always expected: within the traditional “non-creative” roles.
It’s important that these non-creative positions are considered areas for creativity. Creative-minded individuals can be found in all disciplines, from the accounts payable analyst to the IT administrator. These people, after all, have deep knowledge of how things really work and they represent a big source of untapped potential.
A big challenge with tapping the untapped potential of the so-called non-creatives, is that many don’t see themselves as creative. It is not in their role description, therefore it is not expected of them and they don’t expect it of them themselves.
KnowledgeBrief clients – including City of London Corporation, Linklaters and Eurovia UK – discussed how their workplace can influence both the frequency and the level of creative behaviour, as well as how to overcome the challenges employees face. Key findings include:
- Top-level support and endorsement: Endorsement must come from the top. Have a clear strategic vision to emphasise to employees that the organisation recognises and values creativity and innovation from all employees.
- Break down psychological barriers: People can be frightened of sharing their ideas and some experience a pressure to conform with current expectations. It is about image risk vs. image gain and we need to break down the psychological barriers impeding creativity for an organisation to foster true bottom-up innovation.
- It is paramount to demonstrate employment security: Be aware that pushing for creativity in non-creative roles is also pushing people outside their comfort zone. It is necessary to establish a safe environment for all employees to put forward ideas. Think about how to remove the risk of failure.
- Feedback is essential – even when ideas have not gone forward: The more your employees can get feedback, the more they will feel comfortable and secure. People that have less creative self-efficacy will naturally reflect more critically about how they perform. For this reason, feedback is just as important to give when ideas are not developed.
- Focus on informal learning and training: There is a lot of evidence that internal workshops and open seminars that bring together new perspectives and different thinking have a positive effect. Informal learning through, for instance, coaching, mentoring and with team members is important to build confidence, leading to opportunity and enhanced ability.
Next month, clients will examine ‘Behavioural Strategy’ to develop action points for both better decision making and better strategy implementation. For more information, please view the Innovation Day page.