A colleague of mine can do wonderful things on a computer – except fix it when it jumps up and bites him. That’s why a trusted associate is often needed. More often than not, his co-workers hear a wailful “Dominick!” when the biting, or crashing, or whatever else a finicky computer decides to do, occurs. I can relate to my colleague, well aware of my own technological shortcomings and the fact that both of us – perhaps a great many of you, too – still use only a fraction of our computers’ potential.
Along the same lines, I see very few organizations using more than a fraction of their employees’ creative potential – and fewer still that really understand how to nurture corporate-wide innovation.
The problem starts with the definition of creativity. Often innovation is thought of as the bold new invention that wins fame and fortune. But creativity isn’t only about coming up with the “next big thing.” The thousands of small improvements that come from successfully tapping into the organization’s collective creativity are the sustaining source of competitive advantage.
Take Technicolor Corporation in Detroit, for example. They use Quick and Easy Kaizen – a system designed to encourage creativity by empowering all employees to submit and then implement two improvement ideas each month. This past February, 1,320 employees submitted suggestions and within 48 hours half of them were already being implemented.
One employee built a cutting box that both prevented people getting cut while splicing tape and also reduced the spoilage on wasted tape. A small improvement, sure, but little things can add up. The new cutting box was estimated to save the company $27,000 per year. Imagine the accumulated savings when virtually everyone in the company is submitting and implementing two ideas a month!
In today’s economy, creative ideas aren’t just good for business, they’re essential for success. Then why do so many organizations falter when trying to encourage company-wide innovation? Because it means taking these four big steps:
Step 1. Have faith in the creative potential of all employees. Often the people you expect to be the innovators aren’t the ones who come up with the best ideas. Everyone in an organization – from accounting to operations – has innate creativity just waiting to be tapped. At American Airlines, two mechanics in Tulsa, Oklahoma invented a drill bit-sharpening tool that saves the company $300,000 to $400,000 annually. Another worker idea saved $675,000 by reusing the parts of obsolete DC-10 coffee makers from other AA airplanes.
Step 2. Assess the current state of creativity in the organization. If you really want to know what inhibits creativity, ask your employees. Guidant, Inc., a Silicon Valley and Midwest manufacturer of medical equipment, used focus groups to identify barriers to innovation behavior. (Obstacles included too many people involved in every decision, failure too risky, company leaders not listening, etc.)
Step 3. Benchmark organizations with a reputation for ongoing innovation and compare your company’s C.Q. “creativity quotient” with theirs. (Sony, 3M, Disney, W.L. Gore, Fresh Express, Dell Computer, and Cirque du Soleil are among those frequently cited as highly innovative enterprises.) Although these companies have various structures and business models, they share similar strategies for encouraging creativity:
* Reducing unnecessary controls
* Encouraging fun and playfulness
* Fostering an environment of experimentation
* Expressing and embodying values
* Focusing on the larger goal or mission
* Encouraging risk and learning from failure
* Communicating candidly about business obstacles and opportunities
* Publicizing, recognizing, and celebrating innovations
Step 4. Invest in training for everyone. A culture for innovation requires new roles and accountabilities at all levels. Guidant developed a series of seminars, attended first by senior leaders, then by the next 450 managers. The programs were designed to help change leadership from command and control to creative collaboration – asking for, listening to, and implementing the ideas of others. Additional seminars involved everyone in a particular business group learning to take responsibility and to think more creatively.
There is tremendous latent energy in the imagination and dreams of your people. Find ways to tap into your organization’s collective creative potential – and you will blow the competition away!
