Enabling Innovation and Creativity

Innovation, Innovation, Innovation. It is hard to read a newspaper or business journal without finding an article on innovation or a reference to how companies must innovate to stay competitive. But the question that few articles address is how does a company become innovative or foster a culture of innovation?

Most will agree that people are the key to innovation, which raises yet another question – how do you know if someone is innovative? There is no easy way to identify innovative people from non-innovative people. Fortunately, there are critical traits found within people who are considered innovative leaders. This creates the opportunity to utilize personality trait assessments to identify those with the most innovative potential.

However, a few innovative leaders cannot transform a culture without the support and backing of the entire organization. Often times, the innovative leaders are already in place but are limited in their ability to innovate because their ideas are being blocked.

Ironically, when it comes to transforming a culture, it is easiest to start by identifying the potential new hires, employees, and leaders within an organization who possess the traits that impair innovation and imagination. Some of the critical traits to avoid include:

• Overly Rigid
• Afraid to Experiment
• Heightened Need to Analyze Pitfalls
• Lack of Assertiveness in Overcoming Issues
• Tendencies to Fight against Company Structures

By focusing on the traits that impair innovative development, you begin removing obstacles and creating an environment where the innovative nature of an organization’s existing leaders, managers, and staff can shine. Often times, the only thing holding the innovative potential of an organization back is a few people blocking the creative process.