What is important to promote innovation

Promoting innovation is not an option, it is a must! No matter what kind of innovation it is. But that is difficult when stability and the status quo are preferred to change. But how can innovations be promoted better? And what conditions are required for this?

In my opinion, there are many abstract and high-flying concepts about innovation and how to foster it. For this reason, I would like to propose a simple concept.

Basically, dealing with new ideas, which are the basis of innovations, shows whether a change is desired at all or not. This thinking prepares the ground for dealing with innovations.

Promoting innovation: How are new ideas dealt with?

My question to you now is: What happens when you are presented with a new idea? Do you point out potential or actual obstacles right away? Do you kill the idea with a quick reply or a dismissive gesture? Do you ignore the idea and hope that it will simply disappear along with the idea contributor?

Caution, skepticism, condemnation and rejection are understandable – and typical – reactions to new ideas, but they are also signs that innovation and the development of an innovative mindset are being unconsciously sabotaged.

In order to promote innovation and, by the way, creativity, you have to create a (thinking) culture for yourself and others in which others feel comfortable, valued and therefore safe. Unfiltered ideas can then lead to innovations.

The acceptance of new ideas is crucial

This brings us to the question of how to prepare your thinking to accept new ideas. The presence of the following four factors can help:

1. Curiosity

Curiosity, i.e. the “greed for something new” is the source of creativity and innovation. People who are good at making things happen are curious. Curiosity, in turn, promotes the acquisition of new information.

Innovators, meanwhile, are curious about why things are the way they are. They are open to doing things differently and they are willing to try things that don’t exactly fit their own assumptions. Innovators ask “What if?” or “How could we do something differently?”.

However, the first reaction to a new idea is often “fight or flee”. When a new, strange, or maybe even strange idea comes along, we are programmed to fight or resist it, maybe even ignore it, hoping it will go away.

This is out of the question for innovators. As Galileo Galilei said: “Curiosity always comes first when there is a problem to be solved!”.

2. Tolerance of Opportunities

Having choices and choosing between them is uncomfortable and challenging. But the ability to slow down and cope with different possibilities is necessary to innovate in the face of complexity.

Innovators strike a balance between the need to move forward and the need to keep options open. Innovative solutions increase when one is willing to stay open to possibilities longer.

3. Focus on positive reviews

Focusing on the positive value of a new idea can motivate people and encourage a sense of progress. It doesn’t mean that you ignore challenges and problems. But it helps to shift the focus to the positive aspects and thus provide the mental direction with a “positive spin”.

Instead of saying what you don’t like or what won’t work, innovators share what they like and like about an idea. They point to the strengths and value of a new solution or idea. That way, those around you know they’re onto something new and useful.

This ensures that the most valuable properties remain as an idea evolves. A positive judgment also offers recognition. It encourages a sense of accomplishment and progress that others may need to stay motivated.

4. Perseverance

Innovations are regularly the result of a process and not the result of a one-off event. Forcing yourself to have a brilliant idea on Tuesday at 10:25 am and another on Wednesday at 1:18 pm is unlikely to work.

It is therefore important that you encourage yourself and the people around you to follow them and their ideas again and again and to continuously think about new (thought) paths.

As a result, this means that the development of ideas takes time and therefore perseverance, because you have to think about them again and again and reconsider and think through the current state of an idea.

Foster innovation: Ideas thrive on support

Now that we have an idea of ​​how to approach ideas as the basis for innovation, we can now consider the general environment in which innovation can emerge and thrive.

So it’s no longer about your own thinking and the idea-promoting mindset, but about the framework and environment in which you move and which supports ideas and thus innovations. According to my observations, the following conditions contribute to a supportive environment:

Failure is allowed

Most people are hampered or even blocked in their thinking and actions by the fear of failure. However, a culture of failure and tolerance for mistakes is absolutely necessary to drive innovation. Of course, allowing for mistakes doesn’t mean eliminating all quality assurance.

Rather, it’s about taking a deep breath and thinking the idea through before discarding it, allowing experimentation and concept development, even if the underlying idea sounds crazy. In addition, it is important to establish a feedback culture in which mistakes contribute to organizational and personal learning.

Collaboration is supported

Tales of lonely geniuses are largely a myth. If you look closely at the great discoveries or inventions, you realize that they are the result of a group of people, often working in parallel, each finding a different part of the solution.

What has changed recently is that the innovators are not only working in parallel, but increasingly together. Nobody knows exactly why this is so. Some suggest it is because the issues have become more complex.

On the other hand, others argue that it is because digital technology has made it easier to collaborate and thus create innovations. Whatever the reason, if you want to foster innovation, don’t expect loners to matter.

Proximity is encouraged

In the age of email and video conferencing, you and others can be just as productive working remotely as sitting in an office. But as already mentioned, ideas and thus innovations are easier to develop when people come together.

Some of the best ideas and insights come from discussions in the hallway of an office, university or cafeteria, from meeting new people, and from impromptu, chance meetings. The reason for this is that in these informal settings there are constraints or limits on ideas, even if they are vague or crazy.

If you talk about such ideas yourself, others can contribute something to them and create something out of seemingly nothing. And one more thing: Proximity is not only important for people, but also for ideas. Because not every new idea becomes a realized product, a service or a general solution.

This does not mean, however, that this idea has no value as such. For example, one exercise for making more of individual ideas and thus promoting innovation is to combine previously unconnected ideas. Brainstorming, mind mapping, and forced ideation are techniques that can be used for this.

Diversity is lived

Far too often long-standing and stable groups of people or organizations become dull gatherings of people without inspiration and creativity, but with deadlocked ideas about who the “right” people are for processes, project implementation or just constructs of ideas.

Often these ideas are seen as ‘standards’ and hallmarks not only of that group but of even a society or a company, when in reality they are just evidence of boredom and complacency.

However, a diverse team or group of people is superior to a group of more talented but homogeneous individuals. They are more creative, solve problems more effectively and produce fewer errors.

Promoting innovation: conclusion

That’s basically it: my proposal for promoting innovation. In summary, two elements are crucial: how to deal with ideas and what the framework looks like in which ideas arise. Ultimately, these must be as wide as possible and provided with few barriers.

Of course, the above suggestions only scratch the surface. In particular, the creation of a new way of thinking costs time and energy and many attitudes have to be cleared out of the way, which are reflected in statements such as “We’ve never done it like this before” or “And that’s supposed to do what exactly?”.

But an innovative mindset can be created – and continued practice makes it stronger and stronger. Everyone benefits from this, but also companies, organizations and ultimately entire societies. In the age of digitization and the associated uncertainty about the future, this is a mindset that helps to cope with this age and to be successful in it.

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