Leadership Matters: Innovation Isn't Optional

You have to take some risk:

One of the biggest challenges to innovative leadership is the willingness to take risks on new ideas. In my opinion, this is something of a flaw in traditional leadership thinking. The assumption underlying this risk aversion is that it is less risky to keep doing what you are doing than it is to try new approaches. However, it takes only a short scan of the environment to see that doing the same thing may be the riskiest approach. You might have been negatively impacted by circumstances outside of your control lately, but it's going to be your leadership and willingness to develop new approaches that moves you back to a position of success. Taking risks is in large part a state of mind. Innovation may be your safest play.

Focus is better than general innovation:

One of the reasons that internal "innovation programs" often deliver dismal results is because they are unfocused. You may have decided after your last employee suggestion box campaign that you have a lack of creative thinking in your team or organization. An alternative explanation is that you have asked people to be innovative in an unspecified way. Here's an adjustment that I can almost guarantee will have a near-immediate impact. Instead of asking your followers to give their "best ideas," implement a two-week program where you ask for their best ideas around a specific topic. Perhaps it is new products, or dealing with internal costs or even restructuring. Don't dumb-down the topic but put a genuine priority out for consideration. Give a limited time for input and encourage not just individuals, but groups of people, to submit their recommendation. You might be amazed at what you get.