Five ways to nurture innovation

Innovation is without doubt still one of the buzzwords in business, Says Cass Coulston.  How can leaders, who are targeted on sales, profits and overall performance, achieve the numbers required, at the same time as nurturing innovation? While it isn’t a leader’s role to come up with all of the ideas, in fact far from it, it is a leader’s role to create a culture that allows new ideas to be created and nurtured. Here are my top five tips to help leaders nurture more innovation.

1. Define It

What does innovation mean to your business? Just as your vision and values should be unique, what is your personal definition of innovation? What are the obstacles you face that stop you from creating innovation? Your starting point has to be to answer these two questions, to take innovation from a “buzz word” to an executable strategy.

2. Have the right conversations

Are you activating conversations that open up your team's ability to innovate?  Do you encourage trust and an openness to not be afraid of the unknown and of making mistakes that you can learn from?  What resonates with your team and what does not? It should be why not rather than why.

3.  Embrace exploration

How often do you hear the words “that’s the way it’s always been done."? This is a natural enemy to innovation. Are you encouraging curiosity within your team and the ability to learn from customers, suppliers and competitors? Are you and your teams getting out of your regular surroundings on a regular basis? If you have answered no, you are probably not creating a culture where new ideas will flourish. Different perspectives create divergent thinking. Divergent thinking creates game-changing ideas.

4. Champion experimentation

Encourage your team to test new ideas quickly and recognise their efforts and the learnings, even if the result isn't what you are looking for. Embrace mistakes rather than create a culture of fear around mistakes, which will inhibit your team's ability to innovate. Reward your team for challenging the status quo.

5.  Create a culture of teamwork and inclusivity

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” Spot on words from the US President Harry Truman. Heavily top-down, command-and control cultures can kill any buds of innovative thought. A new perspective can emerge at any level of a business.  Encourage a culture that rewards suggestions and feedback. Seek the views of your internal and external stakeholders. This is fundamental to remaining relevant and competitive in today’s fast-changing world.   Cass Coulston, founder of Beacon Consulting, has held a number of senior leadership roles over the past 20 years, leading cross-functional teams of 150+ across marketing, commercial, finance and supply-chain functions, with responsibility for businesses in excess of £70m across the UK and Ireland.