MANAGING PEOPLE & TEAMS
The Three Things You Do That’s Stifling Innovation In Your Company
Leaders Need to Identify Derailers Quickly
In recent years, it seems that innovation has taken on a buzzword status.
Companies tout their paradigm shift in values, boasting about focusing on innovation. Organizations are encouraging creativity and experimentation, in hopes of developing newer products. More funds are being channeled into innovation programs in hopes of teaching the entrepreneurial mindset.
The reality is that most companies often fail to innovate and that happens at the management level; managers are often guilty of doing things that stifle innovation.
Though it is often unconscious, there are also deliberate actions that they do to oppose experimentation.
Rather than pushing more innovation programs, companies need to address the issue at its roots.
Innovation is born from culture. Without a pro-experimentation culture, employees are passive and withdrawn. Teams become more conservative and the overall risk appetite is low.
Even if there is such a culture, it is up to the manager to uphold it.
Leaders need to mitigate anti-innovation behaviors and identify pain points — that way, they can easily foster innovation and entrepreneurial mindsets.
Neglecting Existing and Current Projects
Suppose a CEO of a logistics company had 200 different projects on his dashboard. Each day, he reviews the proposals from his employees. Subsequently, he gave the green light to every project, thinking that if the teams are busy working on innovative projects the company will ultimately benefit.
The reality is that the CEO never held the employees accountable: projects were left undone and they were never questioned. There was no guidance and no expectations in mind. Employees were unable to complete projects.
The biggest problem is burnout: they were channeling their energy into projects that were low-priority tasks.
Unconscious neglect is a real problem that exists in many people. It can be likened to a new hobby: we often pick something up that interests us, but lack the commitment to make it stick. Without someone to hold us accountable, we are more likely to lose our drive than most.
Leaders need to hold employees accountable for every project. Rather than let the project happen on its own, leaders need to give advice.
Not every project is as valuable as the other. Leaders need to first understand whether it aligns with the company’s goals. By homing in on high priority tasks, the employees would have not experienced burnout. After completing those tasks, they would have a better understanding of what the company is looking for in their next project.
That ensures the relevance of the next innovation they’re working on.
Leaders need to also assess the team in question. How are they working together? What are their work styles? What are their motivations?
By considering multi perspectives, leaders can then know how they can help their teams in the best way possible.
Allowing Overprotectiveness to Grow
Employees can become overprotective about their ideas, choosing not to tell their managers. In reality, that is a valid thought, as there are people who might steal those ideas and take credit for something they did not do.
Leaders need to identify when an employee is being overprotective about their ideas — often, it is difficult to get them to open up about what they want to do. Hence, leaders give up and choose to let the employees do what they want, without insofar a single piece of advice given.
Rather than reinforce the padlock on their ideas, leaders need to pick the lock to understand how the employee came up with his idea.
Leaders also need to help employees seek out mentors. Tough feedback, constructive criticism, and rousing motivation are key to push them to improve.
If a leader is unable to create an informal panel of advisers for the employee, there are other avenues as well: joining professional groups and attending meetups are possibilities.
Not Identifying Overconfidence Early
Overconfidence is a killer for innovation. Though innovation encourages experimentation, it is not without risk calculation. It demands people to take many factors into account — the number of resources, time and effort just to name a few.
When employees are overconfident, they are less likely to ask for advice. They’ll also overestimate their innate abilities. In contrast, they’ll underestimate the goals for their team and organization.
Though overconfidence can be difficult to identify in the short term, leaders simply have to come in early during the project. Before the project begins, leaders need to ask critical questions. “What are the risks of this project?” “What are the possible areas of failure?”
By helping employees anticipate challenges, they are more well-equipped to handle them emotionally and physically. Mental preparation is key in breaking new frontiers.
In today’s workforce, the advancement of technology has forced many companies to build up their innovation capabilities. Though it may be a great outlook for the economy when companies innovate, the reality is that most companies don’t.
Though the entrepreneurial mindset may not be in everyone (it may not be built in their DNA as well), managers need to identify who are the possible innovators and give their full support.
By understanding how they can identify where an employee needs support, leaders able to unleash their employees’ true potentials. Employees can innovate quickly and execute them even faster. An innovative culture can also be fostered.
Companies who fail to innovate can adjust, but companies who stifle innovation are more or less doomed.