Create an “Innovation Playground”
Do you want to increase innovation in your team, department, or organization?
If, “no,” then we should talk – innovation is important and may be the only thing that can keep you and your company relevant
If “yes,” what are you doing to foster innovation?
You can’t just say to your people, “you need to be more innovative!” and expect anything positive to occur.
Innovations must be encouraged, nurtured, and supported.
One way to do this is to create an Innovation Playground.
I remember being a kid and loving to go to the playground with my friends. The playground was an environment where we could be free and creative and have fun. But there was structure to it too.
The same elements that made for great childhood memories can make for great organizational innovation as well:
1) Fun
First and foremost, the playground was fun! Kids look forward to it, and they enjoy their time there.
In the business world, your innovation playground needs to also be fun.
The easiest way to achieve that is to
- Remove the pressure and expectations
- Get rid of the negativity (need help? Check out my, “Say, ‘Yes, And!’” Book).
The spirit of play and fun will increase innovation.
2) Freedom
The playground was a world of possibilities and options.
Yes, you may have fallen into patterns of doing the same things over and over, but that’s because they were fun. If you and your friends wanted to play kickball, great! Tag? Sure, no problem! What, you want to sit and play checkers? Know yourself out!
The freedom to pursue the options that most excited you at that moment is what made the playground so fun.
In your workplace, creating an environment where people are free to pursue ideas that intrigue them is key to creating a great innovation playground.
3) Structure
Seemingly the opposite of freedom, great playgrounds have an element of structure.
You have the freedom to explore any direction you want, but once you do the group quickly agrees upon a structure. If you all decide to play kickball, you play kickball by the rules (until you grow tired and then move on to something new).
This happens even in made-up games. My niece and nephew love to play “school.” They have clear rules in their minds for the game. I couldn’t tell you what they are, but they seem to be able to tell me when I am breaking them.
This balance of freedom and structure is what lets you move from unfocused creativity to meaningful innovation. Create a few guidelines with your innovation playground and then let your people go wild.
4) Safety
A good playground is safe. Physical safety comes from proper equipment, padding, rules, etc.
Think of this as the guidelines and structure of your innovation playground.
Beyond that, the best playgrounds have emotional safety.
You could just be yourself, play what you wanted, and have fun. Playgrounds are ruined when bullies come in and take away this freedom.
Make your innovation playground safe as well. Remove (or reign in) the bullies. Give people the freedom to make mistakes or say something stupid. Let them be who they are, how they are. This is a key step in tapping into true creativity.
Applying This
An innovation playground is a powerful way to create an environment that both improves innovation and increases morale and engagement.
This doesn’t mean that your organization should follow these rules all day, every day. You can structure specific times and events for this, but it should be regular (like Google’s 20% Innovation Policy)
In a future post I will talk more specifics about setting up an innovation playground with your team or at your organization. For now, just start finding ways of bringing the four elements of a great playground into your creative efforts.
If innovation is important to you – and it should be – create your innovation playground now to foster creativity and start tapping into the wonderful innovation potential of your team.
Note: If you want more innovation at your organization, contact Avish now to talk about how to bring the idea of the innovation playground to your group.