Building a Culture of Innovation – Step 3: Adopt the Right Mindset

(This is Part 3 of a 3-Part series of posts on “How to Build a Culture of Innovation.” To read Part 1, click here. To read Part 2, click here)

Building a Culture of Innovation starts with getting buy-in and setting proper expectations.

However, even if you have buy-in and have set proper expectations, your innovation initiative may still fail.

Why?

Because your team still needs to adopt the right mindset.

Culture shift starts with mindset shift. Even the best-intentioned people may struggle to be more innovative if they don’t have the skills and underlying mindset to tap into their creativity and follow the path of innovation.

It’s not enough to encourage them to “think out of the box,” “get creative,” and “come up with some great, innovative ideas.” They must have the key mindsets that lead to innovation.

Three Key Mindsets to Instill:

• Present Mindedness – Some of the best innovations come when people simply notice a problem that can be solved or a process that can be improved. The challenge is that the world is an overwhelmingly stimulating place, and your people are probably too overwhelmed to stop and notice anything. By giving them the skills to be present – to get the to stop racing around trying to get everything done – and get them to pay attention, you open up the opportunity for them to see innovation possibilities. Beyond training them on this, you must support them in this. That means creating time and opportunity for them to pause, notice, and reflect. 

• What If? – A simple question, but the more you can get people to start asking, “what if?” the more opportunities you create for innovation. Get your team to stop whining about what is and to start using “what if?” to imagine what could be. 

• Yes, And – This is a simple but incredibly powerful idea from the world of improv comedy. “Yes, and,” is a mindset where people accept whatever situation is presented to them, (the “yes” part) and then take it one step further by exploring it deeper or adding to it. The opposite of “yes, and” is “yes, but,” which is the negative mentality that puts evaluation too soon and blocks creativity and innovation. Evaluation is fine, but it needs to come later. To create a culture of innovation, start with “Yes, And.”

How to Instill Key Mindsets:

Having the right mindset may be the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately, training mindset is one of the more difficult tasks there is.

Here are five approaches to instilling the key mindsets:

• Hire Right – It starts with getting the right people on board first. Skills are easier to train than mindset, so if innovation is important to you, make hiring people with the right mindset a priority.
• Training – Conduct training sessions (internally or with an external trainer/facilitator) designed not on process, but on mindset. Show your people how to access their creativity, help them understand the mindsets that lead to innovation, and give them techniques they can use to apply those mindsets in the real world.
• Play – Create “play time.” Fun and play are great tools to build innovative mindsets. Obviously you can’t goof off all day long, but by structuring in some time for people to do things they enjoy, you open the door to creativity and innovation.
• Ground Rules – Set “Yes, And” and “What If?” as ground rules, either for your office or at least for specific times, during meetings and brainstorming sessions. Once you establish the rule, it’s easier for people to notice when they are being closed-minded.
• Read a Book – Yes, this is a bit of a shameless plug. But to learn more about using “Yes, And” to improve creativity and innovation (along with many other things) Check out my book, “Say, ‘Yes, And!’” (that page has info on volume orders as well, so you can buy books for your whole team, department or organization)

Will these three steps (with sub-steps) create a wholesale cultural shift in your organization right away? Maybe not – unless you are a very small company, in which case this may be enough).

However, these are the first three steps. Before you start having brainstorming meetings and yelling at people to, “be more innovative!” start with these three. Not only will your results improve, but every other element of your innovation initiatives will become easier and more successful!

Do you want help instilling the right mindset to create a culture of innovation with your team, department, or organization?  If so, contact Avish now to find out how he can help you do just that!