Three Expectations for Driving Innovation

As many articles have gilded our global situation with a silver lining, a common thread is how productive we can be when we are social distancing. Think of Issac Newton who, during his over three-year isolation from the plague, nurtured and brought forth many of his greatest contributions to science and mathematics.  As a leader, we can help Nurture Growth in our entire team by challenging them to develop innovative thinking. Following are the three behaviors you want to encourage in your team today, to help develop the new normal for your team and organization tomorrow.

Encourage your team members to:

Look at issues from different perspectives. A comfort zone allows us to be a bit lazy and not think, while getting out of our comfort zones opens up new perspectives.  We see things in new ways. In most cases, it is not that anything tangible has changed, just our perspective.  Take this time to look around and see our businesses and customers from a different perspective.  What opportunities have always been there that we just did not see before?

Challenge current assumptions to achieve better results. Many of our assumptions have been shattered in these last few weeks. What other assumptions do we have about our business? Our current customers? Markets we have never served in the past?  What is keeping us stuck to the past? When we can let go of those long-held assumptions, our options open up for us, and we are ready to…

Try new ideas and approaches. The plain truth is if you do not try you will never know.  Be like Newton, test your new assumptions.  Not just one, but as many as possible so you can find out which ones will create the new path forward.

As soon as you realize the old reality is not coming back, innovation is your path forward.  Setting the above expectations for both yourself and your team will Nurture Growth for your team and the organization.  So, be like Newton! Grow your team and change the world!