63 Ways to Stimulate Employee Creativity and Innovativeness

#1. Training in Creativity Methods

#2. Appoint a Humble, Central Facilitator
#3. ASK them how THEY believe C and I could be Stimulated

#4. Implement Lateral Thinking

#5. Grant Freedom to Employees
#6. Provide Support by Managers

#7. Create an Environment of Inquisitiveness

#8. Organize Assistance to help Incubation

#9. Train Only Talented People

#10. Create a Safe, Fearless and Risk Taking Environment

#11. Do Away with a Blame Culture
#12. Institute Organisational Learning
#13. Reward System

#14. Establish a Culture of Playing and Fun

On #3: Ask them

#15. Inititate Special Creativity Events, Competitions, Exhibitions, Projects

#16. Organize the C&I Effort

On #2 (Humble Facilitator): You are Right But Humility and Transparency are Rare

#17. Create Trusted Expectations that we're Serious about C and I

#18. Empower Employees
#19. Appoint an Innovation Committee for Best Ideas

#20. Avoid Rules, Regulations and Restrictions

#21. Listen Actively
#22. Provide Non-judgemental Feedback
#23. Stop Immediate Filtering

#24. Collectively Create an Innovation Strategy

#25. Visualize the GAP between Current (IST) and Desired (SOLL) Situation

#26. Determine the Focus Areas to Raise the Corporate Creativity Competence

#27. Use External People for (Extra) Creativity

On #7: Inquisitiveness is not Enough for a Creative Solution, but is the First Step

#28. Top Management Must Recognize the Relevance of C&I

On #5 and #20: Just Like you Encourage Children...

#29. Delegate Tasks as Much as Possible

#30. Give Employees Time to Think and Work on own Projects

#31: Find and Match the Right Employees
#32. Provide Talent Career Development

#33. Look for a Freewheeling, Creative Thinking Mindset

#34. Challenge Employees

#35. Unlearn Past Experiences and Impressions
#36. Welcome and Encourage Diversity of Ideas

#37. Look for Inspiration Outside the Own Company Borders

#38. Encourage All Staff to Do Things Slightly Differently

#39. See this Change as an Investment and as a Strategy

#40: Try to Focus the Creativity on CLIENT Requirements

#41. Become a Problem-solving Organization

#42: Listen to Internal Customers too
#43. Establish Informal and Transparent Communication
#44. Establish a Flexi Budget for R&D

If Creativity = Problem Solving, How do You Make it Happen?

#45. Create a Bottom-up Communication Platform

Creativity - the Recipe

#46. Create an Innovation Club and give Parties

#47. Make Innovators Rediscover the Creativity in Their Inner Self

#48. Reengineering

On #39. See Innovation as a Strategic Effort rather than as Fixing Problems

#49: Prize for Innovation
#50: Avoid Routine Environment
#51: Encourage Visiting Creative Events
#52. Ask for Feedback on Events
#53: Coffee Breaks
#54. Plants in the Office

#55. Do not Mandate Creativity; Nurture It

The Skunk Works as Important Metaphor

On #30: Creativity and the Ampersand

#56: Creative and Innovate Efforts Should Not Be Discouraged

On #56: Creativity, Innovation and Discipline

#57. Creativity is not an Exercise. It's an Attitude

On #56: Creativity, Democracy, Leadership

Transparency and Democracy are not Synonymous Except in Retrospect

The Leader's Trajectory

Management as a Performance Art

#58. Establish Employee-led Innovation

On #19. Innovation Committees and their Decisions

#61. Ask Many Challenging Questions

#62. Give Innovators a Status they can be Proud Of

#63. Create an Idea-driven Organization

#64. Boredom