63 Ways to Stimulate Employee Creativity and Innovativeness

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63 Ways to Stimulate Employee Creativity and Innovativeness
elmer palacio, Professor, Philippines, Member
Apart from a #0. Bottom-up approach,
I. In what other ways can an organization stimulate creativity and innovation in its employees?
II. What conditions and strategies are needed to support these approaches?
Thanks for your ideas...
Editor: we'll add numbers to all ideas for reference purposes and we'll remove double ones (as much as possible) to avoid this page becomes too cluttered and complex....Sign up 		 

 
#1. Training in Creativity Methods
Dr zahra gheidar, Consultant, Iran, Member
More than 7 years experience in creativity classes, showed me that in order to maintain and nurture creativity, several issues must be considered. Alt...Sign up
  

   

 
#4. Implement Lateral Thinking
Tom Wilson, HR Consultant, United States, Member
@Mandy Kendall: I agree with your central facilitator. In conjunction with the Points of Light Program, which I have...Sign up
  

 
#5. Grant Freedom to Employees
#6. Provide Support by Managers
DANNY SUSIKWANA, Accountant, Zambia, Member
My experience both in business and in teaching shows that creativity is in all humanity and lies inert in most of humanity. In order to bring out that...Sign up
  

 
#7. Create an Environment of Inquisitiveness
Herman, Manager, South Africa, Member
In reading the responses to the question, it seems to me an expensive process of appointing facilitators, and others to come and do the stimulating or...Sign up
  

 
#8. Organize Assistance to help Incubation
Ceferino Dulay, Jr., Philippines, Member
Throughout my career I have been involved with creativity/innovation when I started out in R&D management and later, in operations/business management...Sign up
  

 
#9. Train Only Talented People
Md Sufyan, Manager, India, Member
The best person for the assigned job should be the "mantra".
Creativity is related to think out of the box / lateral thinking, so an open work en...Sign up
  

 
#10. Create a Safe, Fearless and Risk Taking Environment
pawan jain, HR Consultant, India, Member
To stimulate employee creativity, provide a fearless, safe and risk taking environment to the employees which will help them to have an independent th...Sign up
  

 
#11. Do Away with a Blame Culture
#12. Institute Organisational Learning
#13. Reward System
Martin, Manager, Member
- First and foremost one should do away with a blame culture and encourage a learning environment. This is only achieved when actions of the organisat...Sign up
  

 
#14. Establish a Culture of Playing and Fun
Michael Nestor, Management Consultant, United States, Member
I agree with so many of the points stated. In the end it is a function of culture. Encourage employees to have fun, to play with ideas, allow for calc...Sign up
  

 
On #3: Ask them
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Mandy Kendall: The big plus that your method (of asking the employees how THEY believe it can be achieved) lies in ...Sign up
  

 
#15. Inititate Special Creativity Events, Competitions, Exhibitions, Projects
Roberta Rizzo, Project Manager, Ireland, Member
I reckon creativity is a question of character and behavior: creative people probably have been stimulated since their childhood, but, in certain case...Sign up
  

 
#16. Organize the C&I Effort
Satya Narayan, Strategy Consultant, India, Member
We need to also organize this entire effort. The Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence give a conci...Sign up
  

 
On #2 (Humble Facilitator): You are Right But Humility and Transparency are Rare
GJ Tahash, Analyst, United States, Member
@Mandy Kendall: Kendall, any effort where "humility and transparency" are the starting point will probably work, but...Sign up
  

 
#17. Create Trusted Expectations that we're Serious about C and I
Alan Kennedy
I agree with @Martin and @Michael Nestor. We have to create the right environment ...Sign up
  

 
#18. Empower Employees
#19. Appoint an Innovation Committee for Best Ideas
Albert Anthony D. Gavino, Analyst, Philippines, Member
By empowering employees, you give them chances to come with new ideas. Give these chances to new ...Sign up
  

 
#20. Avoid Rules, Regulations and Restrictions
harish ramakrishnan, Management Consultant, Member
Avoid restriction and demoralization in an organization. Take daily or weekly feedback from employees regarding their level of innovativity in their w...Sign up
  

 
#21. Listen Actively
#22. Provide Non-judgemental Feedback
#23. Stop Immediate Filtering
Jean-Marc Guillemette, Canada, Member
As expressed by others, make it clear that contributing ideas is important and welcome.
LISTEN active...Sign up
  

 
#24. Collectively Create an Innovation Strategy
Alexander N. Raikov, Director, Russian Federation, Member
For the purpose of stimulating creativity and innovative behavior of the employees the organisation's corresponding strategy should be developed BY th...Sign up
  

 
#25. Visualize the GAP between Current (IST) and Desired (SOLL) Situation
Marcel Rietmaeker, Belgium, Member
A good start is to visualize (using a process flow chart,
 

 
#26. Determine the Focus Areas to Raise the Corporate Creativity Competence
Susanne Kanter, Management Consultant, Member
@Marcel Rietmaeker: I agree that to raise corporate creativity it might be useful to:
1. Analyze the current pr...Sign up
  

 
#27. Use External People for (Extra) Creativity
Anand Brambha, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
The type of leaders within the organization often sets the tone of what the culture will be. As a business process and turnaround consultant, my obser...Sign up
  

 
On #7: Inquisitiveness is not Enough for a Creative Solution, but is the First Step
Julio Hennings, Professor, Peru, Member
@Herman: I believe that inquisitiveness is NOT enough to get creativity. Because we need a method that can support u...Sign up
  

 
#28. Top Management Must Recognize the Relevance of C&I
Erico Ebeling, Consultant, Brazil, Member
My understanding is that first of all, the decision makers in the organization should understand and recognise the relevance of the creativity and inn...Sign up
  

 
On #5 and #20: Just Like you Encourage Children...
Ching Quek, New Zealand, Member
Just like the way you encourage your children... A paper and pencil, and let them wander with minimum interference and expectations....Sign up
  

 
#29. Delegate Tasks as Much as Possible
Zaynabfaps adeleke, CEO, Nigeria, Member
Employees of any organisation should be constantly trained. Also delegate duties to them as much as possible to allow them to use their initiative and...Sign up
  

 
#30. Give Employees Time to Think and Work on own Projects
Rodel Carandang, Manager, Philippines, Member
Give employees time to think.
Google give their employees 20% of their time think and work on projects that would be beneficial to the organizati...Sign up
  

 
#31: Find and Match the Right Employees
#32. Provide Talent Career Development
kvssiyer, Consultant, India, Member
Employees are creative and innovative by nature. If they are not in practice it is traceable to the degree and level of mismatch of the jobs they are ...Sign up
  

 
#33. Look for a Freewheeling, Creative Thinking Mindset
Ceferino Dulay, Jr., Philippines, Member
I can understand a process of identifying problems and finding solutions which is commonly used in quality management processes. Such environments req...Sign up
  

 
#34. Challenge Employees
N.Prabha, Teacher, India, Member
According to my point of view - giving challenging work to them makes employees think more about it, in addition to appraising and rewarding them for ...Sign up
  

 
#35. Unlearn Past Experiences and Impressions
#36. Welcome and Encourage Diversity of Ideas
srinivas, Lecturer, India, Member
What holds back in creating a qualitative creative work are our past experiences etched as impressions in the subconscious mind. In order to enable qu...Sign up
  

 
#37. Look for Inspiration Outside the Own Company Borders
Feyzal Peeroo, Accountant, Mauritius, Member
It is not easy to be creative, unless the end justify the means. In enterprises with a lot of routine work, the hectic atmosphere is not prone for som...Sign up
  

 
#38. Encourage All Staff to Do Things Slightly Differently
Harp Minhas
Everyone is creative, it is not limited to the intelligent or academics, in fact it has been shown that those with less formalised training (hence thi...Sign up
  

 
#39. See this Change as an Investment and as a Strategy
Martijnse, Management Consultant, Netherlands, Member
A condition and strategy you might think of is to consider the investment you must be willing to make in the process of establishing a creative and in...Sign up
  

 
#40: Try to Focus the Creativity on CLIENT Requirements
PEDRO PAULO COSTALLAT BRUNO, Project Manager, Brazil, Member
Creativity depends on the requirements. The difficulty is to know these requirements. Seen this way, a critical question to aks is: what products and ...Sign up
  

 
#41. Become a Problem-solving Organization
Bernhard Keim, Business Consultant, Germany, Premium Member
The creative mind tries to solve problems for the company, the consumer, the partner etc.. Creatives do not take anything for granted. They challenge ...Sign up
  

 
#42: Listen to Internal Customers too
#43. Establish Informal and Transparent Communication
#44. Establish a Flexi Budget for R&D
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
Dear all, for creativity to bloom remember:
#42: Nothing coming from any level of internal customers – howsoever insignificant – is ever unimport...Sign up
  

 
If Creativity = Problem Solving, How do You Make it Happen?
Tom Wilson, HR Consultant, United States, Member
@Bernhard Keim: I agree with what is desired. The issue is. How to achieve that in the organizational culture?
...Sign up
  

 
#45. Create a Bottom-up Communication Platform
Nelisa Koti, Student (MBA), Member
Bottom up is important. So a firm may establish some kind of communication platform aimed at listening to what the employees think about the company o...Sign up
  

 
Creativity - the Recipe
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
Dear all, the barriers – often blinding us completely – to develop a culture supportive of creativity usually are: environmental, intellectual, langua...Sign up
  

 
#46. Create an Innovation Club and give Parties
Essentia, Coach, United States, Member
Innovation is at the heart of an individual's personality. Others may think the same way if an organization creates a competitive and meaningful rewar...Sign up
  

 
#47. Make Innovators Rediscover the Creativity in Their Inner Self
Dr zahra gheidar, Consultant, Iran, Member
Building on my suggestion for @Creativity Training: In fact, we are born with creativity capacity. During our develo...Sign up
  

 
#48. Reengineering
WAFULA BENJAMIN, CEO, Kenya, Member
I' d like to reinforce the reengineering concept to stimulating the mind to pick on better options rather than best opt...Sign up
  

 
On #39. See Innovation as a Strategic Effort rather than as Fixing Problems
Ceferino Dulay, Jr., Philippines, Member
Although problems present opportunities for innovation, the bigger challenge would be innovations to drive business competitiveness. Because then inno...Sign up
  

 
#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
GHESSASSI, Student (University), Morocco, Member
I suggest to also consider the following measures for creativity and innovation:
#49: Establish a prize for innovation (see also: @
  

 
#55. Do not Mandate Creativity; Nurture It
Alan Kennedy
Wow! What a great set of responses to Professor Palacio's seemingly innocent question on how to stimulate creativity and innovation within the organiz...Sign up
  

 
The Skunk Works as Important Metaphor
Tom Wilson, HR Consultant, United States, Member
@Alan Kennedy: Your example of the Skunk Works is right on the target, especially within the context of Leadership....Sign up
  

 
On #30: Creativity and the Ampersand
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
Dear all, creativity needs an environment that caters to experimentation wherein this ‘area of self-expression’ is supported and rewarded if the missi...Sign up
  

 
#56: Creative and Innovate Efforts Should Not Be Discouraged
Ofori Cassandra, Teacher, Ghana, Member
@Arif ur Rehman: I am a teacher in a public school where the rules, regulations and restrictions are clearly spelt ...Sign up
  

 
On #56: Creativity, Innovation and Discipline
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
Any innovation that does not start from management is some form of a challenge to authority. How this is managed, is dependent on the maturity and qua...Sign up
  

 
#57. Creativity is not an Exercise. It's an Attitude
Bernhard Keim, Business Consultant, Germany, Premium Member
Creativity depends on culture of an organization. Creativity means that people are driven for change. Observing organizations I have to say that too m...Sign up
  

 
On #56: Creativity, Democracy, Leadership
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
@Ofori Cassandra: A ‘true leader’ by definition is in line with his associates. It is only when ‘democracy’ thus co...Sign up
  

 
Transparency and Democracy are not Synonymous Except in Retrospect
Tom Wilson, HR Consultant, United States, Member
@Arif ur Rehman: I would say that a true leader defines the trajectory of his associates, moving forward. In this r...Sign up
  

 
The Leader's Trajectory
Arif ur Rehman, Professor, Pakistan, Member
@Tom Wilson: Entirely true, Tom. Obviously the trajectory has to be chartered by the leader wherein the lead is bas...Sign up
  

 
Management as a Performance Art
Tom Wilson, HR Consultant, United States, Member
@Arif ur Rehman: Relative to your perfectly framed comment about loving chaos, management is a process of dealing w...Sign up
  

 
#58. Establish Employee-led Innovation
Anneke Zwart, Student (University), Netherlands, Moderator
It has been recognized that innovation is not only a result of top-down investments in R&D. Rather, it is a process involving many people across the o...Sign up
  

 
On #19. Innovation Committees and their Decisions
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Albert Anthony D. Gavino: The only problem with your committees is that they have been described as "a group of pe...Sign up
  

 
#61. Ask Many Challenging Questions
Ceferino Dulay, Jr., Philippines, Member
Creativity is not something that you plan for and do at any given time. It is spontaneous. A spark in a moment of inspiration.
I used to ask my s...Sign up
  

 
#62. Give Innovators a Status they can be Proud Of
Samoletov, Coach, Russian Federation, Member
@Essentia: I arrange small celebrations of innovation success for all employeed (pizza party on the floor). It coul...Sign up
  

 
#63. Create an Idea-driven Organization
Prabhavathi A, Coach, India, Member
In India and many other places, people work just to earn money. They never actually own the process. They do what is said and they try to perfect them...Sign up
  

 
 

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Brett E Holdeman
Student (University)

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