When you think about innovation, what comes to mind? An overused buzz word whose purpose is to create a lot of work for a few people? Or, to marinate on the contemplation of better so that we can achieve what hasn’t been achieved before? The interesting thing is, whilst we may be able to intellectualise the benefits of creating different through an innovative application, our teams won’t move in that way if we don’t enable an environment where desire, ability, and purpose are aligned.

When it comes to innovation, we can choose to see it as separate to or part of our core business. For us at performHR, it is simply what we expect – we recruit, communicate, enable and develop our people to not only be ok with different but to actively drive this with our clients. It all comes back to what we stand for and why we stand for it. I am, and always have been, drawn to challenge what is possible, for pushing the boundaries of my thinking and creating an environment where this is our norm.

As a business leader, there are three key things that you need to ask yourself when considering how innovation fits into your business:

This is where it starts – you need to be clear on your ‘why’ as this drives all other decisions. The activity should be driven by the context that you establish. If the level of new thinking you currently have across your organisation is serving your strategy well, perhaps there are no radical shifts to make right now.

However, if your organisation is marching to a different drum than what you believe is needed to optimise the execution of your strategy, take a look at how you are setting up your organisation to deliver on what you expect.

If we are truly innovative, how will my business look different in 12 months’ time? What will my team be saying and doing that is different to now?

What are questions currently being asked? What level of curiosity is being demonstrated across your organisation? How are your leaders fostering innovation? Communication and creating space is key to innovation. Look at your meeting agendas – is innovative thinking encouraged or stifled? Do you have physical space to encourage creative thinking?

Do your people know what is expected of them? Do your organisational values support your people to develop and exhibit an innovative mindset?

Remember, satisfaction driven by a desire to get to a consensus in a hurry could be costlier than you realise right now. Learning strategies that can create either radical change or some simple shifts could be the antidote you need to create the culture of curiosity you want. If you would like a hand to understand what’s possible, give us a call. Using our DARE™ Model methodology we would love to help you glean insights into what’s possible.