Great Ideas for Future Success, by Winston J. Brill, PhD

It doesn’t take a futurist to foresee that the business world is going to become increasingly fast paced and competitive. Organizations are going to require, more than ever before, great ideas. Lots of them. Great ideas are the sparks that drive innovation. Leaders must continually receive, assess and follow up on ideas that generate new products, new ways to improve, new ways to market, new ways to manufacture, new ways to package, new ways to organize and new ways to communicate. How are you going to stimulate, and direct, that higher level of creativity?

Or, perhaps you feel that there’s no need for more creativity. As one CEO told me, "We already have more ideas than we can handle. The last thing we want around here are new ideas!" To me, that says his company has lots of mediocre ideas, so of course it will be difficult to select among them. However, what all companies should reach for are the great ideas, those that rise to the surface and displace the many average ones.

When I ask a corporate audience, "How many feel you have the potential to be significantly more creative at work?" the vast majority raise their hands. Then I ask, "What’s limiting that potential?" The two most common responses are: "Too busy" and "Too much bureaucracy." So, what should you do? Hire more people to relieve work burdens? Decrease bureaucracy? In most organizations, those aren’t viable options.

My advice for enhancing creativity—without impractical business changes—is based on a decade-long study of the human side behind key ideas that led to 350 innovations. They cover a wide range of organizations and disciplines. Here are a few of the more interesting observations:

• Many people who had time on their hands had great ideas—and many extremely busy people had great ideas. (This refutes the "too busy" excuse.)
• Many people from informally organized start-ups had great ideas—and many people from companies with many restrictive administrative layers had great ideas. (This refutes the "too much bureaucracy" excuse)
• Many people with supervisors who permitted a lot of freedom had great ideas—and many people with supervisors who did not provide that freedom had great ideas.
• Many people working in open spaces had great ideas—and many people working in closely confined spaces had great ideas.
• Many people at the high end of the salary scale had great ideas—and many people at the low end of the scale had great ideas.
• Many people who were "comfortable" at work had great ideas—and many people under tremendous pressure had great ideas.
• Many people who were experts had great ideas—and many people who were not experts had great ideas.
• Many people who enjoyed working in teams had great ideas—and many people who preferred working by themselves had great ideas.
• Many people who consider themselves as risk takers had great ideas—and many people more comfortable with the status quo had great ideas.

I did find some correlations; however, they were mostly negative ones. For example, only seven of these 350 great ideas came about during group meetings! (How much time do you spend in meetings searching for ideas?) In fact, most great ideas occurred when the individual wasn’t actually working on the problem the idea solved. Many great ideas for work happened when the person wasn’t even in the workplace. One person had his idea, late in the evening, in a karaoke bar! Not one of these great ideas arose by using someone’s recommended thinking method, "mind-freeing" process or facilitation technique, even though many of these companies had people trained in such creativity approaches.

When you ponder these results, it surely calls into question many current management "wisdoms."

There is a theme in common to all the great ideas I examined, something managers can capitalize upon. People have great ideas when they are very enthusiastic about goals. With this enthusiasm, employees automatically think of work, even away from the workplace (for instance, a karaoke bar). A connection that results in a great idea can arise at any time; but one has to be primed, through enthusiasm, to make that connection. When people are very enthusiastic, they automatically have the energy to overcome the many barriers (e.g. too busy, too much bureaucracy) to creativity. This last point is especially important since ideas without follow up will never become great ones, and will never advance innovation.

From testing enthusiasm levels in many organizations, I find that upper-level managers usually are quite enthusiastic about goals; however, most other staff members generally have a low level of enthusiasm for the needs of the organization. Remember, a great idea can come from anyone, at any time. I learned of a great engineering idea that came from a secretary. Another great idea in the biotech field came from a finance officer. And I’ll bet engineers have had great ideas that have helped secretaries, and molecular biologists likely have had ideas that have helped finance departments.

To deal with the future’s increasing complexities and unknowns, it’s not sufficient that only executives and upper-level managers be entrusted to be the "creative group." Since we don’t know who will come up with the next great idea, or when that idea will arise, all staff members should be poised to have the potential for creative contributions—all the time. Each employee should be very enthusiastic about his or her own goals as well as the organization’s vision and goals.

There’s no tidy "seven steps to…" or reward system that will stimulate high enthusiasm for work goals throughout the entire staff. Higher salaries have little effect. Each of us is turned on by a different combination of things. Therefore, treat each person as a unique individual. Appreciate the vast differences in personalities, experiences and interests, for these make up the foundation of a creative workplace.

I recommend that managers, at all levels, ask their staff as a group and also ask them one-on-one in private, "What will it take to stimulate your enthusiasm for work goals and for the goals of the organization?" Of the suggestions you’ll get, many will be very easy to implement, won’t cost much (if anything) and will stimulate enthusiasm. Common responses include, "I’d like to know how my work is impacting the company," or "I’d like some acknowledgment for my extra effort," or "I would like more responsibilities." You may not be able to accommodate all suggestions, but you should explain why a request cannot be fulfilled. This very simple management practice will result in many more employees thinking of, and following up on, great ideas. In so many complex challenges, the simplest solution is the one that’s most effective.

An essential role of a leader, therefore, should be increasing the enthusiasm level for goals of each staff member. It shouldn’t be too difficult, for who wouldn’t like to be enthusiastic about something? It’s fun to be enthusiastic. In return, you’ll be preparing for the future—through great ideas.