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Unleash Innovation and Put Creativity to Work Throughout Your Company

Some things never change.

That may be true, but if it applies to your organization, you're in trouble. In today's intensely competitive business environment, the only thing constant is change. Customers who wanted one thing last week are demanding something altogether different today. Competitors are copying your great ideas, undercutting your fees, and aggressively going after your clients. If you're not a leader in the marketplace, your very survival is at risk. But how do you reach and stay in that front-of-the-pack spot?

The answer is to create and nurture a company culture based on innovation. The assumption that creativity is a trait only a few select people are born with is a myth. Instead, creativity is actually unlearned as we grow up. The business world has traditionally favored analytical thinking over the capacity to innovate, but times and needs have changed. People need to unlearn their uncreative habits and use their natural ability to be innovative.

Though technology is often viewed as innovative, it is not enough in itself. Organizations need innovative business models that leverage technology so that their people can make the best use of their innate creativity. Employees need guidance, training, and tools to implement the creative solutions they develop.

So how can you create an innovative culture in your firm? It must be driven from the top. Consider these strategies:

Make everyone accountable. Because a few individuals at the top cannot possibly plan all of a company's activities, give employees a set of rights, responsibilities, and rewards that make them accountable for their own actions.

Encourage employee innovations, and reward them accordingly. Companies are often fast to turn to outside help when in fact they already have the capabilities within their organization to do the job. Welcome ideas from existing staffers; when they produce positive results, provide an appropriate reward.

Replace rigid processes with clear business objectives. Too often innovation is stifled because companies define business processes in great detail, then hand those designs to the line that is expected to execute them from memory and without deviation. Production teams that have input on how to meet their goals typically perform far better than those that simply follow instructions without question.

Challenge employees to compete. Employees striving to keep their operations

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