What's The Worst Enemy Of Innovation?
I was recently siting in a meeting I was facilitating. There were many bright diverse and experienced brains present. Everybody was aware of the need for more innovation. Yet nobody was coming up with any particularly innovative ideas.
As often happens, there came a point where there was a long silence. . . that seemed to stretch forever. People started fidgeting in their seats. Finally a brave soul looked the leader in the eye and said:
“For us to be able to come up with bold innovative ideas you need to make us feel that it’s ok to make mistakes.”
There you have it! What I heard this person said to the leader was: When I make a mistake in my quest for innovation,
Are you going to encourage me instead of criticizing me?
Are you going to hold judgement on my capabilities?
Are you going to make fun of my mistake?
Are you going to humiliate me in public?
Are you going to give me the benefit of the doubt?
Are you going to shame me for my failure?
In other words, can you forget what you have been taught from Kindergarten and not be afraid of failure? Because the worst enemy of innovation is. . .
Fear of failure
High standards and expectations are good. But taken to an extreme they stifle innovation. Fear of failure, together with wanting to be perfect, and shaming people for making mistakes, freeze innovation.
For innovation to happen, you and your people might need to fail. If that is the case, hurry up and fail fast! Then pick yourself back up and try again.
The same applies at home. Do you want your mate and children to be creative and find good solutions to problems? Let them feel that failure can be a teacher, not a disaster, as long as they are willing to learn from it.
The only way to get over the fear of failure is by taking decisive action toward innovation with the assurance that it’s ok to try and try again.
Do you have the courage to allow multiple failures in the search for innovative solutions? Thomas Edison did, and the rest is history!
If you want to know more about how to have conversations that encourage innovation, simply click here to schedule a “leading conversations” call where you can gain clarity about your needs and how I can help in creating the inclusive and innovative organizational culture you dream of having.