It is so common for “leaders” in an organization to suppress innovation without even realizing they are doing it. I have done this at time as a leader and thankfully got called out for it by some of those that I led. I don’t claim to have all the keys for promoting innovation, but I have learned, both through observation and experience, some very specific activities and behaviors that have resulted in either suppressing or encouraging innovation.
In this blog post, I will examine a few actions or behaviors you might want to avoid. If you are guilty of these, you are likely choking innovation even where those capable of innovation are present.
#1 – Immediately say “We’ve tried (or done) that before” when someone presents a new idea. Of course, after listening and exploring an idea, you and those present might reflect on a past experience in the end and determine that lessons learned before should be weighed in considering the value of the new idea, but to just blurt out “We’ve done that before” in a manner that scoffs… well, those present are learning something about the culture and will be more hesitant. This one is #1 because it is VERY common.
#2 – Only discuss strategy and plans with your “trusted” few and then just tell everyone else what they are going to do all at once! In other words, fail to engage everyone in an overall process for evaluating strategy, and they are learning that things are just “top-down and we do what we are told” and that “no one wants to hear our ideas”.
#3 – Talk about people below you (in your department or in other departments) like they are incompetent or under-achievers, or just drop frequent hints that or “talent needs upgrading” and those listening will certainly not feel like offering any ideas or spend any energy innovating.
#4 – Keep asking less people to do more and more until, for the sake of “rightsizing” you have people with no time to be creative or innovate Having a flatter organization does not necessarily mean having too few in the organization.
#5 – Take credit for ideas that were not yours or expand on the kernel of the team’s good idea without really giving credit to the team or particular individuals. Would someone do that? Of course that still happens.
#6 – Maintain a “silo” type environment and don’t encourage cross-functional groups, different departments discussing issues, and make sure everyone knows which departments are most important and which ones are just there to “serve”. Eliminating that cross-pollination of ideas, energy, and experiences will definitely help keep innovation at a minimum.
#7 – Believe that the reason you are a leader is because you know everything about your business and your market. Don’t close your own mind to new ideas from other sources.
#8 – Fail to praise new ideas and also openly critique poor ideas. Again, I know you think this is common sense, but I still hear managers doing this. It is too easy to say a few negative words that cut an idea off quickly and then also fail to really praise a good idea with as much vigor.
Do you recognize yourself in any of these? Every leader learns lessons along the way and hopefully these are just reminders of those lessons learned. In my next post, I’ll get positive and a little less sarcastic and focus on what we are leaders can do to promote innovation.
