I have experienced many companies where ideation takes place primarily top-down. In this understanding of the role, ideas are developed exclusively by the manager and it is the task of the team to put them into practice. I have often observed this in medium-sized companies in particular. But what happens when there is a change of management or ideas stop flowing? This creates a high risk that can endanger the entire company.
Other managers say to themselves: “What do I have to do with innovation? That’s more a matter for the R&D department (Research & Development) or perhaps a topic for my colleagues in Marketing.” In this case, they probably think of classic product innovations when they hear the term “innovation” – ideas such as a smartphone, a more powerful machine or a new service for the customer. However, this is only a small part of what a culture of innovation can achieve. The far greater potential lies in so-called process or organizational innovations – the way in which employees work together, communicate with each other or exchange information with other departments.
What does good leadership in innovation mean?
But what should innovative managers do? The following factors are important:
- Identify drivers of innovation
Innovation drivers are employees who are characterized by skills such as openness, curiosity and networked thinking. Finding and developing these in the team is an important task for a manager. - Create free spaces
Ideas cannot be commanded, but often only emerge when the pressure and flood of information subsides. An innovative manager must actively offer employees this freedom and integrate it into their day-to-day work. - Active problem solving
Problem identification is essential for the development of ideas. Managers should therefore ask the question more often: “Why do we do things the way we do them? Couldn’t we do them differently?” - Systematize idea generation
In most companies, ideas are mainly accidental discoveries by individual employees. Targeted brainstorming in the group takes place sporadically at best in the form of irregular brainstorming sessions. There are really good tools for systematizing idea generation, such as the “innovation digging” method, which we have already discussed here.
The team must be right
Incidentally, diversity is a key factor for good ideas in a team. Managers who surround themselves with people with similar skills and mindsets are depriving themselves of a great opportunity for innovation.
We have summarized what a good innovation team can look like in this article.
