Innovation Leader – innovative leadership

I have experienced many companies in which idea generation takes place primarily top-down. In this understanding of the role, ideas are developed exclusively by the leader, and the team’s task is to subsequently put them into practice. I have observed this frequently, especially in medium-sized companies. But what happens when there is a change in leadership or the ideas don’t flow? Then a high risk arises that can even 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 colleagues in Marketing.” In this case, when they hear the term “innovation” they probably think mainly of classic product innovations – 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 organisational innovations – the way in which employees work together, communicate with each other or organise exchanges with other departments.
But what should innovative leaders do? The following factors are important:

• Identify innovation drivers
  Innovation drivers are employees who excel in skills such as openness, curiosity and networked thinking. Finding and developing these in the team is an important task of a manager.
• Creating freedom
  Ideas cannot be commanded, but often only emerge when pressure and information overload subside. An innovative manager must actively offer his staff this freedom and integrate it into everyday life.
• Active problem-solving
  We have already talked in one of the last verrocchio notes about how important problem finding is for the development of ideas. Therefore, managers should often ask the question: “Why do we actually do things the way we do them? Couldn’t we do them completely differently?”
• Systematise idea generation
  In most companies, ideas are mainly random discoveries by individual employees. Targeted idea generation in a group takes place sporadically at best in the form of irregular brainstorming. Yet there are really good tools for systematising idea generation, for example the “innovationdigging” method, which we have already discussed here.

  By the way, a key factor for good ideas in a team is diversity. So if you surround yourself as a leader primarily with people of similar competencies and schools of thought, you deprive yourself of a great opportunity for innovation.

With inspiring regards,
Christian Buchholz