Three Creativity Exercises To Spark Employee Innovation

Cameron Conaway

The democratization of innovation over the last decade — as the organizational concept of innovation has spread from top-down to shared ownership — is mirrored in a growing body of academic research exploring the impact of individual and team-based creativity on macro-level innovation initiatives. One oft-cited study published in the Journal of Management frames the relationship like this: “Considerable evidence now suggests that employee creativity can substantially contribute to organizational innovation, effectiveness and survival.” But there are a few mindset challenges many organizations face. First, I find that many business leaders view innovation like they view creativity — as a realm only accessible for a select few. This fixed mindset disregards the microelements of innovation and equates it with breakthrough discoveries and industry-disrupting ideas. This belief creates distance between the potential innovator and innovation, and I’ve worked with creatives long enough to know that sometimes these barriers are purposely erected; if you convince yourself that you’re incapable of being creative or innovative, then there’s no pressure to be either. Second, some leaders think innovation and idea generation are synonymous. In this light, ideas become the default answer for seemingly every organizational challenge: • New offerings from competitors are tightening the market. We need more ideas. • A marketing campaign didn’t resonate with its targeted audience. More ideas, please. The truth, however, lies closer to what David Burkus, author of The Myths of Creativity, wrote (subscription required): “In most organizations, innovation isn’t hampered by a lack of ideas, but rather a lack of noticing the good ideas already there.” An organization’s inability to capture creative ideas that already exist is just one element to the innovation puzzle. Today’s business leaders must also reimagine innovation by taking its microelements seriously and finding new ways to empower and incentivize employees. Here are a few creativity exercises capable of kickstarting employee innovation. The IGA Framework The inefficiencies, glue, alternatives (IGA) framework involves three five-minute sessions of sitting with your eyes closed. For this exercise, you’ll need a piece of paper folded into three equal parts, a pen or pencil, a timer, and a comfortable, quiet place to sit. Here’s the three-step approach for recognizing challenges, understanding why they exist and discovering creative solutions. 1. Choose a recent project you’ve worked on, either completed or in progress. Then set a timer for five minutes, close your eyes and reflect on the most notable inefficiencies that arose during this project. As you discover them, open your eyes and write them in the “inefficiencies” section. Ideally, you’ll have more than one. 2. Choose one inefficiency to address. Before setting the timer for another five minutes, set your intention: Your goal is to understand the glue that held this inefficiency together. A few questions to ask yourself could be: • Why did this inefficiency persist? • Has it happened before? • What was my role in it? Try not to let blame dominate this session. The goal is to pinpoint the glue so we can melt it (find a suitable solution). Write a few relevant notes in the “glue” section. 3. In this final five minutes, you’ll brainstorm potential solutions to the inefficiency, capturing what comes to you in the “alternatives” section. ***Read the full article over at Forbes.com***