Today’s business environment is exceedingly complex and competitive. In that world, what truly sets organizations apart from one another and cannot be duplicated are the people employed by the company and the innovative ideas they bring to the table. A 2012 survey conducted by staffing firm Robert Half International revealed that a lack of new ideas and excessive bureaucracy are the two major hindrances to organizational innovation.

One of the people acknowledged to be an expert in organizational creativity is Detroit’s own Josh Linkner.

Josh’s passion and mission is to help the world unleash its creative “mojo.” Josh is the featured afternoon keynote speaker at ASE’s People Profit Progress Conference on March 13^th.

Josh is a five-time entrepreneur, venture capitalist, professor and a New York Times best-selling author of the book Disciplined Dreaming – a Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity.  His extraordinary business accomplishments led him to be honored as the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” and as a President Barack Obama “Champion of Change” Award recipient.

As CEO and Managing Partner of Detroit Venture Partners, Josh remains at the cutting edge of technology and entrepreneurship. The firm is especially focused on revitalizing Detroit, his hometown. 

Josh has written numerous articles on creativity, and he provides inspirational presentations to organizations on how to increase it. Here are his seven suggested steps to develop of culture of innovation within your own company:

• Fuel Passion – Every great invention began with passion.  Organizations must determine their own purpose, and the bigger and more important the purpose, the more passion it has the opportunity to fuel.
   
• Celebrate Ideas – Oftentimes organizations unintentionally create an environment where new ideas are punished instead of rewarded. “Tried and true” methods of the past are relied on instead of developing new approaches.  Establish an environment that celebrates creativity with praise, career opportunities and perks.
   
• Foster Autonomy –Creativity is the result of freedom of self-expression. Provide employees with a clear message of the results you want to see, but let them have control over their own environments.
   
• Encourage Courage – Allow employees the freedom to take creative risks without fear of judgment if they fail.
   
• Fail Forward – All the breakthrough inventions in history came after countless setbacks and failures, but they did not stop the creative process or the desire to figure it out. “Failing forward” means taking risks and increasing the rate of experimentation, and moving on quickly from failures to the next new idea.
   
• Think Small – Smaller companies tend to be more curious and nimble, they don’t have all the bureaucracy of larger ones. They tend to embrace change more easily than larger organizations that often are more focused on protecting current processes than developing new ones. 
   
• Maximize Diversity – Having a workforce with employees of different nationalities, backgrounds, work experiences, races, etc. will create diversity of thought and perspective.  This in turn can fuel creative thinking which will translate into business results.

Innovation is going to be the essential requirement for survival in a world that is moving at a dizzying speed with consumers always looking for that next new idea, or better new product, generated by innovative ideas.  Many companies that were once household names are no longer around or are quickly dying because they stopped innovating . . . think Kodak, Blockbuster, and Motorola just to name a few. According toForbes, the average lifespan of a successful S&P 500 Company was 67 years in the 1920’s.  Today it is only 15 years. 

HR professionals need to take steps to create a structure that encourages communication.  Management must set a tone from the top that ideas from their employees are valued and that risk-taking will be rewarded. Failure to do so creates an environment of complacency and mediocrity which ultimately will hurt the organization’s ability to thrive and be successful.

If you want to discover more secrets to unleashing your organization’s creativity from Josh Linkner, register today for ASE’s People, Profit, Progress Conference and Workshops taking place on March 13^th at the Suburban Collection Showplace.

Source: Business Insider, 7/8/2013