Are CEOs killing fresh and innovative thinking?

Often times, some CEOs and leaders unknowingly contribute to their people not being innovative especially when the organization is in dire need of better ways of thinking and doing things. Sometimes, they create what we call in one of our Strategic Thinking Presentation Slides as a “Danger Zone”. This zone exists when one person or a group of people’s views are only accepted as the best (and others are termed inconsequential). When a CEO encourages such an act, automatically innovation, great ideas and fresh insights that can turn things around are being stifled. And what a better time does a leader require his or her people to come up with fresh ideas than now.

 

In these difficult times, it is not enough to constantly say to your people things like: you need to be more strategic, you need to be “highly” innovative, you need to think differently, you need to break barriers, you need to meet the numbers etc. All these statements may end up becoming emotional brandishing and they would not yield any result, and the worst thing a CEO can do in this difficult times would be to leave their survival or success to fate.

 

Importantly, as a CEO, one of your roles is to make your company’s innovation spirit to thrive across board – day by day even after when the economic situation improves. And as the CEO, you are the Chief Driver of this role. To some people, this has been seen as a herculean task or as a rocket science. Your major role is not to preach to your people or convince them to be innovative or evolve better ways of driving results, but to encourage them to do these three things listed below.

 

In your capacity as the CEO, you must make your organization to be one where:

1. Your people must feel extremely comfortable sharing opposing opinions.
2. Your people must feel extremely comfortable fighting for unpopular positions
3. Your people must feel extremely comfortable challenging the status quo.

 

Sadly, when these three things are not institutionalized, there is no magic any CEO in the world can do to get his or her people to be innovative or come up with better solutions – especially now that most people are seeking for the path of least resistant.

 

The good news is that when everyone in your organization feel extremely happy sharing better views that did not emanate from them but has the power to elevate your organization, supporting an unpopular position that can break barriers for your organization and challenging current ways of doing things that will not take your organization anywhere – a powerful culture will emerge and that on its own will become a formidable competitive advantage that no organization can rob from you.

 

Please know that as the CEO, you are the one that will start and also show an example for this new culture. Gather your people and let them see the need to build this kind of new culture in your organization, and when they do, the results will be highly visible.

 

Remember, your organization’s success lies with your people. Encourage your people with this new culture and when you do; their innovative spirit will be rejuvenated.

 

Lastly, remember that innovation is not someone else’s job but everyone’s responsibility.

 

Finally, organizations tend to be healthiest where there is supremacy of ideas, where people are willing to listen to the youngest person in the room – provided of course, that he or she has the facts.

 

Feel free and share your thoughts, comments or questions with me.

 

Uju Onwuzulike,

Chief Results Officer, MCL, Tel: 09091142093, [email protected]