C U LT U R E
5 WAYS TO
CREATE A CULTURE
OF INNOVATION
Innovation—it’s a buzzword that’s
been floating around entrepreneurs
and small-businesses for years, and
for good reason.
TRUE INNOVATION can result in massive improvements and
growth, regardless of the field that you’re in. As you begin to push
for innovation in your business or company, follow the five steps
of building your company’s culture of innovation:
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Set expectations:
Pursuing an innovative
idea may be risky and come
with a chance for failure, but
that doesn’t mean that you
can’t limit those risks from
the beginning. Ensure that
your employees know that
you have high expectations
for their work habits, time
management skills, attention
to detail, etc. If a project or
idea experiences failure, you
want to ensure that failure
is due to an issue with the
idea, not with the employee
who is pursuing it.
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Pick the right person:
When assigning proj-
ects, consider more
than workflows and
the length of your
employee’s task lists.
Instead, consider skill
sets, passions, potential
areas for growth, and the
likelihood that the person
you pick for the job will
really “own it.”
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Increase dialogue:
Once you’ve got the right
person for the job, it’s time
to explore new ideas. As a
leader, make sure you’ve
opened up opportunities
for true dialogue. In an open
discussion, ideas can be
freely tossed around with-
out fear of repercussion or
shame. One of the best ways
you can model this behavior
is to freely discuss the pros
and cons of your own ideas
in an open forum.
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Assign personal
accountability: Once
you’ve got the right person
on the job, make sure
that you’re maintaining a
culture of accountability,
no matter how many
employee’s hands are on a
particular project. One way
to do this is by making it
clear that there is one final
individual who makes
the final decision and
takes responsibility for
the project as a whole.
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Keep it productive:
The idea of celebrating
failure is a trend that
you’ve likely heard from
your favorite podcasts, read
in your favorite entrepreneur
blogs, and, perhaps, even
touted throughout your own
organization. While this
can be helpful to develop
confidence amongst your
employees, remember that
failure, in and of itself, adds
no value to your projects.
Productive failures, on
the other hand, highlight
previously unknown or
unforeseeable issues, as
well as potential solutions.
As you push for more innovative ideas, products, and services
from your employees, keep these stages in mind, and, in the true
spirit of innovation, pay attention to the results and don’t be
afraid to make changes and try again.
Want to learn more about how you can support
your employees’ innovative ideas? Learn about
the power of experimentation at connect.snb.com/
experiment.
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