How do you make “Time for Innovation”in an organisation?

One very effective way to make time for Innovation is to produce a Creative Hitlist.  This should be a mix of opportunities and issues e.g. 10 opportunities and 5 issues.  These are subjects on which you need to do some creative thinking and this approach brings the need for creativity to the forefront of your mind regularly. It is a good idea to have this posted visibly.

It is also important that there is clearly an expectation in the organisation that new ideas will be generated. This starts to make “Time for Innovation” a part of the culture. It also signals that time spent on Creativity and Innovation is seen as something of value.

Another way this can be encouraged is by asking for people to send back their feedback and thinking on a topic using de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats® as a structure.  This increases the probability of people actually thinking things through more objectively rather than responding with their predetermined view on a subject. It also leads to people thinking more constructively and creatively about how they might be able to enhance an idea.

Click here for more information on Edward de Bono’s techniques.