Creating a Culture of Innovation as a Female Entrepreneur
A culture of innovation is a critical ingredient in the success and longevity of a company. When employees are constantly inspired and encouraged to develop innovative products, processes and business models, companies are able to really in their field their field. This not only ensures that companies remain competitive but also, more importantly, able to go above and beyond the changing needs of their customers.
As a female entrepreneur, targeting a culture of innovation may seem like a daunting task, and you may feel overwhelmed by the pressure of spearheading these efforts on your own. It is true that transformative leaps are often CEO-led, coming from the top down, but this is not always the case.
Most of the time, successful leaders drive innovation by inspiring and supporting their employees. By providing your people with an environment that is conducive to fresh, original ideation and discussion, you can turn your people into creative critical thinkers who are unafraid to share their views and to experiment. But how do you do create a culture of innovation? Check out our tips below:
1. Encourage innovation in all areas of your business
People are sometimes limited in their perception of what innovation is. They think of headline-grabbing breakthroughs such as driverless cars, intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs) like Siri, Alexa, Bixby and Google Assistant, and other similar developments.
However, your employees should know that creative, fresh ideas can be used to solve everyday problems or to improve more fundamental processes. This can be something as simple as developing a new form for collecting customer data, or a way to reduce your company’s carbon footprint.
2. Support and cultivate accidental innovation
Remember that innovation, just like some of the greatest inventions in our history, can be unintended or accidental. Examples of these accidental inventions include matches, penicillin and potato chips. So, not all mistakes or unintended consequences are bad. In fact, they may turn out to be accidental improvements in your products, processes or your business. Be sure to communicate this to your people so that potential sources of improvement are not buried and labeled as mistakes.
3. Motivate employees to find areas of improvement
Never rest on your laurels. Your product may be No. 1 in its vertical right now, but it may not be so for long once a competitor identifies a loophole in it or offers something better than yours. This is not to say you’re causing your employees to always be dissatisfied. We’re talking about constructive criticism here, and it should come from anywhere, not just managers or your product development team. So, if you don’t want to be left behind the way MySpace was overtaken by Facebook, encourage your people to seek new ways of improving your business and its offerings.
4. Cultivate a culture of acceptance
Do you sometimes wonder why, during those rare times you hold town hall business meetings, very few employees speak up, if at all, and everybody seems to agree to the status quo at all times? You can probably blame this on an environment where blaming and shaming (whether indirect or not) take place. Employees in conventional business settings are made to feel safer (and invisible) when they simply go with the flow, so to speak. But if you want to encourage your people to experiment and share their ideas freely, you need to let them know.
Innovation as a practice and process
Developing a culture of innovation is not an overnight process and is especially challenging to achieve if most people in the company are used to conventional ways and thinking. However, it’s your responsibility as a female entrepreneur to reach out and spark creativity and critical thinking in your employees. And be sure to let them know that the success and longevity of your company depends on innovative thinking.
Need help with cultivating an innovative mindset in your business?
Please get in touch with Clara Conti, so you can start innovating.