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    Brain Circuits

    7 ways to build a corporate playground

    by George Kohlrieser Published October 10, 2024 in Brain Circuits • 6 min read

    Command and control kill. If you want your employees to express their creativity, build corporate playgrounds where they can experiment, take risks, and embrace failure. Here are seven simple steps to make it happen. 

     

    Source article: Command and control kill creativity and fresh thinking 

    1. Create psychological safety

    Psychological safety is the foundation of any creatively inclined team, where members can express their ideas without fear of ridicule. They are more likely to collaborate, take on challenges, and contribute to problem-solving, leading to higher job satisfaction and performance.

    “Encourage your team to think differently to push the boundaries of what’s considered possible.  ”

    2. Stimulate risk-taking 

    The next step on the path to greater creativity is to stimulate risk-taking. Encourage your team to think differently to push the boundaries of what’s considered possible.  

    3. Relax the rules

    Following on from the above, encourage more risk-taking by reducing the number of rules. This eliminates complex and restrictive barriers that stop people from doing their best work. It also signals to employees that they are trusted to be themselves and make good decisions.

    4. Build diversity 

    Teams are unlikely to come up with new ideas if members all share the same background. Interdisciplinary approaches and diverse teams that bring different ways of thinking about problems are vital to finding solutions for the challenges facing business and society. 

    This involves envisioning a future state you wish to achieve, and then working backward to see the steps to get there.  

    5. Stimulate the creative process 

    One approach to out-of-the-box thinking is the “future back” framework. This involves envisioning a future state you wish to achieve, and then working backward to see the steps to get there.  

    6. Cultivate a culture of curiosity 

    This is where you teach your team to ask open-ended and exploratory questions, such as, “I wonder if…” or “In what ways can we…?” rather than defensively shutting down new ideas by finding reasons why they won’t work.

    “Creativity is impossible without failure.”

    7. Embrace failure 

    Creativity is impossible without failure. Leaders should create a culture where employees are not paralyzed by fear of making mistakes and where “failures” are seen as part of a positive learning process. 

    Further reading: 

    Leading a crisis recovery? Three questions to ask 

    Keeping LGBTQ+ employees safe in global organizations 

    Leading the conversation: Enabling mental health discussions 

    Making the most of your team’s combined talents  

    Why organizations should tailor the workplace to empower Gen Z and share benefits across all generations 

    Authors

    George Kohlrieser

    Distinguished Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior

    Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD and Director of the High Performance Leadership program, the Advanced High Performance Leadership program, and the Inspirational Leadership program. He serves as a consultant to several global companies including Accenture, Amer Sports, Borealis, Cisco, Coca-Cola, HP, Hitachi, IBM, IFC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Morgan Stanley, Motorola, NASA, Navis, Nestlé, Nokia, Pictet, Rio Tinto, Roche, Santander, Swarovski, Sara Lee, Tetra Pak, Toyota, and UBS.

    Related

    Further reading: 

    Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman 

    Authors

    George Kohlrieser

    Distinguished Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior

    Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at IMD and Director of the High Performance Leadership program, the Advanced High Performance Leadership program, and the Inspirational Leadership program. He serves as a consultant to several global companies including Accenture, Amer Sports, Borealis, Cisco, Coca-Cola, HP, Hitachi, IBM, IFC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Morgan Stanley, Motorola, NASA, Navis, Nestlé, Nokia, Pictet, Rio Tinto, Roche, Santander, Swarovski, Sara Lee, Tetra Pak, Toyota, and UBS.

    Related

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