LISTENING TO INNOVATION
What are
the traits of an organization’s or team’s culture that most influence the
ability of its people to innovate? What separates leaders of innovation from
their competition? All too often, we look to the physical environment for the
answers, relying on providing unique workspaces, furnishings, engaging colors, fun
play areas, and unique applications of technology. Yet among the factors of
culture that contribute to, or inhibit innovation and creativity, none is more
telling as communication. And of the behaviors that effect that communication,
none is as powerful as listening.
Starting
with the basic premise that business is the most advanced form of art we engage
in as human beings, success depends on the creativity and innovation of the
artists. This requires an environment in which they can freely be imaginative,
inventive, and without the fear associated with the risk of being genuine and
authentic.
This is
an important aspect of organizational and team culture too often overlooked and
far too frequently given lip service to. Think how often leaders encourage
their employees, staffers, and team members to “think outside the box” and
“take risk”, or express themselves openly only to ignore them when they do act
expressively and creatively, or with unbridled imagination. One of the true
keys to the successful innovation of any organization or team is the ability of
its members to express their creative thoughts openly and without fear. This
puts the act of listening square at the center of innovation itself. An unheard
idea is an unheard opportunity.
There
are a number of reasons listening is such a powerful force behind innovation.
At the core, it begins with how artists relate to and are motivated by being
listened to. In the end, all artists want to be heard, regardless of the form
it takes. Much like painters want to talk through their brush and canvas, engineers
display their creativity through fantastic displays of technology and design. At
the core of this motivation is our desire to be paid attention to and the
belief that we have something of value to offer. Beginning with early
childhood, we live under the assumption that we will be paid attention to.
Throughout our lives, we measure our self worth to how well we are heard.
Having
our ideas heard and paid attention to are also powerful ways through which we
allow ourselves to feel competent and contributing. Sure, at the end of the
day, not every idea or suggestion is a good one. Yet, how will one know unless
it is heard? Most often, an idea is a seed from which better ideas germinate
and offers the opportunity for exploration and the resulting innovation. A new
idea is the first flicker of light that may also present a challenge that
stimulates additional thinking and discovery. Not to mention the times when a
group of people find themselves in search of the next idea or struggling to
move forward.
Over the
years I’ve had the opportunity to work with a good number of innovative, high
performing teams. They not only benefitted from struggling now and then. They
all conveyed a sense of shared understanding that creativity is the building of
one idea on another and was often the direct result of their shared struggle,
until one person taking a risk sparked a desperately needed spark of invention.
Not every idea is the winner. Creativity and innovation are continuous works in
progress and can only come about as team members and their leaders truly listen
to and hear one another. And often struggle together.
Innovation
is the product of our desire to fulfill a higher need, pursue a calling, or
simply to compete and win against our competition. It’s important to recognize
the importance listening has in motivating one another to feel involved, to
have a sense of competency and contribution, and to engage one another in the
unbridled ability to take risk and unleash our individual and collective
inhibited imaginations.
All the
great leaders of innovative cultures that I have had the pleasure to work with over
the past twenty-plus years all share a common trait. It is the ability to
listen and invite others to continuously explore and discover new ways to think.
They are all much more about inquiry and asking questions than telling and
critiquing. They challenge not through demand, rather through constructive
questioning and respectfully paying attention to what others have to say and
the ideas they have to offer. They all demonstrate an ability to listen and
encourage others to share their ideas. They also know it’s far better to be a
listener that motivates innovation than being a poor listener that is forced to
deal with team members that are angry at being ignored or unheard, and that
play out their resentment and anger by channeling their creativity into waging
destructive conflict, or choosing to not engage at all.