Let’s start by getting really clear - we’re specifically talking about Innovation, which is about exploring uncertainty in pursuit of new solutions to problems. It’s where your biggest commercial opportunities lie. Big commercial opportunities are (obviously) great for your business. The catch is, if no one has solved the problem yet, no one - certainly not you or your team - has any of the answers up front. You have to be actively exploring, doing and thinking differently in order to find new solutions.
That means that you’re going to have to give your teams permission to play, to go wild with creative energy, to push the edges of what they think is possible - because that is when they’re going to discover the gold.
The thing that is most important in a playground is the boundary you put around it. Children in a playground intuitively understand that the fun is within the boundary, and that within it, they have permission to run riot. The same has to be true in a business that is structured for innovation. We need to escape the micro-management that comes with a traditional ‘command and control’ structure - because no one has any of the answers up front. Command and control makes no sense here, it simply stifles creativity and play.
If you give your people permission to go play, to discover truly innovative, commercially impactful ideas, you have to accept a certain amount of ‘waste’ as you and your people experiment, fail and learn fast, but this will give you valuable insights and the payoff is worth it.
What is my role as a leader?
Create great briefs that focus on problems, not solutions
Hold the boundary: Give teams the safety, skills and permission to play
Prioritise play and role-model this behaviour
As a leader, once you’ve set that boundary, it’s not your role to dictate play, but to stand on the sidelines watching for danger, offering suggestions and guidance from your experience, and helping to keep the play (and learning) going.
You need to empower your people, and build an environment of psychological safety; resisting the urge to tell them what you think the answer is, and instead to ask great questions and keep them focussed on the problem. Encourage teams to openly share their reflections and concerns to build on each others’ thoughts.
