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Increase creativity in Business
successful models





 The success of an innovation, whether a product, service or process, it is not exclusively based on the knowledge and experience of those who work in the company, but rather the ability to find the mix right between a number of fundamental factors (individual and collective), such as motivation, commitment, the nonconformism, the skills or the so-called innovative spiritunderstanding the desire by such interest and curiosity by experience, accept new challenges, discover decision by roads previously not explored that allow us to find new answers and solutions consistently.
 


A few years ago in the Cannon-Brookes company, its executives were determined to promote innovation and creativity. After trying with the use of systems of intrinsic motivation as the antithesis of the methods of bonuses and incentives, that only they foster extrinsic motivation. They were not sure how to create spaces where employees could break away from the daily routine of work and encourage their creativity, develop new ideas and deploying all their potential and talent. The idea that programmers and software developers - which includes the groso of his company - could employ 20% of his working time to develop ideas and projects - as do companies like Google or 3 M - was an idea that, apart from scaring them, qualified as "economically unviable".
 

Following the line of such a system and as a little experiment, Cannon-Brookes decided to hold that he named as FedEx Day. The original name of this initiative comes from a known slogan of the famous American Messenger company, promising delivery of a shipment the next day. 24 hours to deliver a package. That was the deal which proposed Cannon-Brookes: 24 hours only and exclusívamente innovation. 24 hours to deliver the foundations of a project. Atlassian workers could, individually or in groups, devoted to working on the development of ideas and projects chosen by themselves. There were only two conditions:




They had 24 hours to work on their projects. They should then present their ideas to the rest of the company. The project, therefore, did not need to be completed. Ideas, suggestions for improvement or projects should be related to the business of the company.
Increase creativity in Business  


Thus, each employee had 24 hours of autonomy and could decide (without needing the approval of his superiors) on four key aspects of work that are normally imposed: the task to perform, how to distribute the available time, the technique to be used and the equipment with which they wanted to work.



An example of the FedEx Day

Atlassian is a company of Australia software and the previous winner of the M-Premio HCI human capital. CEO Atlassian have instilled a culture of information across the enterprise with the core value of "Open Company, no bullshit". The result is a democracy from below to above information, where the exchange of information is the grabbing of the standard and the information is a strange concept.



The objectives of the information management not can be reached by the software itself only. More important still is a company of the work culture that encourages workers to share information so that they are happy to "put the information there out" during the consumption of others rather than accumulate in their private stores.


The company carries out a FedEx Day every three months. Moreover, the vast majority of ideas for products that sell was born gestated during a FedEx Day projects. But apart from new products, there are many other improvements of internal processes or existing products which owe their origin to these 24 hours only and exclusively to innovation. Atlassian, has also successfully established the system which follows Google: due to the great success of the FedEx Day, Cannon-Brookes decided to grant their employees 20% of their work time so that they could carry out lots of ideas that emerged during the FedEx Days.
Increase creativity in Business  


This aspect is so important that, instead of referring to the 'information management', it is better to consider a company culture of information involving people, as well as systems.


How to generate more ideas?

In 2003, when Atlassian was growing its software development business, the founders wanted an online system to store their knowledge of the company and the documentation. While realized that a wiki is an ideal platform, wikis at the time were still in experimental stage and not ready for corporate use. It therefore developed its own "corporate wiki" for internal use and also offered it for sale. The product was given the name of "Confluence" to represent the confluence of ideas.


Introduction of the wiki technology, when the company was still young had a profound impact on the culture of information from Atlassian. Considering that the majority of the companies are incorporated, legacy information systems that prevent the introduction of new technology, Atlassian had the benefit of a wiki adoption at the beginning of your business life cycle.



Online collaboration

Wiki technology is largely about creating, editing, and display of information quickly within a web browser. However, an often overlooked aspect of wikis is the possibility of commenting, it provides a means to collaborate around information.


Atlassian staff routinely add comments on wiki pages. Examples are:
Contribute ideas to the project plans
Critical information on the wiki (which often leads to a lively online discussion!)
Links to other related information, either elsewhere in the wiki or offline
Discuss the merits of policies sick human resources that require medical certificates.
In general, the interaction with other members of the staff, even if are in an Office or remote working from home.

This possibility of commenting has led to staff is actively involved in the wiki. The wiki is not only a repository of information  is a destination for a lively debate. In addition, as this is carried out in a central system rather than in private emails, discussions and debates are available for everyone to read and expand.


The wiki automatically notifies the staff if someone has commented on a page you created, or if someone replied to a comment that they did. This encourages the staff to review the wiki many times a day, accelerating the pace of the discussion. It is very similar to receive a Facebook notification when someone has commented on your ' wall of staff ", unless the wall is for the entire company.


Precisely is this innovative, challenging and culture open to change, which motivates and retains employees, attracts young talent towards their offices as a magnet, and ensures the future of the company. It is no wonder that its subsidiary of San Francisco has been chosen among Top 25 of the Best companies to work for in the Great Place to work Institute.



Change the way of working requires a change in the culture of the work itself. Working practices become automatic. New personal entry in the company often have problems for the adoption of this concept, but soon learn "correct" behaviour of the prevailing culture. Encouraging them to share information on its first day sets the very strong culture.



Inculcate the culture in the early history of the Company makes this much easier as the company grows. As a new staff joining the company, natural is that learn the behavior. If a company wants to change the culture, however, then all the personal existing need "to learn" his behavor.



The choice of maintaining "open" by default, the information requires a continuous effort by the CEO and the management to set an example for all staff. When a staff member presents information management through email or file from disk, they need to encourage the Member of staff rather than publication in the wiki so that others can have access. Of course, there are times in which the information is required to remain confidential (for example, procurement or human resources-related issues), so these issues are not published.



Then give some clues of how accomplish this:

Allow errors: as very rightly said Phil Knight, founder of Nike, "if we do not make mistakes is that we have not tried anything new." An innovative enterprise culture há allow continued individual, collective and organizational learning. Mistakes, provided you can learn from them should be allowed to do so. If possible, as they say in Google, "must ensure mistakes soon." But one can not innovate if it is afraid to mess up. Nobody can pretend to improve a product, a service or a process without accepting the fact that, inevitably, there will be obstacles in the way and commit errors trying to circumvent them. Err is a natural part of our learning. From there, is to look for solutions, not guilty. As Edward de Bono, guru in far as creativity is concerned, said "the problem is that we do not have a word that means: fully justified risk, for reasons beyond our control at times, was not successful." Therefore, any attempt was not successful, is called "error". "And people don't like making mistakes, because that puts into question its capacity and stands in his professional career." You could say higher, but not clearer. If we do not accept errors, the most that can be achieved by a company will be minor improvements, much more than one fill the mouth as "great innovations". But innovate means and implies much more than change color a product.


Accept risks: to innovate not only must allow that she mistakes, but also accept the inherent risks of innovation. Many organizations are reluctant to take risks, a quality inherent to the human being: it costs us a lot change the security that offers us an alternative by the possibility that represents another, although the first is less attractive and we report a profit considerably minor. We evaluate security against the possibility, decanting us usually with the first one, the second run the risk of not materialize. There to take a look at the popular proverb to realize this: "Better a bird in the hand cent flying" or "Better bad known it is good to know." Here we could add another, currently placed in doubt, that everyone will have heard of our parents: "If you want to be somebody in life studies." And there are thousands of graduates with master of the universe included, giving of nudges in the queue of unemployed or working as a shop. Contrary to what many might believe, accept risks is not to act in a reckless manner, or a lot less. There are processes, techniques and tools that can help to minimize these risks. But to create innovative products it is absolutely essential to get out of our comfort zone and to face new challenges. And so we must accept risk Don as fellow traveller.



Promote respect

All activity during a day of Fedex (for example) leads to the demonstration of the Friday evening. Each individual or team has three minutes to present your project with colleagues and leaders of the company. There is no monetary compensation, no implications of bonus or importantly wage more than winning, the emotion to show his idea to fellow.... The company is there. Product managers, the founders and the people who control the work plans.


If they are inspired by a good idea or see something that seemed to be that it is not achieved, it will change the road map next week. People love that. And you can win that way, even if not win the first place trophy.


The fact that all population groups are judged by his colleagues is a good fuel that stimulates the courage. The project or ideas made is thinking about the benefit of his own teammates. There are no sanctions, it is preferable to try something great and fail to do something that actually changes nothing shy.
Increase creativity in Business  


Continuing education: to solve a problem must have the necessary knowledge to do so. In a dynamic market, said knowledge há of being put to the test in a way regular, trying to update the same permanently. An innovative company (or rather, smart) knows the importance of having well qualified workers, which is why one of their main tasks lies in the establishment of a culture where continuous learning has a key role. He is not just train employees of doors for outside (learning of new techniques, programs or qualities to best develop his work, for example) but also doors for inside (know the functioning of individual departments and internal processes, establish programmes of internal mentoring etc.).