Creativity is underrated.
The best employees of today are the “Davinci’s of all trades.” Individuals that are not only analytical in their approach, but also innovative.
Notice I didn’t write “Jack of all trades.” Reason being, if you have a breadth of skills, but little depth, you lack long-term value to your organization. A jack of all trades is a master of none.
But isn’t it impossible to be a “Davinci of all trades?” No, it’s not.
Being a “Davinci of all trades” is contingent upon two things: the skill and your comittment. That’s it.
So how does one cultivate an environment for these Davinci’s?
Google is the best real-life example.
Here are the 5.5 steps for cultivating this creative environment and unleashing the Davinci’s of all trades:
1) Organizational Encouragement: Your organization must develop the sense of support. You must trust your employees even when they mess up big time. Take Silicon Valley, for instance. Why does all the innovation spawn from this one hub of the world? Simple. Because failure is encouraged. “Fail big, and fail fast,” is the model. There’s no better teacher on the planet. If your organization wants to encourage innovation, understand that failure is not the end of the world–just don’t be an idiot 
2) Supervisor Encouragement: Take college football as an example. Pete Carrol is one of, if not the, best coach in college football of all time. Why? Because he’s there for his players. He’s in the trenches with them day in, and day out. And best part, he supports them.
3) Work Group Encouragement: Like my post on collaboration, make your organization a nest for work-group encouragement. Morale will sky-rocket when a small group of people connect and make things happen.
4) Freedom: Why are we one of the most dominant countries in innovation? Because we give people freedom. People are smarter today than ever before. Why? The internet, for one. Globalization, for two. So why make people adopt a regimented, non-thought-provoking lifestyle? Everyone wants to make money. Put it on the individual to make this happen, not on the organization.
5) Lack of Organizational Impediments: Again, corporate policy, routine and procedures kill more brain-cells than any other substance out there. I’m a huge advocate for results and privatization, which is also why I’m a libertarian. At the end of the day, I believe in the power of individuals accomplishing great things. And that’s what our country is founded on. Implement this concept into your organization and watch the un-chartered results.
5.5) Challenging Work: The only thing worth having, is worth working for. If you want morale to increase, give your employees challenging work that really causes them to think. I don’t know about you; when I’ve completed a tough task, I feel much more alive. Let your employees feel the same.
There’s millions of “How To” articles and a wealth of books out there that all say the same exact thing after a while. The best tip anyone’s ever given me is this: take one lesson from each book/article and it’s worthwile.
I strongly suggest you do the same
