Why Creativity and Innovation Always Wins in Business
The business world can be cutthroat. Depending on what industry you’re in, you can easily sink or swim depending on what kind of innovation you can bring to the market and how quickly you can do it effectively. The era of the complacent employee is over. Staff who bring nothing to the table except for an ability to follow rules and orders won’t help your company advance in the long term.
You need people who are team players, problem solvers, and innovators if you want to stay afloat. Too many employers are looking at old skills. What they need instead is to build teams of people who can bring useful ideas to the table, find and develop solutions to problems, and so much more. When it comes to building and thriving in business, creativity and innovation always win, and here’s why.
photo/ Michael Jarmoluk via pixabay.com
Creative People Ask Important Questions
Want to know who is creative at your organization? Look for those who are asking important questions. Creative people ask questions. They may not always have the answers right away, but they naturally see opportunities in whatever environment they are in. They are the ones asking why. They are the ones looking for the how and they are the ones ensuring that what they are doing aligns with corporate values. You can’t create a controllable robot, a vehicle that drives on its own, or a 3D-printed heart if you’re asking the wrong questions.
Innovators Look for Ways to Solve Problems
Innovations always come when there is a problem to solve. Engineers needed a fast way to cross a river, so they built a bridge. People wanted to go further distances more quickly, so they innovated cars. Others wanted to know what was on another continent, so they built boats and airplanes to get them there. People wanted new ways to solve complex math, so they developed technology to do it faster than people could. All these advances were made possible by innovators who weren’t afraid to fail when they were looking for solutions to big problems.
Curiosity Breeds Innovation
In business, people are looking for solutions to problems. Your product or service is most desirable if you are providing not just an item, but a solution. Moms want to hold their babies close, but have their hands free, so companies developed a wide range of baby carriers. Curiosity starts with exploration, research, and an ability to ask questions. And its curiosity that breeds innovation. What happens if we do X, Y, or Z? You need people who are creative and curious to work for your company. They will notice problems but then ask themselves what can be done to fix them.
Creative People Can Set Goals and Find Ways to Reach Them
Want people who can set goals and reach them? Hire creatives. They may look at problems differently, but they know how to see an end result and build a path to get there. It’s like an artist who sees a painting in his or her mind or a sculptor who envisions a 3D object emerging from the rock. It’s why we have things like Mount Rushmore and the Sistine Chapel. Those creatives looked at what they wanted to create and made a way to get there.
Innovation Sets You Apart From Competitors
Want to stand out in your market? You need to be innovative. Using technology, design, product creation, and people management to build a culture of innovation will set you apart from those you are competing against within the market. Look at Apple and Microsoft. They both provide personal computing and smart devices, but they each approach it from a slightly different angle. This makes their products unique and accessible to the audience they are vying for. Microsoft knows that the people who buy them are not the same as Apple buyers. So, they innovate to set themselves apart from their main competitor. They don’t want to be the same, but their products do solve the same problems.
Using innovation and creativity in business will allow you to continually learn and grow. This growth will help you set a stake in the market you are vying for and will keep you relevant in your industry.
Author: Jazmin Torres
