SoloPoint Insights

Building an Environment that Fosters Innovation

A culture of Innovation doesn’t happen by accident. As industrialist and inventor Thomas Edison famously said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Edison knew a thing or two about innovation: his Menlo Park, N.J. lab was effectively one of the world’s first R&D firms. By the time he died, Edison held over 1,000 U.S. patents.

Innovation is the lifeblood of the engineering and technology sectors, and the best companies will strive to create working environments in which innovation is not only celebrated and rewarded, but actively cultivated. It’s not a simple, one-size fits all or one-answer objective, but here are some basic tips on how to create that crucial culture of innovation.

Encourage Creativity, Accept Failures

Building a better mousetrap isn’t easy, and it isn’t clean. Innovation often means taking risks, using time and money to pursue new lines of inquiry or to develop new technologies and processes. Accept that not every experimental investment will pan out: failure is an integral part of the process. Work a sense of resilience – that it’s okay to go out on a limb and fail as long as you learn and keep going – into the fabric of your company.

Rigid inflexibility, whether lazy, not-my-job buck passing or an overly slavish devotion to restrictive corporate protocol, is an instant killer of new ideas. Never make your employees feel like they’re not free to try new things

Find People Who Hate To Fail

Setbacks happen, but that doesn’t mean employees should be okay with failure. The best employees are those who set high standards for themselves and are motivated by an inner need to avoid failures.

People who care passionately about what they do don’t need to be punished when they can’t deliver. Their internal emotions will be a much more effective motivator than anything you can do to them, and often they’ll want to repay the faith you’ve shown in them.

Innovation Attracts

This culture of innovation can be a huge asset when hiring new talent. The most talented workers can find jobs anywhere, but they want to work for a company where they’re on the cutting edge of innovation, and where they know they’ll have the freedom to try new ideas

Having trouble finding the right engineering talent? Take time today to get in touch with SoloPoint Solutions, California’s leading provider of engineering staffing solutions.

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