From Individual Innovation to Organizational Innovation
Today, we live in a dynamic, fast changing world of business. New businesses, products, and services are being built every day. Businesses need to react fast to rapidly changing market forces. In other words, businesses need to be agile, meaning flexible with all the changes and uncertainties happening around.
“Business Agility requires that individuals are open to learning by doing, continuous learning and personal development as well as being comfortable operating and making decisions in a dynamic and ambiguous environment, free from the fear of failure.”1
Openness to learning requires a growth, rather than a fixed mindset.
When a growth mindset is adopted and cultivated within the organization, people will constantly search for new ways to solve problems, observe hidden opportunities in the market, embrace failure as a challenge and thrive to learn and develop. Therefore, innovation in organizations starts with a shift in the mindset from fixed to flexible and from flexible to learning, open, and adaptive.
According to the NeuroLeadership Institute, the most common reason an organization might focus on fostering a growth mindset is to stay agile in the face of technological uncertainty. Most notably, Sayta Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has embraced this philosophy to transition the tech giant from a "know it all" to a "learn it all" work environment.
In order to cultivate a growth mindset within the organization, professor Dweck has proposed 4 different insights to be adapted in the workplace:2
1. Learn from mistakes and embrace challenges, setbacks and obstacles with creativity and imagination
When mistakes are accepted, employees and team members will more likely take risks. Moreover, accepting challenges will allow their minds to think outside the box, accept a deal with change in different situations and suggest solutions for problems.
2. Receive and invite constructive feedback
Feedback is a great way of cultivating a growth mindset because it trains individuals to accept the opinions of others. However, it is important that the criticism is constructive so that individuals don’t lose their self-confidence. With constructive feedback, individuals are not fixed in a certain state of mind rather they are encouraged to improve and enhance their skills.
3. Encourage innovation and invite endless and infinite possibilities
Innovation starts in the mind, minds that are fixed to certain ideas will not usually grow outside their own minds to think of solutions. When individuals are encouraged to innovate, they are thus encouraged to think, ideate and initiate countless solutions.
4. Master new skills, acquire new information and commit to a lifetime of learning and doing
When development is encouraged within organizations, employees are trained and equipped with new skills. New opportunities are unleashed through learning and testing and employees commit to doing rather than focusing on their own thoughts.
1https://businessagility.institute/learn/growth-mindset/
2https://www.businessmagazinegainesville.com/innovative-thinking-fixed-vs-growth-mindsets/
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