Supporting Creativity and Innovation

Best Practices Research Compilation

Instruction #1: Please answer each question on a 1-5 scale. Do you do this?

	I.	Ownership
_____	1.	Love What You Do–and help others find jobs to do what they really are passionate about. Help them find WIIFM (What’s In It For Me).
_____	2.	Empower Others–with clear expectations, guidelines and the support to succeed.
_____	3.	Keep a Light Touch–know when to leave them alone and when to “shape” their environment and keep them in-bounds.
_____	4.	Promote Ownership–self-initiative and a sense of responsibility.
		Sub Total for Ownership
	II.	Support
_____	5.	Overcome Obstacles–that prevent others from being creative and innovative.
_____	6.	Protect Them From Too Much Stress–burn-out and rust-out are both wrong; the middle ground of energy and pressure is best for learning.
_____	7.	Use Brainstorming and Mind Mapping–as well as other creative processes on a regular basis.
_____	8.	Provide Adequate Resources–and the tools and training to succeed.
		Sub Total for Support
	III.	Communications
_____	9.	Active Listening–to give others a full hearing and the respect their ideas deserve.
_____	10.	Tolerate Ambiguity–have few rules and policies, yet be deadly serious and consistent about them.
_____	11.	Provide Access to Voluminous Information–of all types, including the business, the plans, the financials, and anything else they might want. The criteria of “need to know” is obsolete.
_____	12.	Be Responsive to New Ideas–and look for the “nuggets” in them, versus why they won’t work.
		Sub Total for Communications
	IV.	Feedback
_____	13.	Reward Others–for creativity, new ideas and follow-through, and continuous improvement, with a focus on positive recognition, new learning and growth opportunities as well as financially.
_____	14.	Debrief Projects and Events–to create recognition and learning from experiences and for future creativity.
_____	15.	Balance Your Knowledge About a Topic–there is a danger of knowing too much or of knowing too little. Abdication and micro-management are both wrong.
_____	16.	Strong Performance Expectations and Accountability–are helpful if used to guide direction, clarity and channel energy. Goal setting is the #1 criteria for success in all the literature.
		Sub Total for Feedback
	IV.	Growth
_____	17.	Allow Sensible Risk-Taking–and small failures as learning experiences.
_____	18.	Stress Continuous Improvement–and reward progress, not perfection. Quality Improvement in your Daily Work (QIDW) is key.
_____	19.	Provide Developmental Activities–to keep their minds active and their hearts fertile.
_____	20.	Develop a Shared Consensus on the “What” Only–and leave the “how to” up to others’ imagination.
		Sub Total for Growth
	V.	Systems View
_____	21.	Keep the Long Term in Mind–and don’t sweat the small stuff.
_____	22.	Take a Broader Systems View–in order to get the right perspective and multiple causes and goals for difficult problems and puzzles.
_____	23.	Keep the Big Picture in Mind at All Times–and help others to have the ability to see it also.
_____	24.	Provide a Team Environment–and broader cooperation by actively promoting and modeling it yourself.
		Sub Total for Systems View

		Total Score

Determining Average Score
_____	Ownership/4	=	Average	=	_____
_____	Support/4	=	Average	=	_____
_____	Communications/4	=	Average	=	_____
_____	Feedback/4	=	Average	=	_____
_____	Growth/4	=	Average	=	_____
_____	Systems View/4	=	Average	=	_____
_____	Total/24	=	Average	=	_____

Note: Maximum total score = 120 points
An average total score = 72 points

Instruction #2:

List your top 3-5 areas of excellence	List your top 3-5 areas needing most improvement