Rock The Boat
The Smart Manager|March - April 2108

Thomas Edison rightly said, “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Ideas are simply solutions to problems. Its execution can spark change, and within an organization, it can lead to progress.

 

Rock The Boat
 Ideas—creating and understanding them is one of the marks of being human. They help us make sense of the world around us. When we are faced with problems, ideas bring us the solution. Most important of all, they allow us to explore new realms of thought and action. We think about things, we imagine things that might be possible, and then we test them in practice. It is thus that innovations are born.

Psychologists tell us that, if left to ourselves, our ability to think and create ideas is limited only by our mental capacity. Within every organization, within every business, people are thinking about ideas, creating them, reflecting on them, understanding them, sharing them, every minute of every day. Taken together, this vast reservoir of ideas represents a wellspring of creativity and innovation that every organization can harness.

Yet, all too often, organizations discourage ideas. Those who think too much—especially those who think creatively—are suppressed, stifled, even forced out. How often does it happen that the person who has the big idea—‘why do we not do things another way?’ or ‘what if we tried this?’—is shunted to one side, while the ones who keep their mouths closed and their ideas to themselves get promoted? The answer is, too often.

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