“We need to become more innovative. Do something to bring about change! More creative ideas, more exchange, more thinking outside the box.”
A not uncommon request to us.
It was with great enthusiasm that I read an article on this topic by John Kounios – psychologist and neuroscientist – and Yvette Kounios – science journalist – in the new issue of Scientific American: “The Wonder of Insight“.
How does it work when people come up with new, fundamentally different ideas and solutions? What needs to happen in people, in the environment and in innovation processes and formats to promote this? How can managers support innovation? As an entrepreneur, how can I create a real unicorn and become famous, satisfied and rich?
My take-aways
I have taken five key takeaways from the cited publication.
Take-away 1: Two modes of searching for solutions: analytical vs. innovative
In analytical mode, experience and familiar procedures are systematically activated and used to solve a problem – intuitively if necessary. The prehistoric lion that I spot hunting 200 m away activates this mode in me. I analyze the wind and the terrain and use my experience as a hunter to find the best way to escape the danger. To do this, I activate patterns (Fight, Flight or Freeze).
It is different in innovative, creative mode. Solutions emerge from nothing, so to speak, by letting go, by linking very different ideas and thoughts. An ash branch moves in the wind, a few animal sinews on a pile of garbage, sharp stones? The result is an “aha!” moment. Ideas for solutions that have fed Stone Age hunters and their families, earned researchers a Nobel Prize or enabled entrepreneurs to create a unicorn have almost always come about in this way. Incidentally, the successful implementation of the solution requires the analytical solution search mode.
Some people tend more towards the analytical mode, some more towards the innovative, creative mode. Neuroscientifically verifiable: Cognitive regions of the brain are active in analytical mode. In innovative, creative mode, brain regions associated with the networking of seemingly independent concepts, metaphors, communication, etc. are activated.
Neuroscience says that we cannot be in both modes at the same time. We are either in analytical or innovative/creative mode. The preference for one mode in a team can be changed. In other words, as coaches and managers, we can open people up to creativity and genuine innovation.
Take-away 2: Why stress and pressure block creativity
Let’s return to the lion. 200 meters away. Stress, focus, high goal orientation (i.e. survival!). The analytical solution-seeking mode is almost inevitably activated. Automatic, experience-based behavioral patterns are then executed. Transferred – in companies, no matter how many innovation prizes and post baskets are awarded, nothing can change. Pressure, focus and stress block the innovative/creative mode.
In contrast, the innovative/creative mode can be activated around a campfire, while quietly letting go, without focus and goal orientation. In a safe space to bring unrelated things and ideas together. To let go of convictions without pressure and stress and in the calm flow of these thoughts suddenly … Aha!
It is probably no longer possible to prove exactly how the invention of the bow and arrow came about. However, I suspect that the bow and arrow were not invented while hunting, but rather in moments of calm, serenity, security and letting go.
Just as your future unicorn’s “aha!” idea will not come from hunting (under stress, pressure to perform, high speed).
Take-away 3: Aha moments: Why they boost satisfaction and retention
Another relevant aspect of the innovative, creative solution mode: after finding a solution, after an “aha!” moment, there is a strong feeling of satisfaction, pride and belonging. Corresponding brain regions (reward centers) are demonstrably activated in the innovative, creative mode – but not in the analytical mode.
The bow and arrow inventor will not have thought: “Great: 25 kg of meat in the annual bonus, target achievement KPIs at 110%, now I can sit back and relax.” Rather: “Wow, better chances of survival for our hunters, more prey, less hunger for our women and children, I love it, I’m part of it.”
For managers, this aspect should not be neglected. The benefits of creating real space for innovation are more than just the innovation itself. Space for innovation increases satisfaction and employee loyalty. This in turn helps to implement innovative solution ideas.
Take-away 4: Beliefs and limits: The biggest innovation killers
Truly innovative solutions often make the unbelievable possible, ignore boundaries, break new ground and free ourselves from habits and beliefs. Holding on and using experience brings us into analytical mode, letting go and adopting other perspectives brings us into innovative/creative mode.
For the manager, this means that certain questions and thoughts block the innovative/creative mode, for example:
- How can we supplement or improve existing products?
- What do we need to change in our organization and our processes?
- This and that doesn’t work! Our business works this way and that!
- Is too expensive! Our IT systems don’t work! The works council! Regulation.
- Unspoken as an individual employee: What is my role in the solution?
- The rest of the organization is as it is, we have to live within the framework
Managers can promote – or prevent – innovation by providing a different framework, giving space, communicating appropriately and using conscious formulations. In our experience, it sometimes helps to bring the boundaries and unconscious beliefs anchored in individuals and teams to the surface and then consciously say goodbye to them.
Take-away 5: Why bonuses and KPIs destroy innovation
As a manager, how can I influence the way my employees search for solutions? How can I promote the innovative, creative mode in my team in particular?
The authors show that both carrots (monetary or symbolic bonuses) and sticks (deadlines, pressure, KPIs) tend to unconsciously drive employees and teams into analytical mode. Thus, a bonus for innovation or KPIs (“Which team has come up with the most ideas?”) is demonstrably not only not beneficial, but even harmful. Just leave them out.
4 steps to promote innovation in the team
We recommend the following program to companies and managers to promote innovation, creativity and networked thinking:
- Firstly, awareness of the two modes should be created among managers and employees. After all, the analytical mode is often desired and necessary in day-to-day business. Consciously (mindfully) discovering which mode you are currently thinking in is the first step towards allowing and promoting more innovation.
- Secondly, the manager should ensure that a team dynamic is created that is characterized by security and trust, a “circle of safety”. If fear, anger or stress prevail beneath the surface, it will not be possible to activate the innovative, creative mode.
- The emotional environment and an individual, positive mood among employees can mean that even employees whose nature tends more towards the analytical mode allow the innovative, creative mode.
- Finally, formal and informal communication structures should be created to provide space for creative ideas and open dialog.
If managers and companies implement this program, then a lot has already been done.
If it is still necessary at all (we think not), a junior consultant from the company’s preferred consulting firm will be happy to make suggestions for innovation processes, baskets and competitions. Managers should bear this in mind: Genuine innovation and networked thinking are always a mental tightrope walk between modes. There is always a risk of “falling” into analytical mode.