Organizational communication can play an important role in an organization’s performance and survival, affecting critical issues like innovation, safety, and operational improvements This CQ Dossier provides an introduction into the impact of organizational communication on performance.
Innovation potential is the ability of a person to think in a unique and boundary breaking way. More than just creativity, innovation potential speaks to an individual’s capacity to generate novel and useful ideas that can inspire others and produce growth.
Today’s world is characterized as being VUCA - volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Because of this new and unpredictable environment, it is almost impossible to predict threats or opportunities - at the same time, the potential for disruption is very high. VUCA was a term originally coined in the late 1990 to describe a strategic leadership environment. This already hints at the hidden advantages of this seemingly out-of-reach environment. What is VUCA really about and how can organizations and leaders adapt to it? In the following blogpost, we will consider what VUCA can and cannot bring to the table, and give some tips about how to make VUCA work for you through strategic management.
Creativity and innovative problem-solving must be cultivated within an organization. While productive, useful idea-generation does require a degree of structure, and even deadlines, a truly innovative organization provides its employees with room to explore, pursue novel approaches, and even fail (Ciit, 2016).
This CQ Dossier will review the existing psychological research on how innovation and innovative thinking is defined, its relation to creativity, and how it impacts success in an organizational context.
In most professional settings, doing innovative, meaningful work requires effective collaboration with a team. This CQ Dossier provides an overview of evidence-based practices to form innovative groups.
A well-developed, well-run organization helps its employees to thrive. Under supportive, skilled management, individuals feel secure, trust that their organization values them, and feel liberated to raise concerns and propose new solutions to existing problems. A warm, relaxed, but stimulating professional climate tends to encourage innovative thinking as a result.
High Reliability Organizations, also called HROs, manage to consistently deliver high performance over a long period of time in an extremely challenging environment. Learning the hard way is no option for HROs as they operate in areas where any mistake can have severe consequences. On top of this HROs manage to quickly adapt to changing circumstances and come up with innovative solutions to complex problems (Bierly et al. 2008). As managers from the private and public sector we were wondering what lessons we could learn from HROs. Starting from here, we had a look at research and theory behind HROs and derived five evidence-based practices you can implement in your organization.
As a manager, it is largely your responsibility to cultivate an environment where innovative ideas can be generated – and evaluated for their usefulness. Management decisions and policies can have a significant impact on how inhibited employees feel, and how free they are to express new ideas that are challenging and potentially valuable. A great deal of research exists today regarding how creativity and innovation can be boosted by management within an organization. In this Evidence-Based Learning Management Team (EBMLT), the latest research on the subject will be reviewed. Below is a broad introduction to some of the topics that will be covered.
In order for a work team to thrive and develop innovative, paradigm-challenging ideas, creativity must be properly fostered. Working towards that requires that you, as a manager, recognize that creative output is inherently risky and vulnerable – especially when the pressure is high and the need for a useful solution is paramount (Paulus, 2000).
