How to build a culture of originality
Kohlmann struck the match by creating the Navy's first rapid innovation cell - a network of original thinkers who would collaborate to challenge long-held assumptions and generate new ideas.
For a culture of originality to flourish, employees must feel free to contribute their wildest ideas. But they are often afraid to speak up, even if they have never seen anything bad happen to those who do.
There is evidence that quality often doesn't peak until more than 200 ideas are on the table.
Research shows that entrepreneurs who succeed over the long haul are actually more risk-averse than their peers.
leaders need sustained original thinking in their organizations. They do this by building a culture of nonconformity, as Kohlmann did in the navy.
ther ways to nip fear in the bud include applauding employees for speaking up, even when their suggestions aren't being adopted, and sharing your own wacky ideas.
In all fields, volume spawned quality. Even the most eminent innovators do their most original work when they are also generating dozens of less brilliant ideas.
Most people are quite capable of thinking and solving problems in new ways, if only their organizations stopped forcing them to conform.
Leaders must provide employees with opportunities and incentives to generate, and continue to generate, new ideas, so that people in all functions and roles do better at overcoming the obvious.
To continue generating and selecting smart ideas over time, organizations must strike a balance between cultural cohesion and creative dissent.
many managers do not embrace this principle, fearing that time spent conjuring up many ideas will prevent employees from concentrating and being efficient.
there are ways to help employees generate quantity and variety without sacrificing day-to-day productivity or causing burnout
Research suggests that organizations often get stuck because they are playing defense, trying to avoid competition.
According to decades of research, more and better ideas are obtained if people work alone in separate rooms than if they are brainstorming as a group.
It is a practice that dates back to the early 1700s, when a Japanese shogun put a box at the entrance of their castle. Today suggestion boxes are often ridiculed.
But the evidence points to a different conclusion: suggestion boxes can be quite useful, precisely because they provide a wealth of ideas.
You need a system for selecting contributions, and rewarding and searching for the best ones, so that people don't feel like your suggestions are falling on deaf ears.
Generating lots of alternatives is important, but so is listening to the right opinions and solutions.
Research reveals that insecurity prevents managers from seeking ideas and leads them to respond defensively to suggestions.
Idea contests can help leaders sort the wheat from the chaff, whether they're checking suggestion box entries or hosting a live innovation event.
Giving in to the will of the majority is not the best policy; a select minority might have a better idea of which ideas have the most potential.
They can try to compensate for that by researching customer preferences, but they will still be susceptible to confirmation bias.
When an innovation tournament is well designed, you get a lot of initial ideas, but they are grouped around key themes rather than covering a variety of topics.
The more values they emphasized beyond that, the greater the chances that people would interpret them differently or not focus on them.
Also in mature industries, research shows that when companies place a strong emphasis on culture, their performance remains more stable.
However, there is a dark side to strong and cohesive cultures: they can become homogeneous if left unchecked.
Studies on decision-making in senior management teams show that cohesive groups are no more likely than others to seek consensus, discard divergent opinions and be victims of groupthink.
Ultimately, listening to a wider range of knowledge than you normally hear is the key to promoting great original thinking.