How to Encourage Innovation – the Velcro way
To encourage innovation promote curiosity.
I’m fairly convinced there are no new original ideas. What we have instead are pre-existing ideas combined, or applied, in new and different ways. These combinations and new applications are the result of curiosity with a dash of serendipity on the side.
Consider Velcro. It’s based on a design found in nature (per-existing idea) and applied to human-made objects. Here’s how it happened. George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, went for a walk in the woods and got curious about the burrs that clung to his trousers — and to his dog. Curiosity led de Mestral to investigate the underlying structure that causes burrs to stick. He then applied that same design to create a new type of fastener, which he named for the French words velours (velvet), and crochet (hook). Voila Velcro. Forever more, children everywhere could fasten their own shoes and jackets, well before learning to tie knots and pull zippers. Velcro simultaneously provided parents with accumulated hours of free time.
Six Ways to Incite Curiosity
If you want to encourage innovation, start by inciting curiosity. To incite curiosity try these 6 solutions.
- Appoint a Chief Curiosity Officer
- Naming an office with a seat at the leadership table signifies that curiosity is a critical function. It’s equal to customer service, finance, and other aspects of the business your company values and invests in.
- Be the Curious Leader role model
- Ask questions that seek to explore and discover more
- “That’s a great idea. What led you there?”
- Encourage people to express wild ideas for the sake of generating ideas
- Provide real examples of how innovation happens
- Tell the Velcro story, and others
- Ask questions that seek to explore and discover more
- Weave curiosity into existing structures and processes
- Host a weekly “I got curious” guest column on your internal newsletter and/or blog
- Add a 10 minute Curiosity Show & Tell to regular team meetings. People share anything that piqued their curiosity to the point of further investigation and discovery
- Create a curiosity room filled with materials and spaces employees can use to read, play, explore, create art, build things, watch videos, view pictures, and engage in conversation
- Develop walking trails. Creative ideas occur more often outside the confines of our structured work spaces
What are your recommendations for inciting curiosity?