Too often business shuts down creativity that could help produce the profits it says it desires. This occurs when an individual comes up with a new idea for improvement and instead of receiving gratitude for their efforts is given such negative feedback; that they decide it’s not worth trying in the future. Here’s some suggestions to prevent this from occurring (below).
(1) Great any suggestion with appreciation no matter how unusual it might appear. For example say, “Thank you for the taking the time to think of this idea it means a great deal to our company when individuals such as yourself come up with positive suggestions”.
(2) Reward the suggestions with someone as slight as a cup of coffee or light snack.
(3) Give the individual a time-frame that is longer then expected for review of their idea. During that process keep the individual updated with the progress.
(4) If the idea doesn’t work out for the company tell specific reasons why it can’t be attempted at this time without discouraging the creative individual. Try to give them a different task where there creativity can be utilized.
(5) If at all possible give them a chance to run a small pilot program of their idea with definitive results that they can be measured to see if it fails or succeeds.
(6) If the idea does fail let them feel good about the effort and suggest new ways there creativity might be helpful.
(7) If there idea succeeds let their efforts be rewarded.