Recently this article about evaluating the originality of our ideas was being discussed at great length on LinkedIn. It seems to be common knowledge that people tend to be overconfident when evaluating their own solutions. However, this article deemed that in the earlier stages of ideation it is actually quite the opposite. The study found that people are initially uncertain about the originality of their ideas, and it appeared through the discussions on LinkedIn, that this was indeed a challenge that many people had faced in their working lives no matter their profession, and had stopped them from perusing ideas in the past. What can leaders take from this to ensure that they encourage innovation and reassure people who are feeling unconfident?
Transparency for suggestions
One way to curb anxiety for your employees is to offer transparency regarding existing suggestions. However, this does not mean simply stating in conversation or via email whether it’s already been suggested, but having a centralized log of these contributions. This means people can view existing contributions in their own time. This also makes it easier for leadership to have an understanding and overview of the success of their initial ideation process.
Set aside time for innovation
Studies show that the first idea people come up with is unoriginal, something that’s been suggested before. This doesn’t mean they don’t have the potential to come up with another suggestion. Therefore, organizations can encourage innovation by setting time aside to innovate. This time allows employees to develop a catalog of original ideas and help them feel more confident in sharing with others.
Be aware of self-bias when encouraging innovation
After asking employees for their suggestions, organizations need to be aware of the self-bias that staff will have when evaluating their own ideas. Developing a structured evaluation and justification process to conduct after the ideation stage is complete means you can begin to overcome the issue of self-bias among your employees.
How to encourage innovation
Structuring and centralizing the ideation and innovation process sets expectations for employees and helps them be more creative and original. Idea management tools can help organizations to develop and sustain this process, and with edison365ideas, you can configure the evaluation of ideas to cater to the factors that matter most to your organization. To find out more click here.
