What are some good tips to motivate Innovation and Entrepreneurship?

Peter, thanks for the book. I also heard great things about Peter Drucker's book: Innovation and Entrepreneurship: http://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Entrepreneurship-Peter-F-Drucker/dp/0887306187

Does anyone else have any tips to help motivate ideas and creativeness in the office? Looking for ways to motivate my employees to think outside the box.

Thanks,
Bob

Bob

1. Do these key staff members have any ownership interest (or an earnout package) in the business? I've see a 3-year earnout on equity in a startup do wonders.

2. Are the staff members on any kind of personal development plan? A staff member that isn't growing personally will not have the desire to perform beyond the base expectations. (Books/audios by authors like Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill and Tom Hopkins can have a huge impact as well.

3. Short term rewards - Do you have something in place that incentivizes the employees for creativity and innovation? It's gotta be short term incentives (cash works great, but you can also use time off and other perks instead)

The bottom line is this - find out what motivates your employees on a personal level. For one it may be cash, for another it may be recognition or another perk. Then scratch that itch by tying the reward to the desired action.

Finally (and probably most importantly), have the staff members take the Team Dynamics CARE profile test. For a few bucks you'll find out if they are even built to be creative and innovative. Sometimes we as business owners "want" more for our employees than they are built to give. The CARE profile will tell you if your expectation of them is even reasonable or not.

Hope that helps!

Joe

Sometimes and for some people, innovative thinking can be encouraged by providing a more non-judgmental environment that lets everyone say what they think, with no one "keeping score."

That said, I also believe that just as some individuals are more innately "creative" than others, some are more naturally out-of-the-box thinkers than others. And I don't think you you can't force or incentivize someone to be "more creative" if their brain is just wired a different way. Nothing wrong with that, but I think it's essential to critically evaluate the resources you have.

If you feel innovative thinking is essential to your business, and if it's not there presently, perhaps you need to strategically replace one or more of your current staff, or bring in some additional people, or hire a consultant — or perhaps even a marketing agency!

Al Shultz
http://www.alshultz.com/

Did your employees improve on becoming more innovative? (I see this is an old topic.)

If not... maybe have them check out TrendHunter.com, or alternatively purchase Trend Hunter PRO... they are specifically designed to get the mind flowing with ideas and innovation.