Vasco Eiriz

Pequenos negócios 48
GRANDES IDEIAS

1. Give yourself and your employees time to think of ideas. While it can seem that there is never enough time to get everything done and deadlines are always looming, you can't afford not to take the time to come up with new ideas. Allow even just a few minutes every day to discover what your customers or employees are thinking and what problems or frustrations they may be experiencing. Ask your employees what they are working on, where there may be problems, and what ideas they have for solving them.

2. Positively reinforce ideas--avoid the automatic no. As discussed earlier don't rush to judge ideas. It's the process of coming up with ideas that needs to be reinforced, not whether the idea is good or not. Evaluation can come later.

3. Look to unlikely sources of opportunities. You never know where creativity an innovation will emerge. Think beyond your age group, socioeconomic status, and education.

4. Get a room with a view. Give your employees--and yourself--varied experiences. Get away from the office, go visit customers, allow employees to learn one another's jobs, and so on. It enables people to get a different perspective, and it is when we can change our routine that breakthrough ideas often can be discovered.

An innovative company does not automatically develop out of an innovative business idea. You have to deliberately set your expectations and communicate them to your employees. Remember that recognition is fuel--it fans the fires of creativity and helps your business reach potentials that you may never have anticipated. Einstein said, "Creativity is contagious...pass it on." As the business owner, you are in a unique position to make sure that people's brains don't stop at your company's door.

Fonte: Katz, Jerome A.; Green, Richard P. (2007). "Entrepreneurial Small Business", New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, p. 94.