Innovation - 6 Steps to Innovation and CreativityStudies have shown that at 5 years of age children are 95% creative. By the time they are 12, creativity has diminished to 4%. This shows how schooling and maturity change the way children think and as they move more into adulthood, creativity skills are repressed.

Creativity is important, particularly in business to remain competitive, to provide opportunities for staff and to create a fulfilling environment which has no constraints on free thinking.

By transforming these creative ideas into action, companies can become innovate and leaders in their field.

Research has shown that highly performing companies are highly innovate and have successfully integrated innovation and creativity in their day to day business processes.

Interestingly though, most companies actually consider innovate to be very important. However, they rate low on the innovation Management maturity model.

So how do those highly innovative companies make the transition from being traditional structured thinkers to free flowing, open minded thinkers and implementers?

Step 1 - Innovation must come from the top and be embraced by the CEO, their direct management and their teams below. Innovative thought leadership must permeate throughout the organisation.

Step 2 - Innovative thinking can only occur when teams are cohesive, embrace change and are open to new ideas.

Step 3 - Everyone must support the Investment companies vision or mission statement and know there are many ways to achieve these goals. Without this, not everyone is working towards the same goal.

Step 4 - Provide encouragement and motivation by rewarding staff for embracing and demonstrating innovative thinking.

Step 5 -Make the time to be innovative. If your teams are caught up in the structured day to day constraints of their operational tasks, there is little capacity for creativity or the time to innovate.

Step 6 - Be sure to have a process that harnesses and focuses creativity and innovation, as this is what will successfully turn an idea into a successful reality.

There are some fantastic courses and speakers available that provide techniques to assist with innovative thinking. Make the time to create your ideas and turn them into reality.