What do BuzzFeed, Facebook and CVS Health all have in common?  

They were named as the top 3 most innovative companies for 2016 by Fast Company.

How did they do it?

They looked fear right in the eye.

Sound intimidating? It is! And that’s kind of the point. Innovation IS a scary thing – if you’re doing it right. Innovation requires you to:

• Confront your (and your team’s) boredom, safety and complacency at work;

• Disregard tried-and-true business practices in favor of uncertainty;

• Question how and what your business does – to the point where you threaten the status quo;

• Risk being rejected, ignored, isolated or being labeled a heretic by your peers and employees.

Sure, it’s uncomfortable. Yes, it means relinquishing control and certainty. But unless you push yourself to the point where you’re afraid, you’re probably not really innovating.

Honestly, fear is what prevents most companies from being more innovative. Rather than pushing boundaries or risking rejection and failure, leaders continue to do things the same way, year after year. That may be easy and comfortable, but it also puts them at prime risk for becoming irrelevant, outdated or obsolete (which is even scarier than innovating!).

Moving Past Your Fear of Innovation

In this earlier post, we shared a few tips for fostering a culture that fuels innovation by:

• Giving employees the freedom they need;

• Challenging the status quo;

• Making it okay to fail;

• Fostering a more positive work environment;

• Elevating employees’ thinking.

In addition to building the right culture, use these tips to push past the fear that may be holding you and your company back:

• Build Diverse Work Teams

Hire people with a varying backgrounds, values and points of view. Doing so encourages respectful “bumping of heads” that challenges traditional ways of thinking in positive ways.

• Cover Your Team’s Back.
  Build employee relationships based on trust, mutual support and shared confidence. Make it clear that you welcome your team’s ideas (even if they’re controversial) and that employees won’t be punished or ridiculed for making unpopular suggestions that threaten your company’s status quo.

• Inspire Your Employees to Embrace Fear
  Lead by example! Share your experience with facing fear for the sake of innovation. Talk about your successes, your failures and what you learned in the process. When your team sees the benefit of pushing boundaries and asking tough questions, they’re more likely to try it (in appropriate ways) themselves.

Fuel Innovation with a Smart Staffing Strategy

As a leading national staffing agency, Exact Staff can provide the talented people and intelligent staffing solutions that will turn your great ideas into reality.

To develop the best strategy for your organization, we invite you to schedule a free workforce consultation with us. Together we can assess your needs, brainstorm options and design creative solutions to help you overcome whatever workforce or hiring challenges you face.