7 Habits of Highly Innovative Teams

1. They Embrace Failure

Innovation doesn’t mean that a business will hit a streak of one winning idea after the next. In fact, 95% of new product innovations fail – and this applies even to the world’s most innovative companies. A look at the evolution of the Angry Birds franchise is a good example of this, with the gaming company Rovio releasing 51 failed games before succeeding. Promoting psychological safety and creating an atmosphere where teams are comfortable with failing and do not fear a negative response to their ideas, will make a huge difference. 

2. They Learn from Failures

In addition to accepting failure as a natural part of the process, innovative teams build positive relationships with failure by actively learning from their mistakes. When employees share and review their errors openly, it facilitates the creation of a company-wide resource for learning.

The collaborative tools that form part of rready's innovation management solutions, allow teams to share their lessons learnt with the entire organization. This allows for increased learning and immediate and continued growth both on a personal and broader level.

3. They Innovate Consistently

While breakthrough ideas can strike you out of nowhere, in reality, the majority of great solutions surface when teams actively dedicate time to innovation. Allowing teams to focus on ideas without outside distractions can yield consistent and better results. KICKBOX Intrapreneurship for example, enables individuals to submit ideas and share thoughts all-year round, through its online platform. Better still, it extends innovation beyond the early phases into the entire project timeline, and it provides the opportunity for team members to support each other with expertise and encouragement.

4. They Listen to Their Customers

Innovative ideas can often stem from customer insights. Therefore, actively listening to customer feedback is common practice in most innovative companies.

The Nascar /Fan Council customer intelligence program is one example of how passionate brand advocates can provide the basis for future innovation. The KICKBOX program encourages innovators to collect feedback from their potential target customers using various tools, to ensure that their concept is resolute and relevant.

5. They Love Their Companies 

Teams that are passionate about the brand and connect with its purpose, will be more engaged with projects and will be more likely to introduce new ideas that they want to see succeed.

A perfect example is the case of Swisscom’s Video Support project. The idea to enable customers to use a smartphone camera to show a problem to a customer support agent came from the intrapreneur’s own experiences using Facetime and scanning QR codes, showcasing how personal insights and passion can combine to drive innovation.

6. They Promote a Level Playing Field

Innovation should be a company-wide process, regardless of your position. All employees should feel that they have equal opportunities when it comes to submitting their ideas. While employee reward programs can incentivize employees to be creative and share their ideas, it’s equally important to lower barriers of entry as much as possible when it comes to innovation. Team members should not feel that they have to jump through multiple hoops before their ideas are heard or responded to. When the company hierarchy starts to hinder innovation, it becomes difficult to resolve.

7. They Enjoy Balanced Lives

Finally, innovative teams will embrace innovation but do not let it rule their lives. It becomes very difficult to innovate when you are mentally or physically exhausted, which is why taking steps to avoid burnout is so important. The correlation between burnout and reduced innovation is scientifically shown as well as anecdotally supported. When companies prioritize well-being, they will see the benefits in both innovation output and overall employee morale.

Building an innovative team can generate significant improvements for the company. Now that you as an innovation leader know what characteristics to look for, it’s time to encourage and support your team to develop them. You’ve got this.