Must-see: 14 Guaranteed Ways to Kill Innovation, from one of my favorite blogs, Entry-Level Rebel.
Do you have anything to add to the list?
I do.
15. “Don’t push and don’t be persistent.”
If one person in your organization doesn’t see the value in your innovative idea, fine-tune your pitch and iron out even more details and take it back to them, or to someone else. In your free time, approach your idea once more, but with strategic, upper-management level thinking so you can have an intelligent conversation to address questions or concerns. There are no guarantees, but just like in sales – don’t give up until you’ve been told “no” at least three times.
Even after three no’s, don’t trash the idea. Pat yourself on the back for having an innovative and creative streak and put it in your “ideas” folder for a future situation/position/place of employment that fosters creativity and welcomes innovation. Or file the creative idea away and come back to it and tweak as needed if you encounter a different opportunity where it could potentially be beneficial.
I’d love to hear what you have to add to this motivating list.
