Cultivating an Innovation Mindset — Actively Pursuing Innovation

At this point, most businesses are keenly aware that it is imperative to their survival, in a competitive business world, to actively pursue innovation and cultivating an innovation mindset within their organization.

The real challenge becomes how to create a culture of innovation where individuals, and the team as a whole, are motivated and inspired to drive the company forward. Some companies make the mistake of assuming innovation comes from the top-down, and that leadership can simply dictate that innovation is a priority and then expect results.

In truth, cultivating an innovation mindset begins with the individual and happens over time. With each new idea that is encouraged and nurtured, or with each unlikely collaboration that yields positive results, the capacity for innovation grows within the individual and the company organically creates more space for innovation to happen. You cannot grow a culture of innovation without the initial spark from that first innovator who is willing to go out on a limb. If you want to cultivate an innovation mindset, you have to start with yourself and focus on the individual.

What Is Innovative Thinking?

At its core, innovative thinking is the ability to generate new ideas, concepts, and solutions to problems. It is a mindset that embraces creativity, experimentation, and risk-taking. This means going beyond the obvious, challenging assumptions, and being willing to explore paths that might not have immediate, guaranteed payoffs. An innovative thinker is someone who sees opportunity in obstacles and is comfortable with uncertainty—knowing that true breakthroughs often emerge from trial, error, and learning from failure.

Innovation Happens from the Inside-Out

Make no mistake about it: innovation happens from the inside out. As a leader within the company, all you can do is provide individuals with the tools necessary to be successful and allow them to be their best. With that being said, the idea of creating a culture of innovation can still feel abstract and intangible. Individuals are left wondering how they can tap into their own creativity and foster innovation. Ultimately, while innovation comes down to the individual, some of the burden does fall on the organization.
Image: culture of innovation success with numbers

Leadership must look around and examine whether they have created a safe environment where employees feel empowered to innovate. If they feel stifled by a hierarchy, they won’t go beyond the bare minimum of what is listed on their job description for fear of stepping out of bounds. Essentially, employees need permission to innovate. They need to know that not every idea has to be a homerun and that it is okay to strike out — sometimes in the pursuit of something bigger and better. Failure should be an acknowledged and welcomed part of the process. When people are given the freedom to fail, they are more likely to aim for the fences.

Don’t Let Perfectionism Kill Innovation

An important lesson for both leaders and individuals is to recognize that waiting for the “perfect” idea can stall progress indefinitely. It is often better to take action on something that isn’t fully polished than to hold back in search of the extraordinary. The rough stuff can always be refined, especially when others are invited to contribute their perspectives. Perfectionism has a sneaky way of stifling innovation — and smart, capable people are particularly susceptible to overthinking and overanalyzing, which can ultimately lead to missed opportunities.

By fostering a culture where experimentation is encouraged and imperfection is accepted, organizations make it clear that every idea is a stepping stone. When failure is reframed as part of the learning process, employees feel empowered to try, iterate, and collaborate. It’s this willingness to act, even when the outcome is uncertain, that truly fuels innovation from within.

The Role of Training and Development in Fostering Innovation

So how do you actually prepare individuals to think more creatively and act as catalysts for innovation? Investing in training and development is a powerful starting point. By offering structured opportunities—think hands-on workshops, interactive sessions, or even hackathons—you help your team stretch beyond their usual boundaries, learn to embrace risk, and discover untapped capabilities.

These experiences encourage employees to flex their creative muscles, sharpen their problem-solving skills, and practice collaborating with colleagues from other departments. For example, companies like Google famously run regular “Innovation Fridays” and design thinking workshops, while organizations like IDEO are built on the principle of cross-disciplinary teamwork. Even just the act of learning together creates an environment where taking intelligent risks becomes part of the norm, and new ideas start to flourish organically.

Ultimately, the message is clear: when you invest in developing your team’s skills and confidence, you’re not just checking a box—you’re actively laying the groundwork for a thriving culture of innovation.

Where Innovators Most Often Get Stuck

While nurturing a culture of innovation is as much about mindsets as it is about practical steps, it helps to recognize where people are most likely to encounter roadblocks in the process. Even the most talented and motivated teams can find themselves spinning their wheels at different stages. Here are the three most common sticking points along the journey:

1. The Listening & Learning Trap

Many innovators stall right out of the gate—paralyzed by the belief that they need more information before moving forward. This is often a holdover from years in formal education, where “do your homework” is drilled into us as the first step. The result? We convince ourselves that we need that extra certification, another book, or one more workshop before we’re “ready.” But lasting innovation rarely comes from gathering endless facts; it emerges when we start experimenting, reflecting, and iterating in the real world.

2. The Idea Generation Bottleneck

Another common stumbling block is believing that creativity is reserved for “the chosen few” or that only groundbreaking ideas count. People either underestimate their own ability to participate in problem-solving or get caught up in the pressure to have the perfect idea. Some might fill notebooks with half-formed notions but never voice them, worried they aren’t good enough. Others launch into brainstorming, enjoy the excitement of imagining possibilities, yet struggle to move beyond that stage. These ideas stay locked away, never reaching the light of day where they could be molded into truly valuable solutions.

3. The Action Paralysis

Finally, even when a promising idea emerges, taking the leap to implementation can feel daunting. Perfectionism, fear of criticism, or simply habit can lead people to overthink and delay action—waiting for the mythical moment when their solution is “just right.” Unfortunately, no progress happens without putting real work into the world, even if it’s rough around the edges. As the saying goes, “Done is better than perfect.” True innovation thrives when teams are encouraged to share, test, and improve together, rather than hiding in pursuit of flawlessness.

Recognizing these hurdles is the first step toward moving past them. When leaders create spaces where learning comes from doing, ideas are welcomed at every stage, and progress is valued over perfection, innovation naturally finds a foothold.

 

The Core Stages of Innovative Thinking

So, how does innovative thinking actually take shape? At its foundation, the innovative mindset follows a series of natural stages—each building on the last, and none to be skipped if you’re aiming for truly novel results. Let’s break it down:

• Defining the Challenge: Every spark of innovation begins when an individual or team takes a hard look at a specific problem or opportunity. This could be an organizational pain point, a market gap waiting to be filled, or simply an area ripe for improvement. Getting clear on your challenge is like planting the flag on a map—it lets everyone know where the journey starts.
• Generating Ideas: Once the challenge is set, the focus shifts to brainstorming and creative exploration. Here, it’s all about quantity and diversity—using tools from design thinking, borrowing creative prompts from the likes of IDEO, or even pulling inspiration from unexpected places (post-it notes, napkin sketches, or a coffee-fueled whiteboard session). The point is to think big and resist the urge to self-edit too soon.
• Taking Action: All the creativity in the world is only valuable if it leads somewhere concrete. This stage is when promising ideas are evaluated, tested, and refined. Prototypes might be built, pilots launched, and feedback loops established. Some ideas will fail, some will soar—but the real key is to move purposefully toward implementation.

By cycling through these stages—clear challenge, open ideation, decisive action—innovation becomes less of a mysterious flash and more of a muscle your organization can strengthen over time.

 

Diversity and Inclusion as Catalysts for Innovation

One of the most overlooked routes to fostering innovation is cultivating diversity and inclusion at every level of your organization. When you intentionally bring together people from different backgrounds, industries, and ways of thinking, you invite a broader spectrum of ideas and problem-solving approaches. Imagine the creative energy that emerges when a team made up of engineers, marketers, artists, and customer service veterans collaborates—each contributing their own experiences, strengths, and even biases to the mix.

It’s not just a feel-good policy; there’s solid evidence backing this up. Studies from organizations like McKinsey and Harvard Business Review consistently show that diverse teams are more creative and deliver stronger business outcomes. Think of companies like LEGO and Google, who actively harness the power of diverse perspectives to fuel continuous innovation.

By building an inclusive culture where every voice is heard, employees feel valued and emboldened to share new ideas without fear of rejection or ridicule. This openness breaks down echo chambers, challenges the status quo, and enables the kind of cross-pollination of ideas necessary for breakthrough innovations. When people see their unique perspective as an asset, not a liability, innovation is no longer a lofty goal—it becomes part of daily life within your organization.

 

The Power of Self-Motivation

Whether you are an athlete, an entrepreneur or an inventor, the most powerful force that propels people towards success is self-motivation. As you probably know firsthand, when you set goals based on your understanding of other people’s expectations, you tend to lose motivation and fall short. External motivation tends to lose steam quickly.

 

In a company setting, traditional goal-setting might not be enough to motivate individuals for an innovation mindset. Instead, you need to rethink KPIs and your reward system. While offering incentives might provide employees with temporary motivation, it won’t help foster a culture of innovation that has staying power. The best way to go from a one-time incentive to actually changing the way your company operates is to use gamification and ideation software to transform projects. Gamification inherently involves built-in rewards so that employees receive encouragement as they move through the project or innovation process. This positive feedback spurs internal motivation and keeps them pushing forward even when a failed attempt might put them back at square one.

 

How to Nurture and Grow Your Team

As your company and your team evolves, so will your approach to innovation. Maintaining self-motivation and continuing to get the best out of each individual innovator will require constant evaluation. Even if you are successfully churning out projects, you always want to build in the time to reflect on the results. This will allow employees to go beyond acquiring new skills and actually create wisdom that can be carried forward into future projects.

As you work on developing an innovation program, think about whether it allows your innovators to answer the following questions:

1. How am I being a leader right now?
2. How am I using my genius?
3. How am I tapping into my multiple intelligences?
4. How am I collaborating right now?
5. How am I striving for wisdom?
6. How am I creating progress?

When you create an environment where employees are encouraged to ask these questions and free to adapt their behavior according to their answers, then you will begin to reap the rewards of an innovative culture.

Core Skills and Mindsets That Drive Innovation

Nurturing this kind of environment means fostering specific skills and mindsets throughout your team. Consider how you are enabling your employees to:

• Cultivate Creativity
  Encourage them to generate new ideas and solutions, approach problems from fresh angles, and break free of limiting assumptions.
• Feed Curiosity
  Support a culture of asking questions, seeking out new information, and learning from both successes and failures. The best innovators are lifelong learners who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo.
• Embrace Flexibility
  Promote adaptability and openness to change. True innovators can pivot quickly when circumstances shift and aren’t afraid to let go of ideas that aren’t working.
• Take Smart Risks
  Foster a safe space for risk-taking, where trying new things—including the possibility of failure—is not only allowed but encouraged as a step toward breakthrough solutions.
• Demonstrate Persistence
  Value resilience and the willingness to work through setbacks and challenges. Reward those who keep pushing forward, even when results don’t come easily.
• Collaborate Effectively
  Build teams that seek out diverse perspectives and leverage the strengths of every member. Innovation flourishes when collaboration is a core value.

By intentionally developing these skills and mindsets alongside your innovation program, you help your team not just to complete projects, but to grow into true innovators—ready to tackle whatever challenges and opportunities tomorrow brings.

 

Where Innovators Most Often Get Stuck

While nurturing a culture of innovation is as much about mindsets as it is about practical steps, it helps to recognize where people are most likely to encounter roadblocks in the process. Even the most talented and motivated teams can find themselves spinning their wheels at different stages. Here are the three most common sticking points along the journey:

1. The Listening & Learning Trap

Many innovators stall right out of the gate—paralyzed by the belief that they need more information before moving forward. This is often a holdover from years in formal education, where “do your homework” is drilled into us as the first step. The result? We convince ourselves that we need that extra certification, another book, or one more workshop before we’re “ready.” But lasting innovation rarely comes from gathering endless facts; it emerges when we start experimenting, reflecting, and iterating in the real world.

2. The Idea Generation Bottleneck

Another common stumbling block is believing that creativity is reserved for “the chosen few” or that only groundbreaking ideas count. People either underestimate their own ability to participate in problem-solving or get caught up in the pressure to have the perfect idea. Some might fill notebooks with half-formed notions but never voice them, worried they aren’t good enough. Others launch into brainstorming, enjoy the excitement of imagining possibilities, yet struggle to move beyond that stage. These ideas stay locked away, never reaching the light of day where they could be molded into truly valuable solutions.

3. The Action Paralysis

Finally, even when a promising idea emerges, taking the leap to implementation can feel daunting. Perfectionism, fear of criticism, or simply habit can lead people to overthink and delay action—waiting for the mythical moment when their solution is “just right.” Unfortunately, no progress happens without putting real work into the world, even if it’s rough around the edges. As the saying goes, “Done is better than perfect.” True innovation thrives when teams are encouraged to share, test, and improve together, rather than hiding in pursuit of flawlessness.

Recognizing these hurdles is the first step toward moving past them. When leaders create spaces where learning comes from doing, ideas are welcomed at every stage, and progress is valued over perfection, innovation naturally finds a foothold.

 

Applying Innovative Thinking Across Industries and Organizations

Innovative thinking isn’t limited to one corner of the business world—it has the potential to spark transformation in every industry and at every level of your organization. Whether you’re in retail, finance, healthcare, tech, or even agriculture, a fresh approach can help you uncover new opportunities and keep your team nimble in the face of change.

For instance, in product development, innovative problem-solving might mean finding unexpected uses for everyday materials, much like how 3M famously stumbled upon the formula for the Post-it note. On the strategy and operations front, companies like Toyota have revolutionized manufacturing with ideas drawn from continuous improvement and employee-driven suggestions. In marketing, tapping into creative brainstorming can help your team craft campaigns that truly stand out—think Apple’s iconic “Think Different” ads, which redefined branding for a generation.

Perhaps most importantly, innovative thinking can help solve real-world challenges that don’t always have textbook solutions—streamlining patient flow in busy hospitals, reimagining customer experiences in brick-and-mortar stores, or building more responsive supply chains.

No matter your field, fostering a culture where people are free to experiment, collaborate, and learn from failure is what unlocks these possibilities. When you approach projects with an open mind and a willingness to adapt, innovation becomes a habit—not just a buzzword.

 

Applying the Three Stages of Innovation: Hear, Create, and Deliver

To better understand how innovation unfolds in practical terms, it can help to break the process into three core stages: Hear (Challenges), Create (Ideas), and Deliver (Action). These stages align closely with the structure of the design thinking framework pioneered by organizations like IDEO, offering a tried-and-true pathway from curiosity to breakthrough.

Hear (Challenges): Start with Empathy and Discovery

Much like the initial “Empathize” stage of design thinking, the Hear phase is all about deep listening and gaining insight into real problems. This is where you gather feedback, observe, and immerse yourself in situations—much as you would shadow a customer or run an employee focus group. Yet, it’s all too easy to get stuck here, thinking you need another webinar, course, or degree before you’re ready to make a move. Remember, growth in innovation doesn’t just come from collecting facts; it’s sparked by curiosity and the willingness to ask questions.

Create (Ideas): Move Beyond the Blank Page

Once you’ve gathered enough context, the next step is generating and developing ideas. This mirrors the “Ideate” and “Prototype” steps in design thinking—where you brainstorm, experiment, and aren’t afraid to make a mess. The risk here? You might doubt your talents or hesitate to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), thinking creativity is reserved for someone with more expertise. But just like the best solutions often come from diverse teams riffing in a conference room or over a cup of coffee at Starbucks, the real progress comes from courageously scribbling out rough drafts, making lists, and seeing where collaboration takes you.

Deliver (Action): Launch—Even if It’s Not Perfect

The final stage—Deliver—parallels the “Test” and “Implement” phases in design thinking. This is where your ideas need legs. It’s tempting to wait for “perfect,” but real innovation rewards those who act, iterate, and learn out loud. Even the most celebrated inventors and entrepreneurs, from Thomas Edison to teams at Google, built their breakthroughs by getting feedback early and embracing “failure” as a stepping stone, not a red light.

By working through Hear, Create, and Deliver, you’re not just following a process—you’re building agility and resilience into your team’s mindset and workflow. Each cycle through these stages helps ensure that innovation moves beyond brainstorming sessions and gets embedded into everyday action.

 

Concrete Steps You Can Take to Cultivate an Innovation Mindset

Here are some concrete steps you can take to create a successful culture of innovation that continues to nurture your team and encourages them to ask the important questions and engage in self-reflection.

 

• Tap into your innovator’s genius and your team’s collective mind by using ideation software. By using a common platform to facilitate innovation challenges and the gamification of problem-solving, you will be able to more effectively engage employees at all levels and tap into wells of creativity among your existing team.
• Aim for about 8 to 10 innovation challenges per year. This will reinforce the fact that innovation is a top priority and help encourage on-going engagement without causing ideation fatigue. A steady stream of projects also encourages employees to keep questioning their own performance and what they are contributing to the company.
• Facilitate check-ins. Whether employees need to take time out of their daily tasks to check-in on an innovation challenge or they need to engage in some meaningful self-reflection, create time and space for these things to occur.
• Show and report collaboration. The more you track collaboration and look at who is working together, the better you will be able to understand where innovation is coming from within your company. You will find that innovation software allows team members from different departments to engage in productive collaborations that wouldn’t have otherwise taken place within the confines of their usual tasks. Use this information to your advantage moving forward.
• • Report on successes while also highlighting and promoting wins. When your innovation program is able to successfully develop and implement new ideas, be sure to share and celebrate these occasions. It is an easy way to recognize and reward those involved while also showing others the power of innovation and collaboration and encouraging them to set lofty goals.
  • Recognize innovation at all levels. Celebrate not just the big wins, but also incremental improvements and creative problem-solving that move your company forward. Public acknowledgement helps reinforce the behaviors and mindsets you want to see flourish.
  • Encourage learning from failure. Create a culture where employees feel safe to experiment and take risks. When things don’t go as planned, focus on extracting lessons and sharing them with the team. This approach supports a growth mindset and signals that innovation is a journey, not a one-time event.
  • Report bottom line figures and show how each individual is contributing. Again, tracking performance and generating a clear picture of how your efforts to create an innovative culture are paying off; will reinforce the importance of a collective innovation mindset. Understanding how each individual is contributing will also reveal important information about where and how employees operate best. This can help you get the most out of your team for an even bigger ROI.
  • Promote continuous improvement. Foster an environment where employees are motivated to keep learning and developing their skills. Encourage them to seek out new knowledge, attend workshops, or collaborate with peers from different departments. The more your team embraces ongoing development, the more resilient and innovative your culture will become.

  By consistently recognizing successes, learning from missteps, and encouraging a growth mindset, you’ll keep your innovation engine running strong and empower your team to keep pushing boundaries.

Understanding the Challenge-Ideas-Action Framework

At the core of many effective innovation programs lies a straightforward—and surprisingly powerful—framework: Challenge, Ideas, and Action. Think of it as the simple playbook your team can keep returning to when tackling everything from daily bottlenecks to ambitious blue-sky projects.

Challenge: Every innovation journey starts with a clear challenge or problem. Maybe it’s a customer complaint that keeps resurfacing, a workflow that feels clunky, or a market opportunity ripe for the taking. Getting specific here is crucial—framing a challenge well means you’re already halfway to a solution.

Ideas: Once the challenge is firmly in sight, it’s time to open the floodgates of creativity. This is where the team puts their collective genius to work, ideating freely without judgment. Think brainstorming sessions, sticky notes on the wall, or digital idea boards using your favorite ideation software. The goal isn’t to land on the magic bullet immediately, but to build a rich pool of possibilities—wild, practical, and everything in between.

Action: Finally, the rubber meets the road. The most promising ideas are refined, evaluated, and turned into prototypes or pilot projects. This stage is about moving beyond talk and into tangible steps—testing, iterating, learning, and ultimately implementing solutions that address the original challenge.

This simple rhythm—identify the challenge, generate ideas, act on the best ones—not only keeps the innovation engine running, but also reinforces a problem-solving culture across teams. By walking through each stage intentionally, you create repeatable habits that can turn everyday problem solvers into your next wave of innovators.

Accessible Ways to Deepen Your Understanding of Design Thinking and Innovation

Curious about how you can go even further with design thinking or refine your team’s innovation practices? Luckily, there are plenty of engaging routes to expand your knowledge and skill set:

• Attend innovation-focused workshops and seminars. Look for immersive sessions hosted by organizations like IDEO U, Stanford d.school, or your local startup incubator—many of which offer both in-person and virtual options to fit any schedule.
• Explore online courses. Platforms such as Coursera, edX, and LinkedIn Learning provide step-by-step programs on design thinking fundamentals and applied innovation, often developed by top universities and seasoned practitioners.
• Bring in an innovation facilitator or keynote speaker. Hosting a design thinking workshop or inviting a guest expert—like a speaker from the Creative Education Foundation or a leading design consultant—can inject new energy and expertise directly into your team.
• Join professional networks and communities. Get involved with groups like the Interaction Design Foundation or the Design Management Institute to connect with peers, swap stories, and stay up to date on best practices.
• Read widely. There’s no shortage of books on the subject—try “Creative Confidence” by Tom and David Kelley or “The Innovator’s DNA” by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton Christensen for practical inspiration.

With so many resources at your fingertips, it’s never been easier to build your innovation muscles and start embedding these practices into your organization.

Not only is a creating a culture of innovation at your company important, it is completely possible, especially if you realize that it is a process. There isn’t a switch you can flip that will change the way your employees think and act, but there are things you can do to help them shift to an innovation mindset and discover self-motivation. It all starts with creating a space where occasional failure is not only an option, but an expectation. From there, work to provide the tools and resources they need to foster a different mindset and tap into their own potential. If you are patient with the process, you will begin to see results and your company will benefit from unique ideas and unexpected collaborations.

 

Creating a culture of innovation doesn’t have to be a heavy and labor-intensive effort. With the right information and strategy, you can transform your company and your employees into masters of innovation. To sum it up, you will need to express, understand and communicate:

• Why innovation matters
• Where innovation comes from within the company and the individual
• How to create an environment that fosters innovation
• How to achieve on-going employee engagement with innovation
• Specific tools and resources that will help you on your journey
• How to track results in order to maximize success

 

Armed with this information, you can begin taking meaningful steps to changing the culture at your company and creating a space where innovation is just a part of the job.

 

(And we do this and make it easy to implement and manage.)