To Have More “Eureka” Moments, Find Solitude and peace

Have you ever had a brilliant idea while taking a shower, or knitting, or working out? “Aha” moments tend to pop up when our minds are quiet and our consciousness is at rest. You can nurture these moments by creating an environment of silence and solitude. No matter how busy you are, do your best to take breaks between meetings and find some alone time. Go to an empty conference room or, even better, leave the office and take a walk outside. Once you’ve reached a quiet spot, ignore what’s going on around you and focus on your inner thoughts. Put your phone on airplane mode to completely disconnect for a block of time. This will allow your mind to truly wander, so your brain won’t miss the next lightbulb moment when it happens.

Adapted from “4 Steps to Having More ‘Aha’ Moments” by David Rock and Josh Davis

3 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation

If you want your employees to be more creative in their day-to-day work, you can’t rely on Ping-Pong tables, bean bag chairs, or one-off events like hackathons. To encourage more innovation, foster a sense of challenge:

• Give your employees projects that are demanding, while also making sure the tasks are a good match for their skills and resources.
• Don’t just give a new project to whoever has free time or could finish it most easily. Before you delegate, ask yourself, “Who would feel challenged by this project and has the capacity to rise to the challenge?”
• Aim for 70% success. If you expect everyone to nail a task with 100% success, they are unlikely to take risks, which is an innovation killer. Letting them know that 70% success is OK will ensure they don’t play it too safe.

Extracted from “Help EmployeesInnovate By Giving Them The Right Challenge,” by Amantha Imber