HOW TO INNOVATE A LARGE FIRM

We live in a time of constant change, where taking a break – especially a professional one – perhaps by refusing to update our skills, is simply not an option. That’s the reason why I’d like to talk about creativity and innovation in the workplace. Because today those who give up on innovating both their companies and themselves are lost – and it’s an issue that affects both individuals and companies alike, maybe for the latter even to a greater extent.

But how can we combine innovation and corporate structure effectively? How can we prevent corporate bureaucratisation from wiping out any spontaneous creative and innovative impulse? It can be done, explains Carl Hamilton, a top manager boasting 20+ years of experience with some of the world’s biggest brands – including Nestlé, where he worked as Head of Development and Research.

According to Hamilton, the first step should be to work on employees’ motivation: why do people leave their homes every morning to go to work? Let’s give them a reason to do it, it doesn’t have to be the best one, but the one that suits them best, as the things that motivate us can be quite different. Hamilton adds that encouraging creative thinking in the workplace is, without a doubt, crucial and that it can be done, for example, by changing our daily routine. It could all end up in smoke however if the tools to express our creative potential are not provided. Creativity is inside all of us, but to effectively translate it into innovation, we need the right instruments.

These of course are only a few observations and it might seem that in some cases I’m just stating the obvious. Nevertheless, I deeply believe that we are dealing with an important lesson here, one we should apply to real life every day, on a personal level and in the workplace too.