What advice do you have for other leaders looking to foster a more innovative environment?

IT Strategy & Roadmap Innovation People & Leadership

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VP of IT in Software, 5,001 - 10,000 employees

Be very transparent what the business goals are. Avoid top down management and encourage your entire organization to lead and innovate. Encourage attempts at innovation if they do not ultimately lead to success.

VP, Technology Manager in Education, 10,001+ employees

Encourage collaboration and sharing of ideas and then be prepared to invest in them. Prepare your team for failures and be up front about the expectations for lots of trial and error. It only takes a little bit of success to help everyone forget about previous problems.

Head of Enterprise Technology Services in Software, 5,001 - 10,000 employees

Building an organisation that is psychologically safe where employees feel their ideas are recongised and they are entrusted to try new ideas/tools & fail without fear

CTO in Services (non-Government), 51 - 200 employees

First is hiring - hire people who want to work in dynamic, innovative environments. I have found candidates who have enjoyed working in large corporations or government where every workflow is documented and there is a process for everything often do not have a good culture fit with innovative workplaces. But those that have had exposure to those button down environments and could not wait to escape have made some of the best contributions from my teams.

Second is make failure acceptable. If someone presents an idea or project that isn't going to work then spend the time explaining why it won't in a positive way. Thank them for their idea, and reward them for putting it forward.

Assistant Director IT Auditor in Education, 10,001+ employees

Encourage open and free discussions with employees by engaging them to share ideas and create a transparent environment. This will help to down bureaucratic corporate barriers and organization silos. Embrace experimentation and encourage employees to take risk.

Principal Information Security Officer in Education, 10,001+ employees

Create non-hierarchical ("flat") team collaborations. Staff with employees who aren't afraid to fail, think outside the box and really enjoy exploring multi-disciplinary interests and new technologies.

VP of IT in Education, 501 - 1,000 employees

20% time. Give your team 1 day per week to work on something that is not in their backlog, not part of a product or system they currently support. Then 1 day per month or quarter, bring the team together and have everyone present their 20% time projects and what they are doing. We did this many years ago and created many cost saving innovations and automated sales tools for our company.

Chair and Professor, Startup CTO in Education, 5,001 - 10,000 employees

Collaboration is key. Brainstorming sessions shall happen irregularly but no fewer than once a month. Employees shall be encouraged to submit innovative ideas, in or out of their own specialty area for the team to discuss and decide. Reward shall be given to those who bring excellent ideas that can be patented, implemented, or sold.

Director of IT in Services (non-Government), 1,001 - 5,000 employees

Be willing to do something completely different than you've ever done before. Be able to explain the value/ROI (identify KPIs!) of the changes. Expect that not everyone will come along for the journey with you (resistance to change). Fail fast. Encourage collaboration and ability so "speak up" throughout the org.

Director Of Information Technology in Healthcare and Biotech, 1,001 - 5,000 employees

Advise leader on new innovative solitons in the industry that has been vetted and secure.