The Most Important Leadership Quality for CEOs? Creativity

The results of the study are hardly earth shattering. But they are important for anyone interested in developing their innovation chops and enjoying the resulting rewards.

The verdict? “Coming up with brilliant, game-changing ideas is what makes the likes of Apple’s Steve Jobs so successful…”

Stating the obvious? Well maybe not to everyone.

Business leaders around the world are struggling to crack the code of innovation. They focus on re-structuring, re-invention, short-sighted innovation initiatives, revolving door consultants, creativity boot camps, etc.

But apparently what it all comes down to is the ability to generate great ideas. Do that well, and all the other stuff more easily falls into place – if for no other reason than the fact that you are generating great ideas about those things, too.

From "Learn the five secrets of innovation," by Mark Tutton, CNN.com

According to the study, there are 5 key skills necessary to be a prolific innovator (a.k.a. idea-generator) – associating, questioning, observing, experimenting and discovering.

It seems these skills have more to do with how one acts as how one thinks. Prolific innovators are always proactively searching for new ideas, new connections, new perspectives. Theirs is not a passive activity; they don’t sit around waiting for the Muse to visit or the lightning bolt to strike. They pursue ideas daily and relentlessly.

It is this skill set, this business activity, that will forever more be the definer of success.

So how can you ensure you have a whole army of Steve Jobses generating innovative thinking in your organization?

Remove the impediments and allow it to happen. Create an environment that facilitates idea-generation. Nourish it with acknowledgment, training, tools – and rewards for achievement. In a recent post here, “Google’s 80/20 Formula – It can work for you!” we briefly described Google’s take on the issue… encourage employees to spend 80% of their time on core projects, and 20% of their time on “innovation” activities that peak their own personal interests.

How much does your organization to do foster innovative thinking? Do you invest 20% in it, like Google does? If you did, what returns might you realize?

The ability to generate innovative thinking is not an inherent trait; it is based on a set of skills that anyone can learn and develop. Exposing yourself to new ideas and observing the world around you can drive innovation.

All it takes is doing it. As one of the men behind the study, Insead’s Hal Gregersen, put it, “Studies have shown that creativity is close to 80 percent learned and acquired,” he told CNN. “We found that it’s like exercising your muscles — if you engage in the actions you build the skills.”

Start building your innovation muscles now. And watch the ideas start to flow.

After all, when you cut through all the hype and Ivy-tower debate, innovation at its core is really just a child’s game of connecting the dots in new and imaginative ways.

We all know we’re living in the Information Age – and how vital a role the Internet plays in the free dissemination of all that information.

What many may not realize, however, is that the availability of information isn’t simply a byproduct of advancing technology – it’s what people want.

A recent article at emarketer.com, “Americans Want Brands that Inform,” focused on findings in the “Global Web Index” from Lightspeed Research.

The third most important action a brand can take to make itself relevant to consumers is “Provide me with new ideas and thinking.” Only “news” (which scored only slightly higher) and “product discounts” (no surprise in today’s economic climate) ranked higher. Way down the list were things like “Sponsor my favorite sports team” and “Associate with celebrities that I like.” (Sorry Morgan Freeman.)

And where do they want their ideas and information to come from? According to the article “…US consumers found social network contacts and bloggers that they read regularly more trustworthy than major journalists, television news readers and radio presenters. Celebrities and TV show presenters were tied with politicians for the dishonor of being considered least trustworthy.”

So what does it all mean for business? That if you want to survive, you had better be able to supply your customers with a constant supply of fresh, new thinking.

It means you need ideas. Lots and lots of good ideas.

In the not so distant past, the demand for fresh thinking wasn’t so fierce. Sure, great ideas were always needed, but not overwhelming quantity we need to produce today.

Companies everywhere are buckling under the pressure to deliver innovative thinking at ever increasing speed. Many use decades-old processes for generating, sharing and developing ideas. Many still consider “creativity” something magical, rather than a systematic process that can be implemented every day. And many simply have no idea…how to generate ideas. They just know nobody in their organization is coming up with them.

It’s time for business to understand that nothing happens without an idea – not a product design, not a marketing plan, not a sales strategy – and invest appropriately in the thing their consumers want most.

How’s that for an idea?

While everyone has the innate ability to engage in creative thinking, there are seven common traits that innovative leaders like da Vinci, Edison, Henry Ford and Steve Jobs share; seven traits that propel them to think outside the confines of conventional wisdom and imagine breakthrough concepts that change the way you and I live and experience the world.

The seven traits of highly innovate thinkers are:

1. Curiosity
Curiosity is the first step toward discovery. It is the “beginner’s mind,” a deep, child-like sense of wonder about the world, the relationship between different things and how things work.

2. Imagination
Before you can develop a new idea, you must first be able to conceive it, to envision the very possibility that it could exist. Innovation is fueled by leaps of the imagination, making novel new connections between seemingly disparate ideas, concepts or objects.

3. Intuition
Making decisions based on facts and figures is fine in many instances. But true innovation is more often born from that internal “knowing,” the guiding force, sixth sense or gut feeling to follow one’s instincts, no matter how unconventional or illogical the direction.

4. Inventiveness
The ability to change the status quo requires an inquisitive passion for “tinkering.” Innovators possess the desire to arrange and re-arrange ideas or things in new and different combinations.

5. Playfulness
It is when you get “lost in your work” that amazing things begin to happen. Time, self-consciousness, seriousness and any sense of limitation falls away, and challenges are handled with ease. The attitude of playfulness is, “Everything is possible.”

6. Flexibility
The capacity to suspend judgment and embrace two (or more) seemingly contradictory or unrelated viewpoints at the same time helps create a dynamic tension that ultimately stimulates creative resolutions (solutions).

7. Persistence
All the creative talent in the world is of no value if you give up before the work is done. Persistence, the passion, willpower and enthusiasm to overcome setbacks and discouragement, allows innovative thinkers to keep trying new possibilities until success is achieved.

Of course, there is no secret recipe for innovation. It requires an ongoing commitment on the part of an organization and the individuals within to relentlessly pursue new, better ways of doing business, and to never accept anything less than the best possible outcome. But these seven key traits are an excellent starting point for building your innovation foundation.

Start to recognize the individuals around you who naturally possess these traits, and encourage them to make frequent use of them. And nurture these traits in others who aren’t as naturally inclined. Acknowledge and reward creative thinking, responsible risk-taking and questioning the status quo. And in no time you will have fostered a thriving culture of innovation which can lead to only one thing: greater success.