27 September 2023

Dare to dream: How encouraging daydreaming at work drives innovation

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Susan Penfield* says employees who are given the time to use their entrepreneurial skills to develop new ideas can help drive an innovative workforce.


In my career as a technologist, strategist, and now chief innovation officer for a Fortune 500 company, I’ve learned a valuable lesson.

If you want an innovative culture, you need to empower employees to pursue their daydreams during work hours.

My thesis is simple: If your workforce has the curiosity to develop original solutions around their passion projects, then giving them the space to experiment only increases their ability to apply adjacent innovation to client problems as well.

Developing a culture of innovation requires commitment, refinement, and collaboration.

Here is my best advice to organisations looking to foster more internal innovation and support the “intrapreneurs” — internal employees who use their entrepreneurial skills to develop new ideas and solutions — who help drive an innovative workforce.

Create space to experiment and daydream

Even without construction, organisations can create idea incubation hubs in existing spaces through a little creativity.

Repurpose conference rooms as creative areas.

Install informal gathering places, including dining areas and team rooms.

New environments can stimulate the senses, invite discomfort, shift perspectives, and encourage dynamic teaming, all of which can spur new ways of thinking.

Secure support and participation from leaders

Day to day, encourage leaders to set aside time for their teams to pursue personal passions.

Create a bank of “innovation time” that employees can draw on throughout the year and dedicate a portion of staff meetings for employees to share their concepts.

By accepting, encouraging, celebrating, and at times financially supporting personal innovation, organisations can motivate employees and tap into creative brainpower that promotes innovative problem-solving.

Define the vision for an intrapreneur program and its success

Intrapreneurs are a valuable asset to your organisation.

Develop a program to support their work, set goals and metrics for the first year, and allocate an investment to make in it.

Identify champions to help advocate for the program internally, and recruit impact-driven participants who can bring back value to their teams.

Collaborate with managers and project leaders to unlock potential

Invest in supporting employees whose innovations have the power to support your organisation and the greater good.

Employers who want to innovate must start somewhere, and these ideas can provide a fertile starting place as bigger structural changes evolve.

Consider offering your staff extra time and space for dialogue, collaboration, and innovation.

You may be surprised by what emerges.

* Susan Penfield is the Chief Innovation Officer at Booz Allen Hamilton, a global technology and management consulting firm.

This article first appeared at www.fastcompany.com.

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