INNOVATION

It’s the new big thing.  Companies want to leverage innovation.  They want their associates to be innovative thinkers.  They want their people to be thinking about what’s the next big thing, what’s the next disruptive technology, product, process, what ideas can we bring to reality that will shift the direction of the company?

Yes, they want innovation.  In the ever evolving competitive business world they need innovation.  And we want to provide the innovation, for the company, but more importantly for ourselves.   However, innovation must be cultivated.  The seed may exist and brilliant insights may spring from nothing, but none of us can afford to wait for innovation to spring forth from the ether.  We need to create an innovative mindset and an innovative environment in which that mind can grow, evolve, collaborate.  In order to do this we must understand one thing …

There is no effective innovation without the application of critical thinking. 

HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS

The High Performance team is the company’s platinum, its incredibly valuable human capital.  Executives are consistently searching for people who can perform at the highest levels, during good times and bad.  People are often told they are members of a high-performing team, it they are not on a high-performing team they are told to get on one, or start one. 

However, there is the question. 

How is it done?  How do we create high performing teams?  What purpose do they serve? Is it safe to say, “If I have a team of high performing individuals, then I have a high performance team?”   The answer is no.  However, if your team consists of a group of individuals that think critically and understand the importance of teamwork, then you have a grand start. 

A critical thinking individual is an integral part of a critical thinking team, and critical thinking teams understand how to be high performance teams.   When you STOP & THINK, truly consider, you make better choices.  You seek to understand the impact of your choices and how they affect the team, the team’s performance, whatever product or service you are producing, and the end result.  This does not come easy.  It takes work.