Creating a space to thrive

- Have you ever been in a place, either physical or psychological, where you felt like you're really thriving? Where you felt like you can make progress, reach achievements, and you feel confident and happy. On the flip side, have you ever been in that survival mode where you're just getting through? Your confidence levels are low and you don't feel able to achieve anything of significance. Chances are you've been in both of these environments at one point or another. It goes without saying that feeling like you're thriving will help to enhance your innovation. You'll feel confident, creative, and able to cope with challenges. You can create a physical space to thrive and a psychological space to thrive. Both are important in enhancing individual and team innovation abilities. When it comes to physical environment, here are some tips. Create a space where people want to work. This includes thinking about physical comfort and basic needs such as food and warmth. There's a reason typically creative organizations such as Google create environments with amazing facilities. Of course, you may not be in a position to create a space like this, but can you make sure that people have access to good coffee, for example? Can you make sure the environment is comfortable? Could you ensure meetings are in a place that would inspire creative thinking? Be flexible. Today more than ever people want flexibility in their working lives. Can you encourage people to work in a place and at a time that works well for them? You may need some time where everyone in the team works together, but outside of these times it's helpful to remember, some people are most creative in the morning, some in the evening. Get moving. Creating a novel working environment can spark creativity and even inspiration. This could mean meeting in different places to change the setting, working in a place where other people are focused on innovation to gain inspiration, or even getting people up and moving to get the blood flowing. Now thinking about psychological environment and a link to innovation here are some top tips. Create a safe space. Focus on enhancing psychological safety. Make it okay for people to fail and celebrate the process of being innovative, not whether the end output was successful. Help teams to build trust and be effective at being honest and open. Focus on developing curiosity. Help people to think outside of the box. Explore different ideas, cultural trends, competitor developments, whatever interests them. It's not enough to just rely on being an expert in your industry or field. Inspiration can be drawn from a wide range of unrelated areas. Create a culture of innovation. Weave continual improvement, creative thinking, and exploration into all areas of the business. Make this a common language. Help people to feel confident challenging assumptions, norms, and hierarchies. Who's to say it has to be a senior leader that comes up with the next big idea and not a new graduate? Innovation doesn't happen by chance. You can create the physical and psychological environment required to harness creativity, boost innovation, and create a thriving workforce.