6 Skills of the Innovative Thinker
Remember the days when strategy was king? When leadership was defined by forecasting? And successful management meant guiding a business within a set framework?
If you haven’t realized it already, the days of looking into the crystal ball to plan for the future are history.
Today, nothing is certain. But uncertainty doesn’t necessarily mean failure. Instead, uncertainty challenges us to find new ways of thinking. Instead of using a crystal ball for planning, managers are turning toward what the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) calls Innovation Leadership.
In the past, leaders used a business thinking approach to problem solving. This approach was based on research, formulas and logical facts and favored deductive and inductive reasoning. The business thinking leader made quick decisions and was always on the lookout for the right answer.
Unlike business thinking, innovative thinking turns away from past experiences and toward how to get to a desired future state. Instead of looking for right or wrong answers, the innovative thinker searches for a better way by exploring multiple possibilities.
Innovative thinkers exemplify six essential skills that open the door to new approaches and solutions:
Everyone has the ability to be an innovative thinker – it’s the getting started that can be intimidating. Here are three tips to start you down the road of innovative thinking:
Businesses are feeling the limits of traditional thinking. The burdens of the economic crises and widespread uncertainty have leaders everywhere looking for new ways forward. Innovation Leadership is the key to finding what’s new, what’s better and what’s next.
Are you ready to take the next steps towards building a leadership culture that drives innovation?
Innovation at CCLPerforming innovative research — and shaping it into products that make you and your organization more effective — has been at the heart of CCL's work for more than four decades.
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A top-ranked, global provider of leadership development. By leveraging the power of leadership to drive results that matter most to clients, CCL transforms individual leaders, teams, organizations and society.
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