I dream of a new virus

When I worked at IKEA there was – and still is – a product range, called 365+. This were products for daily use, good function combined with good design. Cups, plates, pots and pans, all 365+. Not the ‘fancy’ stuff that you keep in the cupboards and only get out at parties.  Similar to Delhaize who launched their 365 range in 2004. Useful and affordable products that help the consumer on a daily basis. Completely the same principle: making daily life better.

I belief in the same for creative thinking. I dream to spread an innovation virus to all parts of the organization that influences your daily routine for the better. Imagine a state where your regular employees from sales, creation, strategy, finance and those at the frontline make new thinking happen as a part of their daily job. Not just for special ‘parties’ or big projects but as part as their daily routine. As a leader you can shape the workplace, you can install new behavior, you can make innovative thinking part of the regular way of working. You can guide people into the new, the unknown. And in doing so, you can make your clients lives better.

Exiting and scary at the same time. The good news? You can start tomorrow, with your team, your department. It doesn’t ask for big investments.

Shaping this kind of vibrant company culture is a bit like rearranging your fridge or your cupboards. You empty them first and have a look at your products’ validity date. Some of them might come from a system that’s no longer useful (too much bureaucracy, reporting, controlling) and should be transformed into new ways of working that create more oxygen for your people. With a wider idea generation across the departments as a result.

Don’t we all crave for a variated daily menu? There is a sense of urgency, because more of the same isn’t doing the job anymore. Today we all are faced with reinventing ourselves, the way we work, our business models, products, services. This shapes your growth potential.

Let’s create a healthier work environment for new thinking, for not doing things because we’ve always done it this way. In come ‘lighter’ systems, like healthy brain food in your organizational ‘fridge’. Out go the ‘toxic food/systems’ that poison creative thinking and innovative behavior.

Our favorite health snack is looking at other worlds to feed the brain. Most ideas aren’t started from zero. On the contrary, they are often a combination of existing bites of know-how, transformed into new ideas. And these can only be found in the marketplace outside. Not in your (home)office or in the same trade media that everyone else in your field is reading. And in that marketplace, you can collaborate with companies from ‘other worlds’. Think about recent examples like Belfius & Proximus, Starbucks & Spotify, Volvo & Eneco … Partnerships are your fuel for innovation.

We invite you to make this magic happen. Talk to us and your workplace can become as vibrant as your favorite marketplace. Bon appétit.

Liesbeth Dillen