BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

ASSESSMENT 1 —Written Questions

Question 1: Explain the change in people's approach towards innovation and creativity, over
period of time?

People’s approach towards innovation and creativity changes over a period of time. Technology
is improving day by day and it affects the workplace. Innovation and creativity are very
important factors to every organization and people’s approach towards it and are changing day
by day. People's approach towards innovation changes with so many factors but primarily with
time. In 21'st century people are more adaptive to the innovation practices and that are
changing global business environment. However, this was not the case some years back. When
computers were introduced many people were reluctant to accept them. This technological
shift filled customers with anxiety and many were afraid of losing their jobs. But over a period
of time these creative boxes gained a lot of popularity due to its enormous benefits. No
businesses today can be run without the computers. Not only its been accepted but has been
modified for better. People these days are open to all sorts of innovations. In this fast-paced
world, people need new innovations that can improve their standard of living.

Process innovations focus on simplifying the work process from which many organisations are
benefitting now. However, back in a day, most organisations would remain using the same
process for years and years. That's how the approach of people has changed a lot from gone
days to present. It is now expected that this change of attitude would be present in future as
well. Game-changing innovation transforms markets and even society. These innovations have
a radical impact on how humans act, think and feel in some way.

Question 2: Explain the role of theory and thinking on applying innovation and creativity at a
workplace. Answer in 250-300 words.

Creativity and Innovation are the key drivers to organizational success. Change is the inevitable
result of this creative and innovative process. Different theories from varied scholars have
placed a great role in applying innovation. These theories have also changed people's thinking
and opinions about the innovative practice.

For instance, Howard Gardner developed a theory of 'multiple intelligence' (MI) which states
that individuals have creative strength(s) that are domain specific. When innovation managers
become aware of Gardner's theory, they can reflect upon where they fall in the MI theory, and
then coach others to become aware of their creative strengths.

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

There are three major components contributing to individual or small team creativity:
expertise, creative-thinking skill, and intrinsic motivation. In contrast, the main components of
the wider work environment that influence employee creativity are organizational motivation
to innovate, resources (including finances, time availability, and personnel resources), and
Managerial practices, such as enabling challenging work and supervisory encouragement.
Sternberg further compared creativity to investment activities of buying low and selling high.
Investment theory highlights perseverance in selling one's creative idea. Walla’s theory
provides a structured approach to creative problem solving. Understanding this is essential
especially when considering the development of a creativity and innovation structure or
process in one's firm. The structure needs to provide time and involve a variety of employees.
That's how creative theorists add so much relevance of the main ideas to innovation.

Question 3: Explain in 50-80 words each, any five (5) leadership styles and their impact on
innovation in organisations.

Leadership plays an important role in enhancing organizational creativity. Thus, a leadership

style can direct impact on the innovation in organisation.

1) Interactive leadership- The characteristics of interactive leadership are encouragement for

participation, widespread sharing of information, efforts to enhance self-worth of employees
and energizing employees for different work tasks. This boosts innovation as it empowers
others to innovate, become innovation leaders in the organization themselves. Most
organisation try to adopt this style of leadership.

2) Directive leadership- In this style of leadership the leader has the potential to actively direct
all the followers by providing clear directions and expectations regarding compliance with
instructions. This kind of style doesn't let the team work on their own which results in lack of
creativity. Here the team is habitual of blindly following the set directions given by the team
leader.

3) Charismatic leadership- This leader has the way of bringing innovation based on their
behavior, beliefs, and personal examples. These leaders can attract followers by visualizing a
promising future rather than creating dissatisfaction. Charismatic leadership can increase
commitment, generate energy, and direct individuals towards new objectives. Studies have
established a positive link between charismatic leadership and perceived team innovativeness.

4) Participative leadership- The participative style of leadership somewhat allows the shared
influence in decision making however the final decision-making power rests with the leader.
However, in this style, the followers can express their opinion in the decision-making process

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

which allows them to think out of the box. This style somewhat supports employee
participation in innovation.

5) Shared leadership - Shared leadership can be understood as a dynamic, unfolding,

interactive influence process among individuals, where the objective is to lead one another
toward the achievement of collective goals. Shared leadership appears to be VERY important
for continuous innovation but there is no further specification of innovation stages or types.

4: What is the relevance of organisational and industry context on innovation? answer in 120-
150 words.

Organizational context is defined as the systems, processes, and beliefs that shape individual
level behaviors in an organization. An organizational context focused on short-term
performance should be balanced by the creation of a context focused on long-term
performance. This requires creativity and risk-taking. There is a positive relationship between
long-term organizational focus and innovation ambidexterity. This position is supported by the
literature on innovation management. In innovation, the industrial, size, its products and
offered services plays a part. All these variables have a direct relationship with the innovative
practices at work. In order to gain an in- depth understanding of service innovation in product
firms, it is fruitful to adopt a demarcation perspective, which is the third main approach to
service innovation. This research stream seeks to identify any possible particularity in the
nature and organization of innovation in services

Question 5: Explain the nine (9) critical success factors impacting organisational innovation.
Answer in 300-400 words.

Critical success factors impacting organisational innovation are mentioned as below-

1. A compelling case for innovation . Unless people understand why innovation is important, it
always loses to core business. It is important to give employees a compelling reason for brining
innovation, only then it would embark.

2. An inspiring, shared vision of the future. It is about developing hypotheses about the future,
taking a 10-20-year perspective to build the relevance of the company in the future. However,
when anticipating the future, it must not be based upon the suspended past.

3. A fully aligned strategic innovation agenda . For a successful innovation, it is essential to

know things like: 1) What business are we in now and want to be in going forward? 2) What is
our risk tolerance for pursuing big, game-changing ideas? In our experience, the #1 reason why
game-changing innovation fails is because time is not invested up front to align the organization
behind one strategic innovation agenda.

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

4. Visible senior management involvement. Incremental innovation can be pushed down into
the organization where the strategy is clear, decision metrics are understood. However, for
game-changing innovation it's the opposite. The strategy is fuzzy, and traditional metrics can't
be applied early in the process, because that which is truly new has no frame of reference nor
benchmark.

5. A decision-making model that fosters teamwork in support of passionate champions.

Breakthroughs cannot survive without a decision-making model that is different from the one
used for incremental innovation. It's not about metrics; it's about "the educated gut." Old
models don't work. Autocratic decision-making fails to engage all the critical stakeholders,
while consensus sinks every decision to its lowest possible common denominator. It doesn't
work without a passionate champion who can make decisions and engage the team to support
those decisions.

6. A creatively resourced, multi-functional dedicated team. The best teams have three
ingredients: project champions who can make decisions during working sessions and advocate
for them with executive sponsors, relevant capabilities and expertise, and naïve, seemingly
irrelevant diversity. Most often a breakthrough starts with the naive and then the experts
determine how to do it.

7. Open-minded exploration of the marketplace drivers of innovation. Organizational change

is driven by marketplace factors: customers, competition, government regulation, and science
and technology. Only by exploring these drivers of change can a company begin to recognize
what it must do to be relevant in its envisioned future.

8. Willingness to take risk and see value in absurdity. Innovators understand that organisation
has no choice; it must take risks, often big ones, by moving toward the absurd, the "seemingly"
irrelevant, in order to create pre-emptive competitive advantage while competitors move in the
"obvious" direction.

9. A well-defined yet flexible execution process. Companies that have been in business for a
while are good at executing on small, incremental changes. And that's challenging enough.
What they don't know how to do is nurture, support, and modify potentially big new ideas with
a more flexible execution process.

Question 6: Explain the process to carry out risk management while implementing
innovations in an organisation. Answer in 300-350 words

During the innovation process, several decisions must be made, some based on intuition and
some based on hard evidence. Risk management is a critical element of the innovation life cycle
and helps address ambiguity and uncertainty. Ambiguity refers to the likelihood that the

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

objectives of an initiative will change over time. Uncertainty refers to the inability to predict
outcomes, based on the objectives of the initiative. Risk management principles can be applied
at both the program and component project levels to reduce the uncertainty. It is important
that an organisation keep consistently identifying and analyzing risk events (both threats and
opportunities) to reduce uncertainty. Structuring the innovation initiative as a program
provides the benefit of risk management on several fronts: at the component project and
activity levels and at the program level, which includes both program-level risks and the
component project-level risks that, in aggregate, may impact the overall program. Despite our
best efforts we will never eliminate uncertainty, which further emphasizes the need for a
learning process. Innovation is more closely associated with the positive side of risk
management, the continuous identification and exploitation of opportunities. The proactive
identification of opportunities, managed with the same rigor and attention as potential threats,
often results in process efficiencies, shortened project life cycles, an improved solution, and/or
enhanced benefits. Steps of Innovation process are-

• Idea Generation

• Advocacy and Screening

• Experimentation

• Commercialization

• Diffusion and Implementation

Question 7: Explain the typical challenges and barriers to innovation within an organisation
and ways of overcoming these challenges and barriers. Answer in 300-350 words.

Today's reality dictates that only those organizations that embrace creativity and innovation
management will achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace, however
organisations must face a lot of barriers to innovation

Lack of communication- A large company with several divisions often finds that over time each
division becomes a company in itself. They fall into patterns of behaviours that become
complacent and fail to maintain communication with the others. When a company tries to
make changes, they tend to start in one area and the others get no communication about what
is happening. This poor communication results in no innovation or change.

Fear of Failure or Being Wrong- One of the greatest barriers to those who work in an
innovative company is an inability to accept failure. From the time we are very little, we are
taught to do things right the first time. Innovative thinkers don't worry about being right. They

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

concentrate on the idea, the impractical, and making connections between things that don't
make sense.

Mindsets and old processes- An industry that is working to move into the arena of innovation
will be up against the habits of those who work there. If the move is led from the top, it will be
essential they model the new way the company will work. It cannot just be said or posted or
given through e-mail. New ways of doing things requires stopping the old ways .

These challenges can be overcome through- Reward Innovation- Some organizations celebrate
and reward individual or team innovation successes through rituals, activities that can help
nudge the culture of your team or organization toward behaviours that support creativity.

Providing adequate Tools- Your organization's creative potential is dependent on the right
tools. Your organization's creative potential is dependent on the right tools. Everyday
Innovation- Everyday innovation is the antidote to innovation theatre. It happens when
everyone feels continuously encouraged to contribute to innovation. Innovative weekly
sessions for 20 minutes can really encourage all staff.

Question 8: What are the processes or systems you will follow to engage your employees in
innovation? Answer in 400-500 words.

Systems and processes are capable of motivating or demotivating all employees in innovation.
Where rigid systems make it difficult for employees to bring out their creative sides, flexible
systems allow them to think out of the box. Thus, it is important to involve employees in the
decision making while setting the workplace processes and systems. There was a time when the
concept of creativity was only associated with writers, painters, musicians and similar people in
artistic professions. But with the ever-increasing necessity of cultivating a unique brand
personality, the need for creative thinking has transitioned from the arts into everyday
business. Popular approaches to fostering innovation through creativity include:

Create a stimulating environment- Offices that include stimulating objects such as journals, art,
games and other items - some of which may not even be directly related to your business -
serve as sources of inspiration. In addition, structuring the work area by removing physical
barriers between people will improve communication and promote creative interaction.

Reward efforts through positive psychological reinforcement- Encourage your employees to

take risks, rewarding them for creative ideas and not penalizing them when they fail. Encourage
employees at all levels to contribute suggestions for improving current business operations.
Foster different points of view through feedback- Innovation can often spring from a review of
how your employees view and see your products and services. Soliciting their opinions can
provide valuable insight into potential areas for improvement as well as areas where you're

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

succeeding. Other perspectives might include vendors, speakers from other industries or
consumers using a competitor's products or services.

Open communication- Innovation is usually not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Like a

plant, it requires the proper nutrients to flourish, including effective strategies and frameworks
that promote divergent levels of thinking. By supporting an open exchange of ideas among
employees at all levels, organizations can inspire personnel and maintain innovative
workplaces.

Allowing employees to take risk- Employers must not fear its employees taking risks as
sometimes employees have the potential to give the erroneous work a non- traditional creative
outlook. The creative process has more to do with calculated risks than big risks. Incentives and
bonuses- There is no such employee who won't get motivated with racial rewards. Incentives
are paramount - ranging from tangible rewards such as compensation to the intangible,
including personal satisfaction and social entrepreneurship to motivate employees and allow
them to bring growth and efficiency in the organisation.

ASSESSMENT 2 — Written Report

Report 1:
Executive Summary
No innovation took place by one person on its own. An idea itself is of no value if never shared
or used. Innovation happens when the new ideas are first generated and then put into practice.
To understand the process better a meeting has been conducted with my current colleagues to
generate a discussion on gathering new ideas for innovation, understanding organisation's
current and future thinking and practice and promoting creative thinking techniques. Everyone
has the creative potential and it is just that we are not aware of it and therefore not using it.
Some have even suppressed it. There could be many reasons.

The reasons for not using our creativity could be many. It could be that we are not in the right
mood, or it is the wrong timing and it could be in the way we have been educated. We know it
or not the major emphasis on today's education is focused on getting the right answer or the

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

required answer rather than coming up with a creative solution. Thus, it is important to ensure
that in an organisation all employees are bringing out their creative sides.

Introduction
This specific meeting was set up with an agenda to discuss three innovation related practices at
workplace. Three of my colleagues who are working in the same organisation are part of this
meeting and a healthy discussion is generated to understand the topic better. From this basic
statement we can go further into the topic of creativity in innovation to explain how the tools
for creativity are used during a regular innovation process where teams to generate new ideas
to further explore their feasibility as proper business models. For individuals not accustomed to
innovation methodologies (which is almost everyone), the phases that utilize creativity are the
most challenging. This report would further analyse the points that we discussed during the
meeting.

Report analysis- To bring out the creative side of all team members it is important to put such
systems and practices in place which promote generation of new ideas. All of us can tend to get
stuck in certain thinking patterns. Breaking these thought patterns can help you get your mind
unstuck and generate new ideas. There are several techniques that can be used to generate
new ideas.

Think in reverse: On feeling unable to think of anything new, things can be turned upside-
down. Instead of focusing on how you could solve a problem /enhance a product, consider how
could you create the problem/ downgrade the product. The reverse ideas will come flowing in.

Thinking out of Box- It might appear as a very strategy but indeed is a very difficult one.
Thinking patterns are easily influenced by work environments even the location and layout of
an office would influence the thinking process of an employee. To think out of usual, a varied
approach is required. Those who get that once, benefit the organisation with this rare skill.

Brainstorming Session- These brainstorming session plays a major role in collecting different
ideas and opinions. This simple brain activity can help in astonishing ways if conducted in
appropriate manner.

Express yourself through different media : We have multiple intelligences but somehow, when
faced with workplace challenges, we just tend to use our verbal reasoning ability. There are
several ways one can express the challenge like Clay, music, word association games, paint.
Different expression might spark off different thought patterns. And these new thought
patterns may yield new ideas. Besides these, there are other tools to identify further ideas for
innovation such as Divergent tools-All the creativity tools focused on divergence try to generate

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

as many ideas as possible during a short time span, usually a few minutes during an idea
session.

Convergence tools- Convergence thinking tools are intended for a clear purpose: to help us to
organize, filter and select all the ideas generated during the divergence process. Mind maps are
usually a great way to organize ideas. We can use them to explore associations and divergences
between ideas, clustering all those concepts coming from ideation.

Organisation's current and future thinking and practice keep changing with innovation.
People's approach towards innovation changes with so many factors but primarily with time. In
21'st century people are more adaptive to the innovation practices and that are changing global
business environment. It is now expected that this change of attitude would be present in
future as well. Game-changing innovation transforms markets and even society. Therefore,
there is great need to promote creative thinking techniques to foster personal and team
innovation.

Easygoing with employees- A relaxed and flexible work environment increases your team's
productivity by letting ideas flow. Encourage an atmosphere where the boss is more likely to
make you a coffee than expect you to make them one.

Rewarding for Innovations- Employers can always boost the confidence of employees by giving
them certificates or other awards in order to appreciate their efforts towards innovation. This
would encourage the employees to actively initiate creative practices at work. Financial awards
are also distributed by many companies in forms of incentives or bonuses.

Hiring for culture-Having a team that shares one vision and works together helps the
organisation run smoothly. Encourage different perspectives -- it will help your company stay
the curve.

Encourage diversity- Put together a team with different backgrounds, passions, and
capabilities. Having a group with a diverse set of ideas and problem-solving approaches helps
push your product forward. To create a positive atmosphere some of the enablers that can help
are:

Belief in yourself: Believe that you are creative, believe that ideas will come to you; positive
reinforcement helps you perform better.

Creative loafing time: Nap, go for a walk, listen to music, play with your child, take a break from
formal idea-generating. Mind needs the rest and will often come up with connections precisely
when it isn't trying to make them.

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

Conclusion
In a nutshell, creativity is not a matter of genius or lucky Lightbulb moments, but something
that everyone can achieve with the help of proper tools. It was concluded the need of
generating new ideas is inevitable as it ranges of techniques and tools to identify further ideas
for innovation. Moreover, this innovation process is not a linear path. We can go through the
divergence and convergence process as much as we need, looking for new and potentially
feasible ideas.

Report 2
Implementing New Ideas:
Implementing new ideas: Implementation and putting into practice the new ideas, innovations
and creative thinking are very important, otherwise without putting it practices these ideas are
of no use. Organizations that do not follow the new ideas and thinking of their employees are
considered to be following the old traditional ways. A change once implemented will always
bring good results. On contrary if the company is resilient to change, it doesn't succeed.
Sociologist Karl Weick described this phenomenon as the "enactment of limitations," the
passivity of managers in accepting the limits of their own private boxes. Following are the four
steps that can be used to implement new innovative ideas at work.

Innovation process
There are four steps in innovation process

 Ideas and innovation

 Incubation
 Implementation
 Exit or sustain

Ideas and Innovation: The first step in any innovation process is to generate ideas. No idea is a
silly idea and it is critical that as many people as possible engage — which means gathering
ideas both internally and externally.

Incubation: The next step is to incubate the best ideas. One way to do this is to develop a
concept paper consult stakeholder. Incubation could just be further theoretical development,
or it could move into piloting or an initial roll-out of the idea. Do collaborate with others but be

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

strong enough to roll out the best ideas and test them yourself, see what works and what
doesn't and agree a clear focus.

Implementation: Once you have incubated your best ideas, it is time to focus on an issue, a
solution, or a set of sensible parameters and implement your idea fully. The implementation
can use the following steps as well.

Exit or sustain: The final step in any innovation process is choosing to either exit or sustain the
project. The innovation can't go on for ever! I recommend either developing a plan for
transition to exit or stabilising the idea, so it becomes embedded in the day-to-day working of
the charity along with the other services that you already deliver.

There are also long-term implications to keep in mind. If the project can be sustained, it is
important to think about long-term ownership, whereas if you decide to exit then there will be
lessons to learn and transfer to future innovations.

Don't forget that, even if the project becomes self-sustaining, at some point you will need to
send it back through the innovation process to check that it is still relevant, and perhaps make
plans to adapt or replace it altogether. In these circumstances, the innovation process is very
much an iterative one.

Share your business idea

Once you have a business idea in place and the necessary research material, pick a few
customers or industry colleagues, may be from your family and peer group or a reference to
share your ideas. Allow questions and healthy criticism to evaluate the credibility and potential
of your idea.

Find a mentor

It is always good to have a mentor when starting up. A mentor, who guides you, supports you,
be unbiased in his opinions and connects you to the right set of people.

Make a business plan

Making a business plan is critical — concept, financials, requirements and strategies should be
penned down in detail. While working on getting the business up and running, it is important
not to lose focus and pivot away from the plan.

Understand your market needs & adapt to change

Doing a thorough market research of your target audience, demography, buying pattern, micro and
macro factors that could affect your business goes a long way in getting you sales because you have

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

already tested the viability of your product/ service. Use free resources online to reach out to customers
Using resources online such as free listings, online directories, and social media to showcase your work
can help save money and time in gaining your first few customers.

Report 3
Leadership is always important for an organizational creativity and plays a vital role. So,
leadership style has a direct impact on innovation in an organization. Transformational
leadership was introduced by Burns in 1979 and further developed by Bass in 1985.
Transformational leadership has generally been understood as a further development of
charismatic leadership. Some studies use the two concepts interchangeably. In 1989, Yuki sees
the main motivation of transformational leadership research in the conceptualization of an
appropriate style to transform organizations. In innovation and creativity, transformational
leadership is considered the most active research leadership style.

Importance of transformational leadership style: In innovation term, research also offers

various insights into the effects of transformational style. they are very same to insights into
charismatic leadership since transformational leadership also improve self-efficiency, raises
intrinsic motivation, and contributes employees empowerment; influences followers attitudes
and create an overall positive culture and raise performance expectations, transform their
personal values and self-confidence, and moved them to the higher needs and aspirations.

Transformational leadership is a Leadership style that can inspire positive changes in those who
follow. Transformational leaders are generally energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate. Not only
are these leaders concerned and involved in the process; they are also focused on helping every
member of group succeed as well.

The researchers discovered that employees who identified a higher level of transformational
leadership in their employers also had higher reported levels of well-being. The effect stayed
significant even after researchers controlled for factors that are linked to well-being such as job
strain, education, and age.

Incident Emotions Reaction Effect on Future Plan

experienced workplace
An incident It was very Initially I was Workplace for In future, no
happened when horrible shocked but some time was one were
a floor staff was situation as when later on I clear and then allowed to
operating a someone life discussed with after a break operate any

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

machine for was on risk. my manager everyone was machine

which he wasn’t Everyone was and he resolve alright. without proper
trained. shocked. the issue nicely. training.

After joining the I initially

team, the issue I contacted my This team meeting
have noticed Ignoring by the manager, a clear all our In future, it will
was the lack of team member, I team meeting misunderstanding. be my first
communication felt lost interest happened. priority to
between team in my position. introduce
members. myself to all my
team member,
so that such
type of unhappy
environment
shouldn’t be
created.

References:

Cherry, K. (2019, May 06). How Do Transformational Leaders Inspire and Motivate Followers?
Retrieved June 20, 2019, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-transformational-
leadership-2795313

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput

BSBINN801— Lead innovative thinking and practice

Transformational Leadership: Becoming an Inspirational Leader. (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2019,
from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/transformational-leadership.htm

Bediako, S. (2013, October 01). Four steps to turn your innovative ideas into reality. Retrieved
June 20, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-
network/2013/oct/01/charities-voluntary-innovation-ideas-strategy

(n.d.). Retrieved June 20, 2019, from

https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/implementation-theres-more-to-innovation-than-
great-ideas/

Grant, A., & Grant, A. (2015, April 17). 4 Strategies For Introducing New Ideas At Work.
Retrieved June 21, 2019, from https://www.fastcompany.com/3045058/4-strategies-for-
introducing-new-ideas-at-work

Golden, W. (2007, March 01). Innovation: How to Implement New Ideas. Retrieved June 21,
2019, from https://www.cio.com/article/2442509/innovation--how-to-implement-new-
ideas.html

ATIF ALI (TS119) Trainer: Poonam Rajput