Innovation

As someone with the need for INNOVATION, you might also see yourself defined by a need for creativity or originality. As INNOVATION is one of two motives in the Stimulation Domain (alongside VARIETY), this motive will drive you to perform best in situations that actively engage your interest, enthusiasm, and curiosity. The INNOVATION motive draws on an intrinsic need to develop, explore, and stretch your mind. You derive fulfillment from getting to experiment and try new things, and your wellbeing can suffer in purely conservative or close-minded environments. You thrive when your workplace sees failure and mistakes as rungs on the ladder to success, rather than as barriers. Left uninhibited, you are likely to resist conformity and complacency in favor of growth and change. For this reason, you may have a higher threshold for risk-taking and for pushing boundaries. Your unique outlook inspires you to take chances. You seek to improve your world, trusting your intuition to come up with the ideas to do it. You like to create, not just implement. You do your best work, and feel the most satisfied, when those you work with appreciate the fresh thinking, creativity and resourcefulness you bring to the table.

 You feel this motive being met when…

+ You are encouraged to explore and express ideas, and you can see your personal process having a positive impact.

+ You consistently feel like your ideas are welcomed and heard, even if they are not always the “right” idea, the ultimate solution, or executed to your vision.

+ Your work is interesting, and it allows you to flex creative and/or cognitive muscles.

+ Your workplace welcomes experimental thinking and has a healthy, non-toxic relationship with failure.

 This motive is at risk when…

– You feel your creativity (or desire for novel ways of thinking) is stifled in your workplace.

– You often feel like your ideas are undervalued or suppressed/rejected.

 – You’re apprehensive about challenging existing ideas or your organization’s usual way of doing things.

– Your work has become boring to you, and you are running out of factors you feel are in your power to change.

A Work Wellness Check-In for INNOVATION

1. Do I feel stimulated at my job, or am I frequently bored? If I’m bored, do I understand why?
2. When I try to come up with fresh ideas at work, are my ideas encouraged?
3. Do I work with people who are resistant to trying new things, or are my leaders/colleagues/clients open-minded?
4. When was the last time I came up with an idea at work that I really liked? Did other people like it? Were we able to execute it?
5. Do I feel the way I function and problem-solve adds value to my company, to our product, or to client/customer experiences?
6. Do my role and responsibilities fit well with my skills and the way that I operate?

7. Would I like to contribute outside of my usual responsibilities? If so, what opportunities can I pursue? What conversations would I need to start to do so?
8. Does my company only reward successes, or does it also welcome and champion productive failures? Do I feel as if there’s room to try new things at work, even if I can’t predict the outcome?
9. Do I feel I can challenge, debate, and share opinions with others at work? If I can’t, how does that impact the ability for myself or our team to innovate and create in original ways?

10. What is my own relationship with failure? Does fear of failure stop me from taking necessary risks and being as creative and inventive at my job as I would like? How can I seek out ways to develop an ideal mindset around failure that serves me? 
11. What does the desire for INNOVATION look like for me personally? Would I call it INNOVATION, or would I call it something else (creativity, vision, originality, etc.)? To what degree do I feel I get to satisfy my personal desire for this motive currently?
12. How much space have I made for INNOVATION or creativity in the rest of my life?
13. If I already understand how I develop and nourish INNOVATION or creativity in my personal life, can I use that understanding at work? 
14. Do any of my work peers share this motive? Do we collaborate and/or encourage each other? Could we?
15. Do people I work tend to resist change because “this is how things have always been done?” Or are they open to trying new and potentially improved ways of doing things?