Unique Practices to Foster Innovation: 18 Insights from Company Leaders
Innovation is the lifeblood of successful companies, and leaders are constantly seeking new ways to cultivate it. This article presents unique practices for fostering innovation, drawing from the experiences and insights of company leaders across various industries. From AI-driven challenges to psychological safety initiatives, these strategies offer fresh perspectives on creating an environment where creativity and forward-thinking can thrive.
- Empower Teams with AI Innovation Challenges
- Normalize Failure to Encourage Risk-Taking
- Simulate High-Pressure Scenarios for Breakthroughs
- Prioritize Problem-Solving Over Trendy Tools
- Structure Creativity with Thinking Frameworks
- Unblock Teams Quickly to Accelerate Experimentation
- Embrace Off-Hours Tinkering for Practical Solutions
- Create Incubation Labs for Idea Development
- Foster Cross-Departmental Collaboration for Insights
- Implement Weekly Show and Tell Sessions
- Test Ideas Through Small-Scale Experiments
- Use Whiteboards for Spontaneous Ideation
- Surface Uncertainties to Reimagine Problems
- Establish Psychological Safety via Open Communication
- Introduce Playtime for Adult Innovation
- Build Diverse Teams to Accelerate Innovation
- Empower Employees to Lead Their Ideas
- Recruit and Retain Based on Company Values
Empower Teams with AI Innovation Challenges
I’ve always believed that innovation doesn’t have to come from the top down; it thrives when everyone feels empowered to share ideas. That’s why one of our most impactful practices for fostering creativity has been launching an ongoing internal challenge: “How can we use AI to make our everyday work easier, smarter, or faster?”
Every quarter, we invite team members across all departments, whether they’re in operations, marketing, or customer service, to submit practical ideas for how we could use AI to improve a specific workflow. These ideas can be big or small, technical or simple. The goal is to think beyond the buzzwords and ask: How can AI actually help me today?
Some of our best improvements have come from these submissions. For example, one loan officer suggested using a GPT-powered assistant to auto-draft follow-up emails based on client stage. Another team member proposed using AI to analyze client feedback surveys for recurring themes, helping us spot trends faster.
Here’s the fun part: The top three ideas each quarter receive a prize, and the winning idea gets implemented with credit given to its creator. We also track the impact of each implemented idea, whether it saves time, improves accuracy, or boosts client satisfaction, and celebrate the results at our monthly team meeting.
This practice does more than generate smart solutions. It builds a culture of ownership, where everyone feels like they have a stake in shaping our future. It also helps us stay nimble and innovative in a competitive industry.
If you’re looking to encourage creative thinking in your own team, try framing innovation as a collective challenge. Ask specific questions, reward contributions, and, most importantly, follow through on the best ideas.
Samantha Shelton
Owner/Founder, Align Lending
Normalize Failure to Encourage Risk-Taking
We foster innovation by promoting a culture of continuous experimentation and psychological safety. One unique practice we’ve implemented is “Failure Fridays,” where teams briefly share a recent technical challenge or experimental feature that didn’t go as planned, focusing on lessons learned rather than blame. This creates a safe space for honest reflection, normalizes “failures” as part of the learning process, and actively encourages creative risk-taking. As a result, our teams are more willing to try unconventional solutions, brainstorm boldly, and apply new insights to client projects, directly benefiting our custom software development by driving more creative and efficient solutions.
Founder, Ronas IT
Simulate High-Pressure Scenarios for Breakthroughs
My approach to breaking the conventional ways of innovation is by introducing what I term as “pressure cooker sessions” every 30 days. My team does not have comfortable brainstorming rooms but real client budgets and operates under artificial time pressure. We take real campaigns and intentionally push them to worst-case scenarios, the same way that race cars are pushed during testing. The duration of each session is 90 minutes, and the teams switch between three different client challenges within 30 minutes.
This is the magic that happens when intelligent individuals are actually pressured without real repercussions. The process last month assisted us in identifying a bidding methodology that minimized the per-acquisition cost by 40% for our real estate clients. Conventional agencies are planning quarterly retreats or monthly meetings to plan innovation, but breakthrough ideas happen when your mind is under controlled stress. Racing has taught me that optimal performance occurs at the limit of comfort zones, and the same concept also changes the way teams address challenges in digital marketing.
Digital Marketing Consultant & Chief Executive Officer, The Ad Firm
Prioritize Problem-Solving Over Trendy Tools
Personally, I believe innovation for innovation’s sake is often a mistake. Being on the cutting edge only has value if the technology being adopted actually solves a real problem within your company. Too often, I see businesses chasing shiny new tools just to feel proactive and innovative, but if there’s no real pain point to address, what’s the end result? Usually, it’s wasted time, wasted money, and a frustrated team.
We take a more intentional approach to innovation. For us, that means encouraging our employees to act as critics first. We ask them to examine their workflows closely and identify the gaps, friction points, or bottlenecks that truly slow them down. Only once they’ve identified those challenges do we move on to evaluating innovative solutions. Starting this way — problems first, solutions second — keeps us from getting swept up in every passing trend.
The payoff is twofold. First, we avoid burnout by not constantly forcing people to adapt to tools that don’t actually improve their day-to-day work. Second, when we do introduce new solutions, they’re embraced, because our team already knows exactly why the tool is being implemented and what problem it will solve. The result is innovation with purpose.
President, Perpetual Talent Solutions
Structure Creativity with Thinking Frameworks
We’re a team mostly comprised of creatives, so for us, sometimes the challenge isn’t to spark that creativity, but rather to contain and shape it into something that will push us forward. It was challenging at first because, as the founder, you naturally want everyone to feel heard and consider everyone’s ideas, but that can quickly turn messy if you don’t know how to mediate.
What’s proven to be really helpful was implementing certain frameworks during our brainstorming sessions that keep us on track but also foster collaboration and bouncing off of each other’s ideas, which is when the real magic happens. We love to use de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats framework to balance discussions and overcome bias. It really helps because it pushes us to think outside the box and consider alternative angles, so we often end up with a much different idea than the one we first started with.
This way, we’ve found a way to balance free-flowing creativity and give it some structure, resulting in innovative, actionable ideas that move the whole team forward.
Founder, Lower Street
Unblock Teams Quickly to Accelerate Experimentation
If your team’s scared to look dumb in front of everyone in a meeting, they’ll mostly pitch safe, boring ideas. And “safe and boring” never changed a business. That’s why we don’t just clap for wins, we also praise the stuff we shut down.
Amy Edmondson’s research at Harvard proves it: people take bigger creative risks when they know even a “killed” idea won’t hurt their reputation.
So here’s what we do: every idea gets logged. If we decide not to chase it, we give the team a shoutout for having the courage to bring it to the table. When people realize they’ll be respected for trying, their status actually goes up when they pitch bold stuff. That builds resilience into the culture.
CEO, SmartenUp
Embrace Off-Hours Tinkering for Practical Solutions
Innovation doesn’t come from brainstorming sessions — it comes from removing friction. One unique practice we’ve implemented is treating “blocked” as the most important status. If someone can’t move forward, leadership’s job is to clear the obstacle within hours, not weeks. That bias toward unblocking creates a culture where people try things fast, because they know the system won’t punish them with dead ends.
We also use Discord like a virtual office, where teams can spin up ad-hoc “focus rooms” to collaborate without a meeting invite. That creates the same serendipity as walking into a conference room — except it scales globally. The combination of quick unblocking and lightweight collaboration means people feel free to test ideas in real time, instead of over-preparing for the “big reveal.”
Innovation, for us, isn’t about rituals. It’s about designing the environment so experiments happen by default.
Cofounder, DualEntry
Create Incubation Labs for Idea Development
As a small company, we often struggle to carve out time for innovation during the daily grind. The truth is, most of our creative breakthroughs happen outside of working hours — on weekends, when the pressure of routine lifts and the team feels free to brainstorm or experiment with new ideas. One example that came directly out of this “off-hours tinkering” is our content creation system: we transformed what used to be a manual, time-consuming process into an AI-agent powered mechanism built on Zapier and Notion. Now, instead of juggling endless drafts and calendars, our agents generate, organize, and schedule content across channels with minimal input from us. It’s not a traditional innovation program, but embracing this rhythm of spontaneous, side-project creativity has helped us build practical solutions that actually stick.
Founder & CMO, Maramio
Foster Cross-Departmental Collaboration for Insights
One unique practice I helped implement was an incubation lab that gave teams space to explore and incubate their ideas before pitching for funding. It created an environment where collaboration and experimentation were encouraged, and some of the company’s most profitable ideas were born there. Beyond innovation, the lab had a powerful effect on engagement because employees could see their creativity directly tied to the broader success of the company. By linking rewards to successful incubated ideas, we reinforced the message that innovation is not only welcomed but celebrated.
Chief People Officer
Implement Weekly Show and Tell Sessions
For us, creativity starts with a team from diverse backgrounds that brings unique ideas to the table, so we make it a point to actively encourage collaboration across departments and cultures. We implement monthly innovation sessions where team members from all areas come together to brainstorm challenges and possibilities. I think when you’re stuck working with just one department, you get this collective tunnel vision, and it becomes hard to think outside the box. However, bringing different people with different strengths together can really break this pattern and change the course moving forward. Plus, it helps strengthen the team bond and contributes to a better work atmosphere.
Managing Partner & CEO, PAJ GPS
Test Ideas Through Small-Scale Experiments
One of the unique practices we’ve built into our culture is “Show & Tell Fridays.” Each week, people from across teams like engineering, community, and ops share something they’ve been tinkering with, even if it’s not fully developed. We also run mini design thinking challenges so everyone can step outside their role and co-create solutions. It keeps us scrappy, cross-functional, and always experimenting.
Founder & CEO, Rise Data Labs
Use Whiteboards for Spontaneous Ideation
Big innovations are born from small bets. For us, fostering innovation within our culture isn’t about pouring resources into one grand idea, but about creating space for many small, low-risk experiments. Quick pilot projects let us test new products or ways of serving customers in a safe environment, see what works and what doesn’t, and refine from there. That mindset also keeps us from falling into the “new and improved” trap: within our culture, no idea moves forward until those small experiments prove customers actually want it.
Marketing Expert & Founder, BBSA
Surface Uncertainties to Reimagine Problems
Our team uses whiteboards in staff areas to display the weekly question while keeping the rest of the board blank. The whiteboard displays two types of questions which ask employees to share their thoughts about trying unusual spa treatments or improving the check-in process. People tend to come up with unexpected ideas when they don’t need to attend scheduled meetings to share their thoughts. The whiteboards have become the source of our most innovative add-ons and wellness snacks, which began as random notes.
The natural emergence of creative ideas becomes possible when people don’t face artificial constraints. Our organization creates physical and cultural environments that enable spontaneous idea generation from all staff members throughout the day.
Co-Founder, Oakwell Beer Spa
Establish Psychological Safety via Open Communication
Our team spends hours in the lab every day, so at this point, innovation for us is a disciplined mindset. It is rooted in scientific rigor and real-world impact. The one practice that has kept us true to this path is the simple act of embracing the unknown early and often. In every kind of innovation, there is always an unknown. It is new territory, after all. So we acknowledge and revere the unknown and even deliberately surface uncertainties and technical unknowns at the start of every project and meeting.
It’s a creative thinking exercise, one that invites everyone on board to wrestle openly with ambiguity. The more you do it, the more it forces you to reimagine what the problem and solution space can be.
CTO and Co-Founder, NEMIS Technologies
Introduce Playtime for Adult Innovation
We foster innovation and promote generally transparent communication by ensuring a culture of psychological safety, where everyone feels comfortable speaking up and sharing their thoughts openly. This means we always listen to, consider, and respect each other’s comments carefully and do not react harshly or judge someone by what they say. We believe some of the best ideas emerge when our minds are relaxed and comfortable, allowing us to be open to play and take on new endeavors. By fostering psychological safety in our company, we can ensure that this childlike play is encouraged and shared among all employees.
One unique practice we have implemented is a dedicated “Improvements and Business Ideas” Slack channel, where everyone is encouraged to post their ideas for improving our product or exploring new business areas, regardless of how absurd or far-fetched they may seem. This way, we give ourselves the chance to be transparent, see what others think about how we can improve, and have an open discussion on what makes sense and what doesn’t.
Founder, PayrollRabbit
Build Diverse Teams to Accelerate Innovation
Creating a company culture where people love to share new ideas is like making a classroom where every student feels safe to raise their hand.
Ensuring employees feel comfortable about experimenting and failing is critical. Imagine a teacher saying, “There are no silly questions.” I’d want my employees to feel like saying, “There are no silly ideas here!”
Encouraging people to step out of their comfort zone and try something new is necessary, regardless of the outcome. Like riding a bike for the first time, you don’t get angry when the person falls off; you encourage them! Organizations can host what I call “failure parties,” which are events where the mistakes that people made are celebrated.
One unique practice that really works:
This is similar to recess, but this time for adults to play with newly formed ideas.
Employees, every Friday at 12, have the right to leave all their mundane, boring work and spend the rest of the day working on anything that strikes their fancy. Such as, what if WhatsApp were purple instead of blue, or how to automate mundane tasks to the point where a robot does them.
This is amazing. They have the right to work with anyone, including people from other organizations. It’s the same as people from different grades at school collaborating on the same science project.
What’s even more cool is that if the ideas are really phenomenal, the organization would put the effort into producing them. You’d be surprised how the coolest inventions in the world came to be. They were once prototypes of ideas put to nurture during playtime.
This works because people get excited when they have the freedom to explore their own ideas, just like how you’re more creative during free play than during a strict lesson.
Director HR | Co-Founder, Quantum Jobs USA
Empower Employees to Lead Their Ideas
People are key to bringing innovation to any company. We hire a diverse team of chemists, chemical engineers, and commercial leaders who can bring complementary knowledge and skill sets, with a balanced experience in both industry and academia. More importantly, people in the leadership team offer in-depth knowledge and passion to encourage creative change as the business scales. This helps to promote an innovation culture that runs throughout the entire company, and also accelerates open innovation collaboration with external partners. Researchers are encouraged to have a well-balanced degree of freedom in their projects, allowing them to explore ideas independently, as well as collaboratively, which also helps to boost creativity in the organization.
Co-Founder and Ciio, OXCCU
Recruit and Retain Based on Company Values
Firstly, it is important to emphasize that we recruit, promote, and retain people based on their belief in and adherence to our company values. We view these values as contributing to how we differentiate ourselves in the marketplace.
We are a service business (recruitment), and two of our four company values are Service Excellence and Passion for Winning.
Striving for excellence in customer service is key to our future success and requires us to constantly seek feedback from clients and candidates. While this helps us improve our performance regarding the existing service and support we provide, it also requires us to think differently — to seek ways to innovate in the services we provide and the ways we deliver them.
Our passion for winning recognizes that we aim to be the best at what we do. We are driven to constantly improve how we perform, and one way we can achieve this is through innovation.
The most effective way we find to build innovation within our culture is to regularly question what we are doing. Directors ask their teams how they are improving and how they can improve what we are doing. Ideas are shared among all teams and discussed openly. The originator of ideas then gets to lead on their implementation once it’s agreed that we should move forward with them. This decentralized involvement enables our people to feel empowered to suggest and take forward their ideas, which reinforces a culture of innovation.
Marketing Director, Nigel Wright Group
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