How to remain a free-thinker in the corporate world

“As learning professionals, it is essential to have a solid foundation of knowledge about the brain to effectively drive learning outcomes. From there, we can use practical tools to diagnose learners and apply that knowledge to raise organizational performance,” states Hermann-Nehdi, CEO of Hermann International. She discusses the need to use whole thinking in our quest for corporate success, and her ideas join those of other professionals, including Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, neuroanatomist and author of My Stroke of Insight.

Free-thinking is not the norm in the corporate world. However, without it new ideas may become obsolete, creating an assembly line of production, as opposed to an organization making unique contributions to the business at hand. Corporations like Apple®, Google™ and Zappos recognize the need for innovation and free-thinking in the corporate world and use it to their advantage, altering business strategy to embrace change in the world at large.

Key components for corporate innovation

• Improve Communication: In order to remain ahead of the game in today’s corporate world, you must be willing to listen to your audience and respond appropriately. It is important to take the time to understand consumers, tailoring products and services directly to them. Employees on the front lines of your business are able to help you define your customers. Business corporation leaders need to communicate effectively with all of their employees, encouraging them to express ideas, partake in brainstorming sessions and respond to creative thinking openly.
• Develop Marketing: As ideas surface, marketing increases the potential of developing probable success stories for them. Marketers have keen insights into the psyche of consumers, testing their responses to certain stimuli and crafting messages that encourage increased public response. Developing central marketing departments, where employees can utilize their creative potential, enhances business operations dramatically.
• Increase Public Relations: Communication and marketing, while being strategically important for free-thinking corporate success, can be greatly expanded when messages are adequately relayed to the public. In today’s global world, corporations need to go big because business success depends on business exposure. Press releases, magazine interviews and partaking in public events promote corporate image and necessary public relations to entice positive perceptions about brand, company products and ideas.

Ways to increase creativity in business

• Build Corporate Morale: Numerous activities have been designed to increase corporate morale. Potlucks, acknowledging holidays and birthdays, and social gatherings after work hours are popular ways to add positive energy to the workplace. As important as these events may be, they pale in comparison to the idea of working for a company that makes valuable contributions to the community it serves.
• Promote Individual Value: Employees need to have a purpose and feel like they are contributing to a greater good when they go to work. Businesses that respect individuals as people first, and then as contributing employees, have less turnover than corporations that ignore employee individuality and are strictly task oriented.
• Change Attitudes: As corporate morale and individual employee value improve, attitudes throughout the company will change accordingly. People will enjoy going to work, sharing ideas and participating in company activities. They will respond to the positive work atmosphere, thereby increasing free-thinking in the corporate world.
• Reward Contributions: Dedicated workers deserve to be monetarily compensated for their efforts. Corporations can do this by recognizing and responding to the needs of their employees with specific programs designed to promote company values. Using direct and indirect compensation packages, businesses can reward employee contributions in a variety of ways.

Free-thinking in the corporate world is vital to the success of companies today. Corporate CEOs who promote innovative thinking and foster creativity are likely to maintain an edge with employees and consumers alike. As the focus of business shifts to whole mind thinking, communities will appreciate company contributions in their midst, fostering business development and success in the process.

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