Creating positive change in a business requires outstanding leadership and deliberate planning and execution. You can determine how to implement that change by looking at your team. After all, transformation is all about people. It takes human resources to plan and execute a strategy and usually it is those same humans who will be impacted by it. When your employees invest themselves in a successful outcome they are more likely to be paramount in planning and execution.

The untapped potential of any company is only limited by the creativity of the individuals in it. When a business invests in experimentation, that investment inspires employees’ creativity and initiative and brings significant and rewarding change. To affect positive change, you must demonstrate an interest in your team members and what they each bring to the table. The more open you are to other people and their ideas, the more innovative your team becomes.

Start by identifying your primary goal, then experiment with small changes you and your team can make in order to reach it. Evaluate the services and products that warrant your resources and invest your energy and focus on your greatest opportunities to increase revenue and profit.

Here are nine ways you can promote creativity and experimentation to bring positive change to your business.

Encourage your employees to share their ideas

Make sure your employees feel included in the process of change by welcoming their ideas and creative solutions. Create a supportive atmosphere in which people feel free to express their ideas without the risk of criticism or ridicule. Stress that employees at all levels of the business share responsibility for innovation, so everybody feels involved in taking the business forward. The fewer the layers of management or decision making in your company, the more people feel their ideas matter.

Make time for new ideas

Allocate time for thinking creatively. For example, you can organise regular workshops or team away days for brainstorming new ideas.

Make your goals for change clear, so people know where to start with their ideas

If your employees understand the end goal and how you want to transform the business, they will likely be more focused on helping you achieve it. People drive change, no one person can do it alone.

Test new ideas in small, controlled environments

Think of it as a science experiment. Analyse and document every change you make and evaluate the benefits of specific changes concerning your main goal. By doing this, you can see your ideas in action and determine if they are worth implementing on a large scale.

Devote time and resources to experimentation

If you want to make a change in your company, you have to dedicate time and resources to experimentation. The more significant the change, the bigger the effort it requires.

Identify the small changes that can result in significant gains

Sometimes, small changes, which might not seem significant individually, can collectively push forward massive progress in your company. Make sure you take the time to recognise their success and keep in mind that some experimentation can be small-scale but with a strategic impact.

Tolerate mistakes

A certain amount of risk-taking is inevitable with creative thinking. Allow people to learn from their mistakes and don’t penalise those whose ideas don’t work out.

Create incentives

Reward innovation and celebrate success. Appropriate incentives can play a significant role in encouraging employees to think creatively.

Document everything so you can replicate what worked and avoid what didn’t

Document each experiment so that your team can easily replicate it if it’s successful. Doing so makes it easier to facilitate a lasting change, especially if a particular process has detailed instructions. Change is most straightforward when you’ve created replicable systems.

Creativity and experimentation are most effective when shaped into tools that actively generate solutions. By creating an environment that nurtures strategic experimentation, you allow everyone to contribute to change, which invites new ideas and perspectives that you may not have considered before. Investing the time and resources you need to develop these ideas into relevant procedures and systems can have a substantial effect on your company’s direction and profits.

Your company is always changing and evolving. Encouraging experimentation is a necessary part of being successful and adaptable. Taking these steps to promote change can allow you to focus on your company’s future growth and the values and ideas you want to be central to this transformation.