For eleven years the Chicago Innovation Awards have been celebrating the creative spirit of Chicago by recognizing and honoring innovative new local products and services. So it came as no surprise that at last Thursday's Past Winners Showcase at Red Frog Events, we were surrounded by some of the greatest minds in the city. The panel discussion included some of the most successful Chicago Innovation Award winners along with a few special guests. The focus of the night was on how to create and lead a culture of innovation.
Below are eleven tips from the panel of innovation experts:
1. Create the right environment
Innovators are made, not born and an environment of shared leadership that encourages inclusiveness and collaboration helps to stimulate innovation. “It starts with a small team of people with common characteristics: a passion for what their customers need, the ability to understand that need and solve it. They must truly have a desire to make an impact and do something better and different,” said Tom Kuczmarkski, co-founder of the Chicago Innovation Awards.
2. Have a desire to change the world
Entrepreneurs get involved with new companies because they want to change the world. “The people that came to work with me had to leave big, safe jobs with big companies. They left because they had a vision of what we were going to do and how we were going to make a difference in the world," said Jeffrey S. Aronin, CEO of Paragon Pharmaceuticals.
3. Celebrate everything, big and small
“A key element of building innovation at our company is that people feel like they are winning. We celebrate everything—we don’t wait for the big things, we celebrate the little things and they carry over,” said Mark O’Connell, President and CEO of SAVO.
4. Stimulate innovation with purpose and profit
Creating a rewarding environment where employees have a purpose and a profit will stimulate innovation. “People need to feel like they are making a difference. I give everyone who works for me a little bit of equity so they own it and enjoy what they are doing," said Aronin.
