Within organizations, certain departments are often labeled as the creative ones (marketing or R&D, for instance) while others are not (finance and IT).

In truth, creativity can be the hallmark of every department. And like any other skill, the process of tapping into creativity can be learned and honed.

Organizations that want better solutions encourage creativity at every level. In fact, a successful future depends on it. From new products to smarter accounting processes, creative ideas open the way to innovation, providing companies with unique competitive advantages.

To elicit the creative spirit within a workforce, leaders must actively nurture attitudes as well as aptitudes. Like scientists in a laboratory, they must create ideal conditions within the organization so that creativity can thrive. 

The best leaders have embraced several strategic principles to help cultivate workplace creativity in all its many forms, whether it be better decision-making, process improvements, or management innovations. Here are some key principles that smart, creative organizations understand and put into practice.  

• Welcome all ideas and spare the judgment. Any wild idea can hold the seed of a fruitful innovative solution. Leaders who ask for “good ideas” only (implicitly or explicitly) immediately censor the creative process. When workers think perfection is expected, they won’t consider any of their ideas worthy. Harvesting a wealth of ideas is the only way to yield a bumper crop of innovation possibilities. Encourage quantity over quality, and reserve judgment until later in the idea-evaluation process.
  
  
• Ban cynicism and drive out negativity. Attitudes within an organization can make or break creativity. Frustration and fear hinder the creative process and sap the motivation to try something new. Leaders should strive to promote an atmosphere of trust and respect so employees feel secure enough to explore and express new ideas.
  
  
• Develop fun, inspirational comfort zones. Creative organizations foster emotionally safe workplaces that encourage employees to generate “dumb” or “crazy” ideas. They offer environments that promote a playful state of awareness, a factor conducive to creativity. Humor is encouraged as it greases the wheels of creativity and defuses the “inner censor” in all of us.
  
  
• Encourage mistakes. Geniuses throughout history have had plenty of bad ideas and failures on their way to brilliant breakthroughs. In fact, research suggests that creative people make more mistakes than individuals who are less imaginative simply because they generate more ideas, both good and bad. Leaders can remove barriers by supporting experimentation, making it okay to have bad ideas, and being quick to admit their own mistakes.
  
  
• Stir the pot to get fresh perspectives. Organizations that want new ideas strive for a diversity of perspectives. They invite computer programmers to marketing brainstorm sessions and send customer service reps to finance meetings. By mixing up participants, teams benefit from outsider perspectives.
  
  
• Remove distractions and give it time. The brain is constantly working and ideas need time to incubate. It’s one reason good ideas often strike in the shower. Working under the gun with too many distractions can stifle creativity. Smart organizations ensure workers have enough time to engage with problems they are attempting to solve and allow them to focus their energies accordingly.
  
  
• Encourage collaboration, not competition. Creativity suffers in an overly competitive atmosphere. That’s because the creative process centers on the sharing of ideas. When people compete for recognition, they are less inclined to share. By contrast, when a team is in harmony, the “group IQ” is highest, according to researchers.

Smart leaders recognize this need for collaboration and work to promote teamwork. They foster creativity in each and every employee, because no one person has all the information needed to come up with the next big innovation.