Fiche pratique

Encourage your teams to break with convention

1/ RETHINK YOUR WORKING ENVIRONMENT REGULARLY

It is possible to offer talented rebels the inspiring and stimulating work environment they need to hatch ideas — and it doesn’t necessarily require heavy investment:

• Swap positions, tasks, and assignments regularly within your teams. If your employees are taking it too easy in their comfort zone, they won’t challenge anything.
• Put your workers in touch with unexpected sources of inspiration that are not directly related to your activities. The chef Massimo Bottura fills the kitchens (and restrooms!) of his restaurant with works of art to fuel the culinary creativity of his staff.
• Fight against routine in your team meetings: vary the format (the venue, length, number of participants, and speakers — think about inviting guests from outside). Find more engaging presentations than perpetually using PowerPoint.
• Urge your employees to broaden their horizons, take training programs, and resume their studies on topics that interest them, even if they have nothing to do with your core business, and don’t be afraid to “lose” them by giving them this freedom. Don’t look for a visible and immediate return on investment: it will be long-term.
• Regularly reevaluate your performance appraisal system and introduce new criteria. When Satya Nadella arrived at Microsoft, he incorporated criteria related to the ability to collaborate and work in a team.
• Design open environments and workplaces that encourage meetings and discussions between employees from different departments at all levels of the hierarchy. A good model: the buildings at Pixar.

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