Innovating is like navigating a complex sea of inputs and ideas, turning data into direction, and seeking sunken treasure in the deep. Believe it or not, four little letters from the behavior science used to train dogs can actually help make everyone less seasick: LIMA. It stands for “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive.” In the ideation and innovation process, least intrusive might be something like everyone knowing they will be allowed to finish their sentence. Minimally aversive might be something like no one, ever, being told an idea is bad or wrong. So how do we make the leap from LIMA in dog training to LIMA in the innovation process…and still get wickedly-good ideas? 

In today’s wild business environment, everyone in an organization needs to feel at ease sharing their good, bad and ugly ideas. Yet, unchecked implicit biases freeze people out. It’s time to shift away from old-school lecture-based training techniques, and focus on experiential-learning and group problem-solving focused on putting the principles into immediate practice.

Brainstorming should be a fertile ground for limitless creativity and rapid innovation, but sadly not all brainstorms achieve this goal. All too often, the format of the session itself can inadvertently stifle participation, favor certain personality styles over others, and yield uninspired ideas. Here are five types of brainstorms that fall short of their potential, typically resulting in a smaller number of underwhelming ideas.

Innovation flourishes in diverse environments where individuals feel empowered to share their ideas freely. Unfortunately, too often in group ideation settings, introverted, analytical and neurodivergent individuals feel overshadowed by their extroverted and expressive peers. Cultural differences often come into play as well, making some participants less comfortable publicly taking creative risks than others. Discover how to apply Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to help create accelerate innovation.