Over the past few years, the economy has forced many companies to play it safe and take few, if any, risks. If your company culture has become — or always has been — risk-averse, try doing the following three things to turn it around:
- Evaluate risk-taking. Take an honest look at your company or unit and assess whether people avoid risks. Utilize interviews, skip-level meetings, or anonymous surveys to gauge whether people feel anxious or hold back ideas.
- Make idea-sharing safe. Create a "safe space" where managers and employees can voice their concerns, feedback, and ideas — without fear of retribution.
- Experiment. Ask a team in a part of the company you want to grow to conduct a series of rapid-cycle experiments to test new ways of working. Make it explicit that failure is acceptable as long as learning comes
from it.
via web.hbr.org
