If a business ceases to innovate, gradual failure comes along with it. Innovation is a trick in building a resilient organisation. Creating new ideas keep the business paralleled to the changes of time. What the world needs are spirited intellectuals who are not afraid to challenge the normal, the status quo. Creatives who possess intellectual courage are the ones who push to alter the face of the world by slowly forming a culture that spread like stains. 

If and only if, intellectual audacity halts, businesses will form a pattern of stagnant comfort. It will destroy creativity and kill innovation. It will be then a series of normalised and redundant schemes promoting boredom. 

Stagnation. The word itself connotes an alarming thought of not being able to move forward. If your business standstill throughout the test of time, it will gain vulnerability. It will not encompass contemporary challenges that make a dynamic organisation. Even the new waves of digital slang are continuously growing, so should your workplace culture.

Leadership is the key to pushing and maintaining intellectual bravery in your team’s culture. As a leader, it is your outright responsibility to define the culture of your team. It is the leader who sets the vibe, creates the pattern, and encourage innovations.

Overcoming Intellectual Stagnation 

Eliminate Fear

Open communication is vital in creating an environment where individuals are not afraid to share opinions, ideas, and thoughts. If you project fear amongst your team, they will censor themselves and resort to an eerie silence during the meeting. They will suppress every idea they will come up with and will go with what’s already held out to them. Eliminate fear but create boundaries to maintain respect. 

Promote Institutional Permission

New ideas can be raw and unpolished. Sometimes, the person to formulate it will be the last to realise potential risks or mistakes. Assigning a team to examine or evaluate new ideas will promote a working environment where everyone can give opinions without being judged or shut down. It will also keep the team intact while giving each one a chance to either create and evaluate. Rotating roles will also promote flexibility to every team member. They will gain experience and knowledge from the diverse roles they partake in. 

Let Them Go Beyond Their Expected Roles

Divergence can encourage and push team members to see things from different perspectives. Giving them the opportunity to venture out from their skills will promote a constructive difference in their well-being and skillsets. However, it is essential to ensure that such divergence is not destructive, but rather practical.  

Constructive Response to Negativity

Regardless of how bad the idea is or how disruptive the news your team might encounter, it is best to maintain positive communication and reaction. Overflowing negativity in one room can alter the mood and ambience in the workplace. Showing sincerity despite a bad idea or projecting positivity in the midst of a crisis will not lose track and understand that all of you are working towards one goal and that setbacks are normal. 

Reacting to Feedbacks

Rejecting feedback can be hard for both you and the person voicing out. It is vital to explain why you can’t go in that direction. Be more considerate of your response while showing appreciation for the effort. It will encourage them to keep voicing their opinions and not feel the need to retreat in secrecy. 

Do Not Just Hear, Listen!

Listening to your team members, acknowledging contributions, and taking into account what’s already been laid out is a sign of a considerate leader. Speaking first without listening will censor your team that will gradually lead to a team of only one member: YOU. 

Flaunting Vulnerability

Your team members do not expect you to be perfect, faultless, or even heartless. They understand you’re just another human with authority. Expressing genuine feelings in front of your team members will also encourage them to show their real selves. 

Psychological safety requires extensive emotional intelligence and the absence of ego. The leader’s job does not only limit to instilling vision and strategising, but it also extends to nourishing the emotional, psychological, and mental well-being of every team member to promote a culture that strikes intellectual courage.