Culture Insight 1: Bravely Explore and Innovate
This blog is part of a 2020 blog series on our company culture.
Exploration comes in many forms, like choosing the less-defined trail on a hike, putting the navigation system away and driving to see where the road takes you, or finally taking that creative writing class you always wanted to take. For a lot of people, exploration simply means taking the time to do something without knowing what the outcome will be.
Exploration can be a catalyst for change, for defying the status quo, or a method of growth and discovery. In consulting, it can bring lasting benefits to a company, its employees, and its clients when given the free reign to do so.
Exploration does come with risk, though. The unpredictability in outcome from a management and business perspective should be considered. Is it worth allowing an employee to take time away from their usual duties to explore something that could result in a dead end? What if this new out-of-the-box solution backfires into something we cannot recover from?
The truth is that innovation is often a culmination of failed attempts, but so often worth the risk. Albert Einstein said: “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” Without exploration, there can be no innovation. Allowing creativity to flourish in employees results in more passionate workers, and bold solutions that have been tried and tested through the acceptance of failure and the genius of creativity.
At Arc Aspicio, we welcome the opportunity for employees to explore without fear. We even offer exploration hours for employees to take time out of their workday to turn that daydream or vague idea developed during a happy hour into a concrete solution or new initiative.
Since the start of our exploration project in January 2018, our employees spent hours delving into subjects of interest, learning new skills, pitching new solutions to a complex problem they care about. The company has adopted many of these ideas and they have shaped our Strategy 2022. Our employees have used these hours to develop bold ideas that could take on major issues, such as human trafficking and immigration fraud.
Allowing time to run with a creative idea can result in a major opportunity down the road. As a cornerstone to our culture and mission statement, we support creativity and bold ideas and do not limit exploration.
