3 Tips for Reigniting Your Innovative Spirit

Often the longer we are in the world of the working adult we begin to see our sense of curiosity, experimentation, and joy in learning about our business dwindle. Why does this happen? Where does it go? And it isn’t someone else’s fault — we lose our spirit no one takes it away.

Here are 3 thought-starters for reigniting that spirit and finding joy in the work again:

1. It might be that we have lost sight of our mission and purpose be it personally or professionally:

A cause or purpose larger than ourselves pulls us forward. It ignites our desire to learn more. Sit down and think about what is my mission, the company mission, or department mission? Work to find alignment with your team and co-workers. Write it down and post it somewhere where you will see it every day.

2. It might be that as the world has become more complex we are intimidated:

We feel we don’t know how to explore. It’s true that the digital world is boundless and amazing. The good news is – the old ways you did things still work – talking to people, hands-on experiments – basically “playing with your challenge” still works great and many of us don’t do it anymore.

3. It could be an ego problem:

When we are young it is socially acceptable to say “I don’t know.” As we age and move up the corporate ladder our ego prevents us from admitting we need to learn something. The smartest people are always willing to admit they don’t know and they need to learn. Are you willing to tell someone, “I don’t know, and let’s research that?”