Individual creativity should be rewarded

The climate in many Indian companies is one of maintaining the status quo, where the management is more likely to opt for minor changes than trying to achieve dramatic breakthroughs. An individual rarely crosses the invisible borderline of what is widely accepted practice. To break this self-imposed barrier, it is essential for companies to publicly reward individual creativity, since rewards nurture creativity by affirming its value to the organization. Employees should be given innovation role-models in order to convey the importance of innovation to them. Even when an innovation fails, the innovator should not be punished for taking the risk. In fact, his initiative should be rewarded.