Bobbi Newman, a.k.a. Librarian by Day, has compiled some quotes that illustrate the best way for a group to innovate:  find people who are inspired to be creative and let them have the room to create their inspirations.

Want Innovation?  Get Out of the Way

The one thing I would add would be this:

Other people in the group, including the leaders, need to become involved once the innovation becomes part of the group’s operations.  Not only does this allow for others to know how the innovative whachamacalit works, but it gives the group as a whole a chance to add their ideas for improving it.  Nothing is ever as good as it could be, and as long as it innovation isn’t subjected to “death by committee”, a good group can make a good innovation even better.

Want to Innovate? Stop Working So Hard is a post on Librarian by Day by Bobbi Newman that reminds us that the ideas most likely to transform the way we work tend to come at moments of relaxation.

Not convinced?  Check out the linked articles and video (thought he New Yorker article requires you to be a subscriber) for more in-depth persuasion.

This isn’t a call to slack, but an emphasis on prioritizing your downtime, and to recognize when an idea has that extra something to make your library world that much better.  How much time can you save by making changes to your work flow?  What activities and results should be priorities?  Can you achieve more with less effort?

Probably!