How can you encourage Thought Leaders to take risks when solving problems?

Encourage thought leaders to take risks by fostering innovation, providing autonomy and support, recognizing and rewarding efforts, promoting experimentation, facilitating collaboration, leading by example, celebrating learning, and establishing clear goals.

We may assume we know what the problem we are trying to solve is. That isn't the same as defining it. Push yourself to be precise and specific with your problem definition. Often, through being disciplined about defining the problem, you will find that it is not quite what you set out to do, but even more exciting!

Clearly defining the problem sets the foundation for encouraging thought leaders to take risks by providing clarity and direction. When individuals engage in problem-solving tasks, brain regions associated with cognitive control and decision-making, such as the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, exhibit heightened activity, enabling focused attention and strategic planning. Utilise the Problem Framing or Problem Reframing to articulate the problem statement from different perspectives and uncover hidden opportunities for risk-taking and innovation. By understanding the challenge at hand from various angles, identify potential areas for exploration and innovation to take calculated risks and pursue creative solutions.

Encourage thought leaders to have multiple alternatives to solve a problem Model risk-taking behavior -Leaders willing to take risks are likelier to have staff ready to do the same . This means being open to new ideas, even if they seem unconventional. Be supportive Celebrate success Focus on the future- when you give feedback, focus on the future. This means discussing how the person can improve their approach rather than dwelling on the past.

Encouraging thought leaders to explore multiple solutions fosters a culture of experimentation providing opportunities for breakthrough ideas. When individuals engage in divergent thinking to generate multiple solutions, brain regions associated with creativity and idea generation, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, exhibit increased activity, facilitating the exploration of novel concepts. Apply Divergent Thinking techniques, such as Brainstorming or Mind Mapping, to encourage the generation of a wide range of potential solutions without premature judgment. By embracing divergent thinking and considering multiple perspectives, uncover innovative approaches that challenge the status quo and inspire risk-taking.

All influential and successful thought leaders who are worth listening to have failed, have been rejected, and have faced setbacks. Failure means you push yourself, you try new things, and you can take risks. The lessons from failure are priceless, and should be shared far and wide as part of your thought leadership!

Embracing failures as valuable learning opportunities encourages thought leaders to take risks by reframing setbacks towards growth and innovation. When individuals adopt a growth mindset brain regions associated with resilience and adaptive learning, such as the hippocampus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, exhibit enhanced activation, facilitating cognitive flexibility and risk-taking behavior. Implement the Fail-Fast, Fail-Better approach, where rapid experimentation and iterative learning from failures lead to accelerated innovation. Adopt a growth mindset and view failures as opportunities for learning. By embracing setbacks and extracting valuable insights cultivate resilience and take calculated risks for innovative solutions.

Ask for feedback, but also LISTEN to feedback even if it isn't explicitly given to you. When people are super engaged with something you said or wrote, you should take it as feedback that there is something there you should explore and unpack further. The opposite is also a form of feedback - when people don't respond to something, when there is silence in the proverbial room. That means that you should examine why people aren't responding. Feedback to a thought leader is the best gift there is.

Encouraging thought leaders to take calculated risks involves assessing potential outcomes, weighing benefits against consequences, and making informed decisions. When individuals engage in risk assessment and decision-making processes, brain regions associated with risk evaluation and reward anticipation, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and striatum, exhibit coordinated activity. Apply Risk Management strategies, such as Cost-Benefit Analysis or Scenario Planning, to evaluate the potential risks and rewards associated with different courses of action. Carefully assess potential risks and rewards associated with each solution by conducting a thorough cost-benefit analysis.

Inspire others, and give credit to others! When you adopt someone else's thought leadership to build and expand on it, make sure you are attributing the original idea to them. Being inspirational is like being a role model, we don't get to decide that we are inspirational or role models, it's what other people decide we are. By demonstrating that in your thought leadership, you are true to your values and hold yourself to a higher standard. you will inspire others.

You cannot be the solution on your own! Build up and inspire those around you to help and join in. By evangelizing your efforts, more supporters will adopt your ideas, echoing and amplifying your impact. Encourage others and be inspirational!

This can be done with implementation of robust lesson learned program. Maintain an improvement log book. Learn from mistakes, failures and near misses.