Your team is stuck in a rut. How can you help them break out of it?

You know that feeling when your team is stuck in a rut. The same ideas, the same problems, the same solutions. Nothing seems to spark creativity or innovation. You want to help them break out of it, but how? Here are some tips to inspire your team to think differently and generate new possibilities.

Find expert answers in this collaborative article

Selected by the community from 6 contributions. Learn more

1 Change the perspective

Sometimes, the best way to get out of a rut is to look at the situation from a different angle. Ask your team to imagine how someone else would approach the challenge, such as a customer, a competitor, a partner, or even a fictional character. What would they do differently? What would they value or prioritize? How would they communicate or collaborate? This exercise can help your team see new opportunities, empathize with different stakeholders, and challenge their assumptions.

Add your perspective

Ibrahim Diab

PhD Business Management | Business Development Director | Six Sigma | PMI | PHR | TOT | Speaker at ModumUP | Expert at Global Gate
Report contribution
Encourage team members to look at the problem from different angles. Host brainstorming sessions where everyone shares their unique viewpoints. Introduce new methods or tools to tackle challenges from fresh perspectives.

Like
Nanda Nogueira

I help entrepreneurs and executives manage companies and teams in contexts of uncertainty and improve their results.
Report contribution
É necessário criar uma cultura voltada para resolver resultados, e principalmente Autonomia e AutoResponsabilidade para fazer a equipe se motivar, otimizar o que está lento/ não funciona e impulsionar performance e resultados. Os profissionais precisam ser viciados em Resolver de Problemas, serem Proativos e adorarem levantar e testar novas possibilidades e perspectivas para sair da situação atual para o resultado pretendido.

Translated

Like

2 Experiment with constraints

Another way to stimulate innovation is to introduce some constraints to your team's work. Constraints can force your team to think more creatively and resourcefully, and to find new ways to overcome limitations. For example, you can ask your team to come up with ideas that fit a certain budget, time frame, or target group. Or you can ask them to use a specific tool, material, or method. Or you can ask them to follow or break a certain rule, norm, or trend. Constraints can help your team discover new possibilities and test their assumptions.

Add your perspective

Ibrahim Diab

PhD Business Management | Business Development Director | Six Sigma | PMI | PHR | TOT | Speaker at ModumUP | Expert at Global Gate
Report contribution
Limit resources or timeframes to encourage innovative problem-solving. Implement new guidelines or rules to spark creativity. Emphasize the importance of working within constraints to foster ingenuity and resourcefulness.

Like

3 Learn from others

A third way to help your team break out of a rut is to expose them to new sources of inspiration and learning. You can encourage your team to explore other domains, industries, or cultures, and to look for ideas, trends, or best practices that they can adapt or apply to their own context. You can also invite external experts, mentors, or peers to share their insights, feedback, or experiences with your team. Learning from others can help your team broaden their horizons, gain new perspectives, and find new connections.

Add your perspective

Ibrahim Diab

PhD Business Management | Business Development Director | Six Sigma | PMI | PHR | TOT | Speaker at ModumUP | Expert at Global Gate
Report contribution
Arrange knowledge-sharing sessions where team members can exchange ideas and experiences. Foster a culture of openness and collaboration, encouraging individuals to seek insights from external sources. Organize visits to other teams or organizations to observe different approaches to similar problems.

Like

4 Play with scenarios

A fourth way to foster innovation is to ask your team to play with different scenarios and imagine how they would affect their work. You can ask your team to envision how their challenge or solution would change in different situations, such as a crisis, a boom, a pandemic, or a revolution. You can also ask them to anticipate how their challenge or solution would evolve in the future, such as in five, ten, or twenty years. Playing with scenarios can help your team anticipate risks, opportunities, and changes, and to think more strategically and creatively.

Add your perspective

5 Celebrate failures

A fifth way to help your team get out of a rut is to celebrate failures as opportunities for learning and improvement. You can create a culture of experimentation and feedback, where your team is encouraged to try new things, share their results, and learn from their mistakes. You can also acknowledge and reward your team for their efforts, not just their outcomes, and for their willingness to take risks, not just their achievements. Celebrating failures can help your team overcome fear, embrace uncertainty, and grow from challenges.

Add your perspective

Nanda Nogueira

I help entrepreneurs and executives manage companies and teams in contexts of uncertainty and improve their results.
Report contribution
A Gestão Empresarial atual tem ficado cada vez mais complexa e com intensas transformações assim como o mercado e a sociedade. É essencial que os líderes e gestores permitam que suas equipes testem, validem novas formas de resolver os problemas atuais, corriqueiros - que travam as suas produtividades e os os seus resultados. E comemorem o que vier de resultados, afinal testar tem 2 consequências: dar certo ou dar errado. Da mesma forma que focamos e celebramos as vitórias, bons resultados, devemos levantar e analisar os fracassos e valorizar os aprendizados conquistados, porque mostra que todos estão no mesmo barco e juntos nessa jornada de inovar na gestão.

Translated

Like

6 Have fun

A sixth and final way to inspire your team is to have fun. Fun can boost your team's morale, motivation, and engagement, and can also stimulate their creativity, curiosity, and collaboration. You can inject some fun into your team's work by introducing some games, puzzles, or challenges, or by organizing some social or recreational activities. You can also encourage your team to express their personality, humor, and passion, and to enjoy the process, not just the result. Having fun can help your team relax, bond, and innovate.

Add your perspective

Spiro Comitis

On a mission to build the world's most creative management consultancy
Report contribution
An amazing tool for getting out of a rut is to inject some "play". If you want a different outcome it helps to use a different process and that is exactly what play does. Play feels inviting and so broadens perspective and thinking. It creates agency so teams feel more in control and most importantly, it's joyful. That also means you need to create the right conditions for play. A space where, when you enter, the rules are different to the outside world. In the environment you can dream and create a different future. Don't make it shallow, and don't force it. You can't order people to play. Especially important is provide the psychological safety for everyone to have fun. It doesn't take a lot to start seeing new sparks.

Like

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Add your perspective

Your team is stuck in a rut. How can you help them break out of it?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Change the perspective

2 Experiment with constraints

3 Learn from others

4 Play with scenarios

5 Celebrate failures

6 Have fun

7 Here’s what else to consider

Business Innovation

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on Business Innovation

More relevant reading

Your team is stuck in a rut. How can you help them break out of it?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Change the perspective

2 Experiment with constraints

3 Learn from others

4 Play with scenarios

5 Celebrate failures

6 Have fun

7 Here’s what else to consider

Business Innovation

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

Explore Other Skills