Without being creative and different, a company cannot compete and survive in the business world today.

What’s new and unique about your company? What new marketing programs, products or merchandising methods has your company introduced in the past year? Is it being creative enough to attract customers and retain them? If nothing is different or innovative, it could be in for some difficult and troublesome days ahead.

Whether you are a grower, packer, shipper or retailer, you should always be different. Everyone is competing for a chunk of the consumers’ dollar, and consumers are often attracted to diverse and unique. 

Sadly, there are certain management leaders who are against anything new presented by an employee and never praise their work. Then there is the boss who takes credit for a new, creative idea an employee submits. That’s unprofessional egotistic management behavior. 

Many of us have gone through these experiences with “creativity killers” at one time or another. It’s discouraging and makes a person never want to present another idea. This is dangerous as companies need to keep moving forward in a fiercely competitive environment.

One of the excuses in shooting down new ideas is to blame it on the company budget. The ever-popular phrase, “It will cost too much, our budget won’t allow it,” has probably killed more good innovative ideas than we could possibly ever imagine.

I can still remember a unique maneuver our president once carried out at a managers meeting. He had a huge sign posted on the meeting room wall that stated, “Get Rid of the T.” Nobody could define what that meant until he stepped up to the podium. He repeated the words, “Get rid of the T by stop saying you can’t. Start saying you can.” 

That word “can’t” is very dangerous. It will wipe out all enthusiasm in people and crush their constructive motivational ideas instantly. You’ve heard it many times, “We can’t afford it, it can’t be done, we can’t get approval for it, we can’t phase it in, we can’t take the chance.”

If the only word company executives know is “can’t,” they may as well close shop and turn out the lights for good. “Can’t” will kill a business every time.

Management should take advantage of innovative ideas. There are many employees who have opinions from actual work experiences that can help companies, but they feel they will be ridiculed if they submit any. Therefore, all creative ideas become locked inside of them. It’s micromanaging the employees rather than building a foundation for the team.