Leadership

Archimedes’ Principle, the Growth of Civilization and Leadership Development

March 8, 2015

Can there really be a culture of innovation? We often associate the word “culture” with fixed systems and values. We think of it in terms of tradition rather than innovation. However, these two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. You can have a tradition that encourages free thought and new ideas. One of the main aims of leadership development is to create a freethinking tradition within your company.

If you look back at the history of civilization, you’ll find that the most successful ones were those which tried out many new things, experimenting continuously and encouraging the growth of arts and sciences. It’s only when a civilization becomes too rigid that it starts to fall. As a leader, how do you prevent this from happening in your team?

Encourage Quality

The final aim of every company is to make more money. So sales are important. However, the quality of your product also matters. The quality of work that your employees do makes a difference. It doesn’t matter whether that work is in the sales and marketing department or the HR department. You always know good quality when you see it.

Encourage your team members to be quality-oriented rather than quantity-oriented and you’ll find that they’ll come up with more ideas about improving the way the company works rather than just doing more of what’s required from them.

Encourage Time Outs

Do you remember the story of Archimedes who was doing his best to discover what is currently known as the Archimedes principle? He tried really hard to figure out this principle but was unable to do so. Instead of wasting more time, he decided to take a break and go for a bath. And as he was lying in the bathtub, feeling relaxed, the answer just popped into his head. That’s when he ran out into the street half-naked shouting “Eureka!” (I’ve got it).

The point of the story is that the answer sometimes comes to you during a time out. So it’s great to have hard-working team members who put in the hours necessary to make your business successful. However, you should also encourage those working with you to take time outs as and when needed. Encourage them to spend time with friends and family or just lounge in the break room if they’re tired. You’ll find that happy, relaxed employees come up with much better ideas than tired ones.