This month at The Talent Poole, I sat down with James Eid, the founder of Earth and Wheat, to find out how he managed to inspire and harness creativity within his company.
Innovation can be perceived as the result or application of artistic thinking. As leaders, therefore, we have a critical role to play, encouraging our team members to think artistically and therefore seek to improve frequently.
Eid agrees: “In my opinion, innovation is the key to success, whether it’s the progression of new products or the improvement of procedures. I believe that everyone has creativity in themselves and I consider my role to be to allow everyone to express themselves and share their concepts and opinions. The collision of wonderful minds is what leads to new and cutting-edge work tactics.
It is well documented that our minds are most creative and free when we are children. Those with young children will realize this when they find it difficult to stay awake with a child’s bright mind when playing or doing things. By the time we reach adulthood, most of us lose much of our ability to be truly creative, partly due to time and other pressures and partly because our brains become filled with regulations and barriers that help us navigate the complex world we live in.
Creative thinking, anything that most of us can turn on and off at will. Even the most artistic brains want to be given the right environment and placed in the right brain frame to allow their creativity to flourish. It can be difficult, for example, after a verbal exchange or assembly on facts and detailed analysis, to move without delay to the artistic mode.
We want to set aside time and create a break from our daily painting environment to lose mind of the main points and critical thinking. It can be helpful to leave the site to create a physical break from our routine.
When it comes to managing others, we want to give Americans the permission or confidence to be creative, offering them a space to think beyond their day-to-day work, and without worrying about criticism.
Being a young company, Eid has been able to integrate this into its philosophy and way of working.
“I like to inspire autonomy and freedom of discussion,” he said. “We organize workshops and forums with other stakeholders, which is a wonderful way to gain new knowledge and concepts. For example, we host an unnamed concept forum using sticky notes, just to generate as many concepts as possible. We have not evaluated any of the results at this stage. When we reconvened the organization to explore the valid concepts in more detail, we still did not identify the authors of the concepts. This allows other people to feel safe to provide their concepts.
Eid further explained the opportunities they create for concept generation: “We host what we call ‘blue sky sessions’ to inspire crazy concepts, and also the not-so-crazy ones!We will organize them gradually, but at least once. On top of that, we also meet every fortnight to update ideas, a much shorter cadence.
Of course, not all concepts are viable for a variety of reasons. Not all of them would be practical or aligned with the company’s strategy. Some might not possibly be financially viable, or the company might not have the capacity or resources to bring them to light. Therefore, careful evaluation is mandatory. But even at this point, Eid is careful not to simply dismiss concepts: “I think concepts want to be tested; We rarely have to take risks to let a concept evolve. “A strange concept may be evolving, but you’ll never know until you try it.
That said, it is desirable that there be a well-defined procedure for determining when a concept is unlikely to succeed and when it is time to pull the plug. This can be a tricky solution if significant funds, time, and effort have already been invested. in coming up with a new concept, especially if other people are too committed to your success.
Eid recalled this situation: “Two years ago, we had to create a more complicated website. It was about opting for new developers; It was a colossal project. Unfortunately, the developers disappointed us and we were forced to cancel it and start getting started. “above.
“Knowing when to prevent is important. From the start of a project, we set KPIs [key performance indicators] and figure out how we’ll track progress without it impacting project execution too much.
Inevitably, when new products or new operating strategies are introduced, there will be resistance. Market disruption requires courage and conviction. Even within the family business, Eid first encountered reluctance on the part of the company. Questions arose as to whether this was the right strategy, and considerations were expressed that consumers might downgrade to wobbly bread and thus damage the core business. Selling wobbly bread at the same value as its popular levels has alleviated this concern.
Some concepts may not be immediately understood or accepted, either through those who have to make the concept a truth or through consumers, as Eid pointed out: “One of our biggest challenges, from the beginning, has been getting consumers to make wobbly bread a thing. Most people are not aware of the potential waste due to a product that does not meet specifications. We also won some initial court cases and comments on why we were touting our wobbly bread at the same value as ours. Premium breads. We had to tell consumers that one of the benefits is that because we sell directly to them, the product is fresher and therefore has a longer shelf life.
Eid and his team must have sold the concept car well; when Earth and Wheat launched, they reached their annual goal of online subscribers in just 4 weeks!
Harnessing creativity is rarely about coming up with a single concept and then sitting back and watching it come to fruition. It’s an ongoing process where everyone in the company is constantly encouraged to come up with new concepts and work tactics, whether they’re radical. or incremental. The danger of this technique can be that a company can easily lose focus on what it has already succeeded at, in favor of looking for the next “shiny, shiny thing. “
Eid needs to continue to push the boundaries of his business, but he’s also determined to stay focused.
“It’s about understanding the brand’s vision and project and sticking to them. This helps us post ideas about the brand. We may start to think smoothly about how to tackle food waste at home, for example, but that’s not our goal. Project: Our goal is to address waste at the point of production,” he concluded.
I think we will all be watching with interest how the Earth and Wheat will expand in the coming years and how Eid and its corporations will grow and succeed.
James Eid is the founder of the wobbly surplus subscription Earth
A fourth-generation baker, he began “rescuing” baked goods from his own family bakery in Hertfordshire that would otherwise have been discarded as failing to meet the strict size, shape or even colour criteria set by retailers. .
Earth