Steve Smith

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With the right strategies in place, you can foster a culture of innovation that sets your business up for lasting success. Innovation is often thought of as a spontaneous "lightbulb" moment that comes in a stroke of creative genius. However, instead of waiting for those moments to arrive by chance, organizations can foster continuous innovation by intentionally and strategically cultivating it. To help leaders achieve this goal, a group of Newsweek Expert Forum members share their insights on how to develop a more structured, intentional approach to innovation. Read on for their tried-and-true strategies, from establishing cross-functional teams to setting aside dedicated time for creative thinking.

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Ensure you're getting the most out of your technology fund and getting the return on investment you're looking for. Businesses often face the ongoing challenge of balancing their budgets with investing in resources for growth. This is especially true when it comes to technology, which can require frequent and/or high-cost purchases to keep up with ever-evolving advances.  Spending only what is necessary and coming up with creative alternative solutions can help, but knowing where to start, and how to navigate different market options, can be overwhelming. To help make this task a bit less daunting, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum share their top tips for optimizing your company's technology investments.

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Keep up to date on the tech industry with these tools, websites and media resources used by successful business leaders. The tech sector moves at a breakneck pace and new developments emerge daily that can dramatically shift market dynamics and competitive strategies. Keeping abreast of these innovations and updates is both a challenge and a necessity for industry leaders.  How do today's leaders do it? Below, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members share their favorite resources to stay up-to-date in an ever-changing tech environment. Keep these reliable resources handy to stay above your competition.

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Motivating employees to see the benefit of looking at things from a different perspective can lead to business success. With the current workforce now consisting of Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and, increasingly, Generation Z, these distinct generations all bring with them different ideas about how the day-to-day operations of a business should work. This can create a toxic environment of miscommunication and misunderstanding that negatively impacts a business’s ability to retain its employees and properly serve its customers. When these challenges arise, it’s vital that leaders develop a plan of action to connect and build strong relationships with employees, regardless of their age, generation or experience level. To help, 13 Newsweek Expert Forum members offer tips to help business leaders pull the different generations in their workforce together to the benefit of the entire organization.

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Creating a more imaginative internal culture requires making changes to how your business manages employee ideas and feedback. In business, the most effective initiatives often rise from the bottom up. While leaders are essential in shaping the larger direction of an organization, it takes the combined efforts of team members in every position to carry out set objectives successfully. Creating an internal culture of active encouragement and support for employees to express themselves and devise new ways of thinking results in a truly effective business. Below, 16 Newsweek Expert Forum members each offer strategic approaches business leaders can leverage to build a culture of curiosity and innovative thinking among team members at all levels.

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Before taking on any investors, take the time to do proper research and assess each investor’s expectations and needs. Securing the support of multiple investors can be a big boost to a business just getting off the ground. While the guidance and funding these investors offer are critical to building a successful business, entrepreneurs must also become adept at balancing competing feedback and expectations. To create truly positive relationships with investors, it’s key that entrepreneurs put processes in place to ensure all sides are aligned, have space to communicate openly and are dedicated to working toward common goals before accepting any funds. Below, 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members each offer one piece of advice to help entrepreneurs ensure that their investors feel heard and happy with how things are progressing.