This article originally appeared on Forbes.

Farmers are resilient folks with a long history of innovation. The slightest fluctuation in the environment can drastically alter the nature of their work, such that anything can happen at any time. To overcome such uncertainty, creativity and adaptivity are requisites, which is a key lesson for anyone playing a critical role in innovation management.

Here are seven practical ways you can step into a farmer’s shoes and create fertile ground for innovation to occur sustainably.

1. Don’t shout at the crops

In her book, The Fearless Organization, professor Amy C. Edmondson states, “But for jobs where learning or collaboration is required for success, fear is not an effective motivator.” Psychological safety is a quintessential trait of a truly innovative culture and a fundamental principle of the future-fit organization.

Failure is unavoidable; what can be avoided, however, is the reaction to such failure. Coming down hard when projects flop can crush people’s spirits, leading to a sterile work environment. Instead, leverage inclusive systems such as knowledge forums where lessons learned are celebrated. Amazing things happen when people are encouraged to express their creativity without apprehension or retribution.

2. Don’t blame the crops for not growing fast enough

Ideas require time and care to grow into something that is feasible and exploitable down the line. There are many examples of great ideas that were dismissed too fast and too soon because they were not fruitful within schedule.

No two ideas are equal, and therefore, each one will have its own process for development, method for evaluation and timeline for implementation. This is especially true for high-growth opportunities that are disruptive in nature, which require additional tinkering over a long-term horizon, as per McKinsey’s three horizons model.

3. Don’t uproot crops before they’ve had a chance to grow

Short-circuiting an idea’s life cycle does not allow you to unlock its value faster. It can actually cause foundational damage that kills the innovation, effectively preventing it from ever making it to the commercial stage. A promising idea can become a great idea and possibly a disruptive one if you give it a chance to grow and prosper organically.

Leverage tools such as a collaborative business canvas to really dig into an idea and shine a light on its assumptions, costs, risks and more. Think of it as a snowball effect whereby the wisdom of the crowd will naturally help your idea bloom. By welcoming a diverse set of perspectives, you can expect to deepen your initial understanding and unearth areas for improvement.

4. Loosen the soil before sowing seeds

Many innovators’ natural instinct is to try to identify the next best idea, an approach that may not necessarily play well with a future-fit strategy, as it lends itself to a reactive culture over a proactive one. Instead, innovators should spend more time plowing the field in search of the right problems to solve. Sustaining innovation is about creating the future or anticipating what lies ahead—it’s not about chasing the next big thing. This simple shift in perspective is what separates incremental from breakthrough innovation.

Problem-solving can yield the highest impact opportunities because it addresses the untapped needs and wants of stakeholders. However, the bigger the challenge, the more resource-intensive it is, which will likely require outside help to avoid disrupting core business activities. This means embracing an integrated ecosystem strategy that involves your broader community to make collaborative problem-solving as sustainable as possible.

5. Irrigate and fertilize

Sustaining an innovation culture is an ongoing process that takes tender, loving care. You need to make sure that you have a gamification strategy.

Gamifying innovation means leveraging the right reward and recognition mechanisms for the right challenge. But any game can become mundane if it always uses the same blueprint. To maintain participation and keep ideas flowing, you need to continually change things up and, above all, make it fun. A tried-and-true practice is to plan a range of activities, such as “Shark Tank” business competitions and idea jams.

You also need to go beyond the standard social media approaches of commenting on and liking ideas. A Kickstarter approach to a challenge, for example, can use a virtual investment currency voting method or a head-to-head evaluation method, both of which force a choice between select ideas, bringing more focus and purpose to your activities.

These are just a couple of mechanisms you can use to strike a chord with your community and create an environment in which innovation can flourish naturally. This practical guide on innovation management voting and evaluation methods is a great way to get started on the path to sustaining innovation.

6. Remove weeds

Naysayers, anti-sponsors and change resistors always abound. After all, it’s much easier to shut things down than it is to build them up. Don’t be discouraged, though. Instead, leverage this negative energy to challenge promising ideas so that they don’t die on the vine. It’s an opportunity to address the possible weaknesses of your concept that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. Ultimately, removing any and all roadblocks from the get-go can help your idea prosper.

Overcoming this resistance is easier said than done, but remind yourself of the big picture and build on the positive traction that your idea has gained. Expectedly, you will face pushbacks along the way, but you can weed out the negativity by focusing on your audience as much as possible.

7. Remember: You will have good seasons and bad seasons

A farmer can’t control the weather, but they can be prepared for it. In sustaining innovation, you can guarantee that your bets will not always pay off, especially as plans change and strategies evolve with time. With so many fluctuations to deal with, understanding the innovation climate in which you operate will be the key to avoiding the deadly sins in corporate innovation.

Typical innovation cycles span different time scales. You can expect to create positive momentum and realize quick wins with continuous improvement and incremental innovation efforts. But real, impactful change takes time. Adjacent and transformative innovations, conversely, can take years to see through. There will be bumps in the road until you can achieve an ROI, so make sure you are prepared to be in it for the long haul and have the necessary executive support to see you through the coldest days and darkest times.


Ludwig Melik

CEO at Planbox and author of the Future-Fit Manifesto. I help organizations build a sustainable culture of innovation. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.