All companies aspire to be on the emerging end of the innovative spectrum; feverishly working on the next great idea that will catapult their business to the next level.

But, how exactly do innovative ideas emerge? Do they just appear one day while pouring your morning cup of coffee or in the middle of that board meeting?

Well, honestly, yes.

Innovative ideas surface in the most remote places and at the oddest hours of the day. Companies need to harvest creativity amongst employees to promote a culture of innovation. How, you might ask?

With training.

Learning is the gateway to new ideas. Giving employees access to information at the time of need allows them to jump on the bandwagon of the next great idea. When an employee is stumped and needs to find an answer immediately, they need somewhere to turn. This is where the training function comes in.

By finding the information quickly, employees are able to turn their question into an answer and apply it to their work at hand, and perhaps generate another solution, possibly an even better solution.

It’s that simple.

There is also another dimension to innovation to take into account: solitude.

Solitude can actually be a catalyst to innovation. Somewhere, somehow the corporate world has become engulfed in the idea of “Groupthink.” Companies all over the world are gathering employees into the conference room to generate solutions and solve problems, all while awkwardly staring at each other waiting for someone to chime in and start the discussion.

Is this the most efficient use of everyone’s time? Is this the best way to architect the solution?

Possibly. There are advocates on both sides of this debate.

As Susan Cain points out in her book, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking,” research has shown that performance gets worse as group size increases. Groups of nine generate fewer and poorer ideas compared to groups of six, who do worse than groups of four.

One of the reasons why performance suffers in groups is that everyone’s temperament is different. We have the talkers, the collaborators, the reflectors, and the downright shy. Amid all these different personalities, oftentimes, the most talkative person dominates the conversation, while other ideas are overlooked.

This is where companies need to get creative. If group work overlooks many great ideas, how can companies harvest those ideas? Creating an online forum where employees can input ideas is a great start. Participating in this forum is an act of collaboration, but in a form of solitude, allowing all ideas to be heard.

Companies should embrace solitude. Employees need to have the opportunity to contemplate and reflect on their experiences to better understand themselves as a person, which in turn makes them a better employee.

I’m not completely knocking group work because it does offer numerous benefits. Group brainstorming makes people feel attached. It’s a form of social glue that is important to a business culture.

However, creating a culture of innovation requires the learning and development department to forefront this challenge. Designing learning environments that are easily accessible, as well as flexible, should allow companies to reach that next level.