Management Tip of the Day: 3 Ways Focusing on Social Problems Can Help Your Company

There has been a shift in the past few years: companies are addressing societal problems not as charity but as a way to make money and expand opportunities. Here are three ways to improve your company's ability to innovate by contributing to the fight against social problems:

1. Create a bigger pool of ideas. Don't focus just on your market or function, but think about how solutions in your market can help serve a broader audience. This expanded thinking will put more ideas into your innovation funnel.
2. Increase partnerships. Committing to helping other people inspires a willingness to reach beyond the company walls and build new partnerships that often lead to new ideas.
3. Focus on solutions. When employees know that their ideas will help people, they are more likely to feel motivated to focus on innovative solutions.