"EMOTIONS ARE THE SECRET SAUCE OF INNOVATION" - FORBES

I just had to share this FORBES article on my blog.  In the article was an important  new idea of innovation ghat I had not yet considered in the context of innovation:  how emotions play into the innovation process.  The article explains that we live in a world of data and information.  I believe that the article is saying that information is not new and innovation is becoming reliant on false intelligence, but what cannot be faked is human emotion.  

"Innovation is not just a cognitive process. It’s emotional. It requires doing something new or novel, and that can be scary because it requires the courage to enter the unknown and it involves learning from experimental failures. Many of us learned as children that success comes from making the fewest mistakes. We learned to avoid making mistakes and looking stupid. We also developed emotional defensives to protect our views of ourselves – to protect our ego. Protecting our ego and fear are the two big emotional inhibitors of innovation" (Hess).

The article goes on to describe what creates and detracts from the emotional energy needed to innovate.  Hess explains that innovation depends on positive emotions and can weaken in the presence of negative emotions. I believe wholeheartedly that this is true.  Yet, I think that companies often put undue stress on their employees to innovate under the gun.  This may, in fact, produce results, but I am not convinced that it produces the best results.  So, how to companies apply just the right positive pressure to create motivation?   By creating the right climate to produce innovation, realizing the dichotomy of emotions:

"Innovation happens best when we reduce our fears and ego defensiveness thereby freeing our minds to imagine, create, connect, and explore the new and unknown with others in a non-competitive way. That happens best when people feel psychologically safe and trust each other. It is all about emotions" (Hess).

Hess, Ed.  (JAN 17, 2017).  Why emotions are the Secret Sauce of Innovation".  Forbes online:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/darden/2017/01/17/the-secret-sauce-of-innovation-emotions/#774148db7116


How can individual workers LEARN to self regulate emotions to result in the best, most innovative results?
What can employees do to contribute to positive emotions in the workplace, when competitive times lead managers to apply pressure in negative ways?
What is the "Secret Sauce" of emotion at an individual level, rather than collective, and how can it be converted into positive innovation-friendly emotions?  What might employees need individually?