SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | MOST POPULAR |  RSS | | REPRINT
|
How-To: Create a Climate of Creativity
January 21, 2010
By Mike Hawkins
Imitation products, boring value propositions, and dull themes seem to be in vogue these days. There are exceptions, of course, but the lack of innovation truly manifests itself by the number of people and companies who so quickly turn to reducing their prices instead of improving their value-add. I also find it interesting that so many jump on others' fresh ideas instead of formulating their own. I can't help but think that in our increasingly busy lives— personally and professionally—we're losing our creativity. Why else would people be so quick to settle for others' ideas and the status quo when there are so many opportunities for improvement?
The reality is that anyone can be creative. Creativity is more of a cultivated ability than a natural one. In fact, any manager can stimulate a climate of creativity. Here are eight principles to follow to bring out the creative ability in yourself and your teams:
1. Adopt the mind-set. Before cultivating the creative ability, cultivate the creative mind-set. Ensure the question, "Why do we need to be creative?" is answered. Build up the awareness of the need to be creative. Ensure the motivators to pursue creativity are firmly in place.
2.Free up time. When you have a two-page to-do list and are in back-to-back phone calls and meetings all day, you don't have time to be creative. So the first step in releasing creativity is creating time to be creative. The cliché that the best ideas come while you are in the shower has more truth than you realize. When you are in a relaxing setting, free from distractions, your mind is free to wander.
3. Change your routine. When you drive the same way to work every day, order the same cup of latte, sit at the same desk, talk to the same people, and do the same thing day after day, you build ingrained habits of thought and action that create resistance to new ways of thinking and behaving. Change your surroundings. Seek out more diverse venues for meetings. Meet new people, visit different customers, go to new places, experience new activities, and pursue different types of knowledge.
4. Leverage diversity. People attract and generally spend time with people with similar personality traits and thought patterns. It makes for enjoyable company, but is terrible when trying to see the world in new ways and cultivate new ideas. Build teams of diverse people with different backgrounds, interests, personalities, and knowledge.
5. Foster communications and sharing of ideas. Break down barriers to communications or any elements of your organizational ecosystem that present obstacles to sharing and being open. Cultivate trust between business units and people, so people are collaborating instead of competing. Create common goals, interlinked processes, and cross-functional measurements to enhance idea sharing.
6. Be willing to take reasonable risks. A sterile culture where people fear stepping out and taking risks that might make them look foolish isn't conducive to innovation. Nor is a climate of mindless tactical execution. Reward stepping out of routines and comfort zones. Create environments where it is safe to fail.
7. Extend existing ideas. Creativity isn't usually a big bang of something new, but an incremental extension of something existing. Challenge existing assumptions. Brainstorm new ideas with "what if?" questions such as "What if we didn't have these constraints?" or "What if we did the exact opposite?"
8. Be an expert. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his book, "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention," suggests you should be a master before a creator. Pursue expertise and become fluent in your domain before trying to extend it. To come up with new ideas and approaches, you need to know the old ideas and ways first.
Mike Hawkins is author of "Activating Your Ambition—A Guide to Coaching the Best Out of Yourself and Others," and president of Alpine Link Corporation, a consulting firm specializing in helping individuals and organizations reach their peak potential. To contact Hawkins or for more information, visit www.alpinelink.com.
|
SAVE | EMAIL | PRINT | MOST POPULAR | RSS |
|
|
| Back to Training Index |
|
|
