Ignite creativity in your workplace
Creativity is no longer a buzz word in the business environment; every business knows very well how creativity is essential for success and of course it isn’t enough for businesses just to know this. Raymond Gleason, a professor of strategy and creativity at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, and co-founder of engineering design firm Santa Barbara Applied Research in Santa Barbara, California states “Without creativity, you are standing still – and nowadays that means you’re losing ground. Lose enough ground, and your business will die,”
Management cannot just demand fresh new ideas and creativity from their workforce or themselves, creativity needs to be nurtured and most importantly allowed, the number one deterrence of creativity in a workplace is fear. Employees and management are afraid of not being listened to, not being taken seriously, making mistakes, failing, their ideas being adopted by others, not receiving credit or recognition, and a fear of change; the more successful a business is, the chances of adopting a creative position towards business is lower. Steve Schloss, Software Company Oracle’s vice president of quality believes that “Fear in the work place is the number one killer of getting companies to expand, grow and improve.”
Kathleen R. Allen, USC Professor and entrepreneurship expert specializing in technology development and commercialization shares her steps to maximizing creativity in the workplace.
Carrying a notebook
Ideas and more importantly great ideas can come to you at any time, be prepared and take note of them before they are gone. “You never know when an idea will occur to you – an idea for a new business or a better way of doing what you’re presently doing. As you drive, watch TV; eat lunch, ideas pop into your head. Unless you write them down, you will not remember them,” says Kathleen R. Allen
Thinking opportunistically
Allen advises to really pay attention to what is going on around us, don’t just “navigate through our world on autopilot” When you begin to question what you see and what is happening around you, ideas and new ways of thinking emerge.
Network
Allen knows that great ideas can be inspired by other people. “So many ideas come up when you meet new people. Somebody will say ‘I wish a company did this,’ and, bingo, an idea for a business comes to you,” Creativity and fresh thinking come from people, from merging an assortment of experiences, expertise, industries and markets the possibilities are incessant.
Think in opposites
“For every idea – for every sacred cow – there is an opposite idea, and, sometimes, exploring the opposite is where entrepreneurs will find the best ideas.” Allen’s idea goes further than just thinking positively. Every idea, issue and problem has many different sides and directions, exploring all bearings can open up and uncover new opportunities.
Reinvent the wheel
“Ask yourself how you can put a new twist on an old product or service.” Why not? Are there new ways of looking at things? Can products and services be bettered and re invented? “Keep in mind that sometimes the most creative uses [involve] literally smashing the product and coming up with something entirely new.”
Challenge your ruts
Allen warns that doing the same thing the same way every day is a barrier to creativity. You need to feel a little uncomfortable to be able to explore new areas, experience new things and in turn receive creative sparks and fresh thinking. By challenging yourself you are opening your mind to new experiences and breaking down your barrier to creativity. “Anything we do that forces us out of our normal environment will let us see things in new, different ways.”
Fantastic, the workplace is bubbling with creative ideas, fresh thinking and new outlooks but what to do with them? Notebooks full of ideas are no good unless they can be realistically implemented. These ideas need to be reality tested. Mike Vance, former dean of Disney University, the Walt Disney Co.’s training program and now chairman of the Creative Thinking Association of America tells “Ideas are great, but how do they match up with marketplace realities?” If ideas are realistic and have potential for success they need to be developed and refined. The initial idea is only a starting point for numerous improvements and redevelopments.
Creativity is not a gift bestowed to only a precious few; creativity can be developed in all with practice and an open mind alongside everything else. With creativity, solutions, new direction, fresh thinking, good morale, business growth and success, can all be achieved!
There is only one boss…
“There is only one boss – The customer!
And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”
Sam Walton.