More and more organisations are looking at how they can gain the competitive edge in fiercely competitive market places. A key difference can be the quality of the people; a differentiator in the quality of people is the quality of their innovation. Creativity along with speed, clarity and consistency is a key benefit of being a solution focused thinker, or thinking organisation. Here are seven tips on developing a creative thinking mindset, or creative culture.
1. Create the environment for creativity
Look around your organisation and the people in it. A good starting point is to ask; how is your environment encouraging creativity? Consider what more could possibly be done to support an environment of innovation.
Posing the following questions to yourself and others will help you to explore the culture in relation to creativity within your organisation:
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How is creativity and innovation recognised within your values, behaviours or competencies? For example, do you have a competency area of ‘Being Creative’ … if so how is this understood, demonstrated and supported? If not is there a need to introduce a creativity value, behaviour or competency to encourage and support this within the business. |
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How supportive is your culture to new ideas, new ways of doing things and creativity? |
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How are the ‘mistakes’ made in your organisation treated? Are they considered to be learning opportunities with people encouraged to ‘have a go’? If not people may be scared to do something different. Therefore what might need to happen to change this. |
Alongside your culture, consider whether your physical environment is helpful or hindering to creative thinking. How well does it allow and cater for personal thinking space, group interaction for creativity and generally providing an atmosphere of creativity.
2. Develop a culture of creative thinking
To develop a culture of true creative thinking the most senior people need to be effective role models. This will require the development of a strategy or vision that embraces innovation, which then needs to be “lived” by senior managers. By demonstrating the belief in the benefits of creative thinking visionary leaders will in turn be supported in the achievement of their creative vision. This then leads to people across the organisation being fully engaged in bringing the vision to reality.
3. Recognise the potential
Everyone has the ability to be creative, although this is something that we ‘unlearn’ as we grow older. You can easily test this theory by giving a cardboard box to a four year old. What does it become… a spaceship, a car, a castle, a robot, a monster… this list could be endless! Give a cardboard box to someone at work and it probably becomes something to store things in or recycling! Recognise that you still have that innate ability to turn a cardboard box into a spaceship… we all do. Build activities into your day that allow you to re-learn how to be creative. When a creative thought enters your mind allow yourself to develop it and be brave with where it takes you.
A question to ask yourself:
What activities might I build into my day to increase my creativity?
4. Nurture and grow creativity
You can greatly increase creativity within your organisation by supporting and encouraging creative ideas. When a new or unusual idea or thought starts to form it needs to be protected, developed and allowed to grow. Specifically look to improve your ideas generation sessions which are traditionally led by someone with a flipchart and a pen. This facilitator is your ‘ideas gardener’ and should be encouraging every idea that sprouts and capturing everything raised, they should be protecting the idea generating process. Ensure you and others are developed to allow this to happen.
A question to ask yourself:
How might I help ideas to grow?
5. Develop alternative thinking techniques
Think possibilities, possibilities and more possibilities!! There are many techniques around to enable this, from mind mapping to visualisation; brainstorming to creative high quality questions. Explore how many creative thinking techniques are known inside your organisation and how many of these are used on a daily basis. Then make it a goal to increase both of these areas.
Two questions to ask yourself:
What creative thinking techniques are already being used within my organisation?
What else might be introduced to encourage more creativity?
6. Make ideas generation a daily activity
Some people may have the belief that the ability to think creatively is something that you ‘turn on’ whenever there is a specific project that requires some new ideas. True innovators approach every situation with an open mind and a possibility mindset. Again this approach is reflected in innovative organisations.
Often organisations start to encourage this through the development of an ideas generation scheme; the suggestion box. Roger Cliffe, Director of Quality at Vodafone, talked at length about this type of approach at a Go MAD Conference last year. He reinforced that the organisations that run these schemes most effectively are those that make it a part of their culture. In addition to asking for ideas they ensure that the ideas are taken forward and implemented. Admittedly there may be some groundwork to do to ensure any such scheme is effective, but the rewards can be substantial in terms of business improvements and motivated people.
A free download of the full transcript of Rogers session is offered with this issue of Go MAD about…
7. Strive for evolution first, then revolution
Many ideas that are generated in organisations tend to be ‘evolutionary’ initially, that is they tend to be driven by asking "how could I/we possibly do this better/ quickly/ more cost effectively?" These types of ideas will give improvements and refinements to techniques, procedures and processes, which is a good starting point. To really create a culture of innovation thinking needs to develop differently to encourage a complete shift… ideas need to become more revolutionary. This is about considering things that haven’t been thought of before, new ways of doing things or new things to do.
A question to ask yourself:
What might be the most revolutionary idea I can think of to impact for me or my organisation?
Closing thought:
Research repeatedly shows that the biggest difference between creative and non-creative thinkers is the time that people spend developing their mindset and planning in quality thinking time. When you next open your diary or planner, or consider the next meeting you are attending, look at the amount of time you have planned in for generating possibilities and thinking creatively. If you can’t see any, make a difference now and book yourself some time for innovation.
A question to ask yourself:
How might I make more time for creative thinking?
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