People generally believe that creativity is a gift that a lucky few were born with. However, all people have a degree of creativity and they use it every day to work around problems.
What is unfortunate is that society helps people lose their creativity. For instance, in school, you were constantly asked for the "right" answer, not a creative answer. In order to get the "right" answer you had to think like the teacher, not think in creative ways.
Similarly, stodgy companies discourage people from taking risks and employees are often punished for making mistakes.
You can help employees rediscover their creative gifts by introducing creativity into your meetings. Re-discovering those gifts can translate into down-to-earth benefits, as new products and services are discovered to keep your company from becoming obsolete in the 21st century workplace.
How do you unleash new thinking to solve nagging problems?
Put them in an environment that lets their imagination soar. People who are asked to be creative but are stuck in their cubicles all day will give you ‘cubicle creativity': The size of their ideas is directly proportional to the space they have in which to think.
Get bigger ideas than cubicle creativity by having a meeting that starts with fun:
- Bring in some bizarre gizmos and gadgets and ask how the gadgets could be used to solve daily problems.
- Spray the room with interesting aromas.
- Play music.
- View pictures.
- Show cartoons to make them laugh.
All of these techniques get people away from their preoccupation with problems and help them free their brain for new ideas.
One tip on the environment: Feed them. If you are in a meeting and you are hungry, your mind focuses on eating rather than on thinking. So provide snacks, including:
- Fruit
- Candy
- Herbal energy boosters
- Cookies
You'll get better ideas.
In the brainstorming mode, remember not to laugh or dismiss ideas as you never know where that idea will lead. You do, however, need to identify good questions that will stimulate thinking.
A good technique for this is to distribute sheets of paper with a light bulb in the center with a question for each participant to answer. For instance, in the middle of a light bulb you might have this question:
How can we generate more sales with a limited increase in budget?
When the first person has written down an idea, ask that the sheets be passed to the left. The person receiving the sheet will read the answer and write down any additional thoughts generated by the original idea.
In this manner, tangible ideas are generated that can help your organisation remain on the cutting edge in our competitive 21st century marketplace.