How To Create Creativity

You want to be creative and breed creativity in your workplace, right?

Do you consider yourself to be "creative?"

Ask a group of first-graders, "How many of you are 'creative?' " Watch most of the hands go up. They smile. They show their colorful drawings and finger painting and maybe even compose a song along the way.

What happens when the same question is asked of the same kids a few years later? The responses drop to nearly zero. And the kids are still in elementary school.

Fast forward to your business meeting. Someone says "Let's get creative about how to grow the market in Asia. We've got until 5 o'clock."

Are you and I seeing the same thing here?

We've got little kids who are convinced they are creative. Then we get bigger little kids who think, "Not so much." Now we've got adults being asked to create and who are sure they aren't creative.

This post is a call for thought, not a rant. (Well, a little one). It seems to me that we have taken an entire population of creative youngsters, told them to color inside the box (or else!), and now tell them to "think outside the box"--(or else!).

Nine things to encourage creativity

Silvano Arieti  wrote a book in 1976 called Creativity: The Magic Synthesis (you can get a used copy through amazon.com). Here are his nine conditions and the reasons why:

1. Aloneness. Being alone allows the person to make contact with the self and be open to new kinds of inspiration.

2. Inactivity. Periods of time are needed to focus on inner resources and to be removed from the constraints of routine activities.

3. Daydreaming. Allows exploration of one's fantasy life and venturing into new avenues for growth.

4. Free thinking. Allows the mind to wander in any direction without restriction and permits the similarities among remote topics or concepts to emerge.

5. State of readiness to catch similarities. One must practice recognizing similarities and resemblances across to perceptual of cognitive domains.

6. Gullibility. A willingness to suspend judgment allows one to be open to possibilities without treating them as nonsense.

7. Remembering & replaying past traumatic conflicts. Conflict can be transformed into more stable creative products.

8. Alertness. A state of awareness that permits the person to grasp the relevance of seemingly insignificant similarities.

9. Discipline. A devotion to the techniques, logic, and repetition that permit creative ideas to be realized.

So now we go to our boss and say "I'd like to have some extended alone time for inactivity and daydreaming so I can come up with a creative idea for your strategy."

(Please let me know how that conversation goes).

You can act to create creativity

The next time you have charge of a meeting or idea session, how about using some of the above items to lay a foundation for creativity.

• Build in "alone time" by having people think about the task well in advance.

• Use a mind-mapping activity to address numbers 4 and 5.

• Suspend judgment and encourage the craziest ideas in the room, because

• Alertness (number 8) will connect the "crazy" dots

I hope you'll use these to be intentional about creativity. It sounds almost like an oxymoron--"intentional creativity"--but according to number 9 it isn't.

Intentional Creativity--that's a lot easier to sell to your boss than some alone time.

Graphic Source: www.creativity-zone.ch/

Comments

[peter vajda]

Hi, Steve,

Hmmm

Of the nine conditions that foster creativity, my read of the landscape is that at least seven of them are “nullified” by today’s obsession with, and inability to let go of, one’s electronic leashes (cell phones, blackberries, IM, etc.).

Aloneness, inactivity, daydreaming, free thinking, readiness to catch similarities, alertness and (self) discipline require a state of “no-mind”, focus, and attention in some way, shape or form. Many folks are just too addicted to their electronic gadgetry to take time out or time away from their electronic life to move into a state of aloneness, etc.

In fact, I would venture to say many couldn’t, even if they wanted to, as they’re so addicted to staying connected--outside themselves. The pull is just too great.

In an age when we’re caught up in a morass of 25-second sound bites; when we are inundated with input from electronic devices, all demanding instant attention, being quiet, “alone” and daydreaming are very real challenges.

Living in a ‘media age’, many of us have become addicted to constant stimulation. Our brains have become over-stimulated and under-developed. Hyperactivity is the norm. Throughout the day, people jump from stimulus to stimulus: BlackBerry, Facebook, TV, cell phone, Twitter, e-mail; then back to BlackBerry, incessantly and impulsively. It makes focused attention (and the states supporting creativity) all but impossible.

The result is an increasingly prevalent inability to focus, let alone reflect or think more deeply or “freely”. Because we’ve become addicted, our brains require fresh stimulation every few moments. In this state, how can anyone maintain the focus and “non-focus” that creativity requires?

Since we have conditioned ourselves to constant activity — and because our low brain areas now require consistent stimulation and our cerebral cortex (the thinking/listening-related part of the brain) and right hemisphere are underutilized — we don’t sit, or be quiet long enough, or carefully enough, to enter into a state of “no mind” that fosters creativity.

My sense is that if, as you suggest, we go to our boss and say, “I'd like to have some extended alone time for inactivity and daydreaming so I can come up with a creative idea for your strategy" and our boss said, “Yes”, I suspect the vast majority might rather spend the vast amount of that time “checking in” with their electronic connections as opposed to quieting their self to move into a concentrated state of focus. Their brains have become just too needy for incessant and immediate stimulation – not available in a quiet state.

The other condition, replaying past conflicts, is nullified by many folks’ resistance to “know thyself” and their fears of looking at their past trauma.

So, it’s not surprising that the light bulb in your graphics, for many, is very low wattage, or just covered with a thick dust—unable to provide much “illumination”.

[Chris - Manager's Sandbox]

Steve, love the article today. It reminds me a lot of "Think Naked" by Marco Marsen, a book that's a big influence on how I think creatively.

Unfortunately, I think Peter's really on to something. Constant connectivity, and a refusal to unplug, kill the creative process. Couple that with a drive for "more results right now!," and you end up with mediocre, typical results from people who are capable of so much more than that.

Getting managers to give employees time to do the things you mentioned, and getting employees to actually go along with it, will be the biggest challenge. For organizations without a culture that already supports that, it may be near impossible.

- Chris

[Wally Bock]

Those are all wonderful things, Steve. But two more things have to happen.

People have to be able to share ideas. The boss only has to shoot down a couple of ideas before they ideas quit seeing the light of day.

The group also needs to find a way to take good ideas and try them, to take the critical step from creativity to innovation. Otherwise it's all just a bull session.

[Lynn Toomey]

Hi Steve:
I completely agree with your comments. I recently wrote an article based on a recent Psychology Today artice. Here's an excerpt.

Fostering the Art of Creativity
“When the creative spirit stirs, it animates a style of being: a lifetime filled with the desire to innovate, to explore new ways of doing things, to bring dreams of reality.”
–D. Coleman and P. Kaufman

The Art of Creativity, an article in Psychology Today written by authors D. Coleman and P. Kaufman (http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=19920301-000031&page=1) , discusses the concept of using the unconscious mind for problem-solving and how our mind works in different and often wonderful ways in its most relaxed state. It has been found that, "the more you can experience your own originality, the more confidence you get, the greater the probability that you'll be creative in the future. The idea is to develop the habit of paying attention to your own creativity, starting in childhood. Eventually, you will come to place greater trust in it and instinctively turn to it when you are confronted with problems."

Coleman and Kaufman question, “Has this ever happened to you? You're out for a jog, completely relaxed, your mind a pleasant blank. Then all of a sudden the solution to a problem you've been mulling over for weeks pops into your head. You can't help but wonder why you didn't think of it before.

In such moments you've made contact with the creative spirit, that elusive muse of good—and sometimes great—ideas. Yet it is more than an occasional insight. When the creative spirit stirs, it animates a style of being: a lifetime filled with the desire to innovate, to explore new ways of doing things, to bring dreams of reality.”

Much of our population believes that creativity is an elusive quality that only the “other half” has. However, research has proven that everyone is capable of tapping into his or her inherent creativity. Tapping into the “creative spirit,” Coleman and Kaufman suggest can “lead to a greater enjoyment of work and the people in your life.” This spirit can also lead to better collaboration and communication integral in today’s workforce. The key is, to help adults find ways to tap into this spirit that came so easily to us as children. One suggestion is to begin paying attention to your creative moments and notice in what circumstances you feel most creative. Once you begin to note how often you actually are being creative, the more confidence you will build. Eventually, through practice, you will learn (again) how to instinctively tap into and trust your creative instincts.

Kaufman and Coleman suggest that today’s workforce lacks creativity. They go on to suggest ways that organizations can foster employee creativity. Much research has suggested that the more complex our world becomes, the more we’ll need people and organizations who can effectively problem solve with creative solutions. Building the creative workforce of tomorrow begins with the children of today, and building in them, creative habits to last a lifetime.

[Lisa Gates]

Steve,

Thank you for this. Your post, and the comments, make me fond of the leadership of kindergarten.

But wait. Running alongside Peter's view that says every creative impulse is being co-opted by our connectivity addictions, I say there's a leader dying to break us free. This time, it's not the leader's followers who are needing a whack on the side of the head, but rather leaders who will grant permission to wonder. Permission to be messy and break things. To me, that signifies the leadership of someone who doesn't necessarily know the answer and is willing "waste time" getting it wrong and finding one.

Going back to kindergarten...one of the reasons we've lost our way is that for the most part education is focused on result, not inquiry. It does not allow for open-ending thinking. We wouldn't know an inquiry from a door jamb.

2 cents, as always.

[Steve Roesler]

Peter,

You write of the conditions for creativity: "at least seven of them are “nullified” by today’s obsession with, and inability to let go of, one’s electronic leashes (cell phones, blackberries, IM, etc.)."

Garr Reynolds writes in his wonderful book, Presentation Zen, of the importance of "going analog" to create presentations. Garr is a terrific and well-known designer, writer, and presenter; yet he firmly states that there are no electronics turned on during the development process. Why? Because they get in the way of creativity. In the case of Powerpoint or Keynote platforms, he rightly points out that their formulaic templates get in the way of creating a story and lead to a list of facts that anyone could read in an email.

There's a very good reason why the MTV "Unplugged" series was so popular. . .

[Steve Roesler]

Chris,

Hey, thanks for the new reference. Always appreciate thought-provoking sources.

Let's face it: in the workplace everything lies in the hands of one's manager. There is more than enough information out there that supports what is in the post regarding creativity. Validity isn't the issue. It will be the willingness of one courageous manager to say, "We're going to take time to do what it takes to bump up creativity."

We should put out a call on our respective blogs for managers who have done this or who are thinking about it.

[Steve Roesler]

Wally,

Chris jumped in on the manager's importance as well.

We've discussed this often: nothing is going to happen until a manager makes it ok and even rewarding. My hunch is that people would have the momentum to find ways to follow through once the juices got flowing and the payoff was evident.

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Lynn,

Thanks for taking the time to offer up a thorough treatment from your own research and writings.

Based on first-hand experience and the flow of comments here, it's clear that the "fostering" part is an organizational culture--and therefore "management"--issue.

Looking forward to reading the article. . .

[Steve Roesler]

Lisa,

When you mentioned the "results vs. inquiry" posture, it occurred to me how much adults are fascinated by the curiosity of their kids. (I could sit down and watch a little kid all day). They explore and ask questions because they are encouraged and even rewarded for doing so.

A lot of what is cited as a "lack of organizational creativity" is really an indictment of those leaders who value "results" over "even better results." They would say they want better result, for sure. But it takes a secure person to allow unfettered curiosity and inquiry into the meeting room.

[Chris Young]

Nice list Steve - thanks for sharing this resource and starting a great discussion in the comments of your post.

I have chosen your post for my Rainmaker 'Fab Five' blog picks of the week which can be found here: http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2008/11/the-rainmaker-2.html

Be well!

[Steve Roesler]

Hey, Chris, thanks again for the honor. It's a treat!