Collaboration drives creativity because ideas always emerge from a series of sparks – never a single flash of insight. Are you one that believes that creativity can be learned? We are among that group. We also believe in suggestions to boost creativity of your team through effective collaboration. Through a series of sparks and not a single flash of insight.
Are you a creative
person? Problem-solver? Learner? All of the above? We consider ourselves in the
group of all of the above. Our continuous goal? Obtaining the best creativity.
And at the top of our focus areas? Studying and understanding the problem at
hand.
Albert Einstein once
said that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he’d spend 55 minutes thinking
about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions. That is our way of
thinking. But not most people.
Creativity doesn’t often happen in a vacuum. As the author Steve Johnson says, chance favors the connected mind. When people are together, talking, laughing, thinking, exploring — they’re going to throw out ideas.
These ideas trigger something in someone else’s mind, and it snowballs. Before long, this group of folks has developed a creative solution that wouldn’t have been possible without the collective collaboration.
Don’t fall prey to the myth that only some people are creative and your people are not of the chosen few. We are all creative; it’s just a matter of figuring out in what way.
So find things you’re curious about and are interesting to you, use your imagination a little, stay motivated and work at it, and surround yourself with others who are doing the same.
So how do you and your team boost creativity?
Here are 5 suggestions and some great examples to improve your ability to exercise ideation within your team:
Encourage risk-taking
Zappos as a company is known as much for its culture as for its creative business model. The company has built a business that is growing rapidly by allowing individuals the freedom to take creative risks without that overwhelming sense of fear or judgment.
Risk-taking.
They tell their employees to say what you think, even if it is controversial. Make tough decisions without agonizing excessively. Take smart risks. Question actions inconsistent with our values.
Another interesting example: A software company in Boston gives each team member two “corporate get-out-of-jail-free” cards each year. The cards allow the holder to take risks and suffer no repercussions for mistakes associated with them.
At annual reviews, leaders question their team members if the cards are not used. It is a great way to encourage risk-taking and experimentation. Think this company comes up with amazing ideas? Absolutely.
Foster Autonomy
We all prefer control over our environments. According to a 2008 study by Harvard University, there is a direct correlation between people who have the ability to call their own shots and the value of their creative output. An employee who has to run every tiny detail by her boss for approval will quickly become numb to the creative process.
Autonomy
The act of creativity is one of self-expression. Granting autonomy involves extending trust. By definition, your team may make decisions you would have made differently.
The key is to provide a clear message of what results you are looking for or what problem you want the team to solve. From there, you need to extend trust and let them do their best work.
Divergent thinking
Try the quantity approach to new ideas. Use brainstorming to improve divergent thinking. Study and then connect ideas to get new ideas.
When looking for
fresh new thinking to solve a problem, shake things up by adding some fun and
play to the process. It always has the ability to shed the stress and pressure
on a team
Always ask why
Here is a favorite
story that explains this technique quite well. The story is about why you
should ask why. It comes from Ideas Champions.
A consulting company like us (but bigger and more well-known), who specialize
in creativity, innovation, team building, and leadership. All favorite topics
of ours. So we keep up with this team.
The story is about a
big problem at one of our favorite monuments … the Jefferson Memorial in
Washington DC.
Simply put, birds in
huge numbers were pooping all over it, which made visiting the place a very
unpleasant experience.
Attempts to remedy the situation caused even bigger problems since the harsh cleaning detergents being used were damaging the memorial.
Fortunately, some of
the National Parks managers assigned to the case began asking WHY as in
Why was the Jefferson Memorial so much more of a target for birds than any of
the other memorials?
A little bit of
investigation revealed the following:
The birds were
attracted to the Jefferson Memorial because of the abundance of spiders, a
gourmet treat for birds.
The spiders were
attracted to the Memorial because of the abundance of midges (insects) that
were nesting there.
And the midges were
attracted to the Memorial because of the light.
Midges, it turns out, like to procreate in places where the light is just so and because the lights were turned on, at the Jefferson Memorial, one hour before dark, it created the kind of mood lighting that midges went crazy for.
So there you have it:
The midges were attracted to the light. The spiders were attracted to the
midges. The birds were attracted to the spiders. And the National Parks
workers, though not necessarily attracted to the bird poop, were attracted to
getting paid so they spent a lot of their time (and taxpayer money) cleaning
the Memorial.
How did the situation
resolve? Very simply. They nailed the understanding of the problem, so a
creative but simple solution was much easier.
After reviewing the
curious chain of events that led up to the problem, the decision was made to
wait until dark before turning the lights on at the Jefferson Memorial. About
as simple a solution as you could get. Right?
That one-hour delay
was enough to ruin the mood lighting for the midges, who then decided to have
midge sex somewhere else.
No midges, no
spiders. No spiders, no birds. No birds, no poop. No poop, no need to clean the
Jefferson Memorial so often. Case closed.
Now, consider what
solutions might have been forthcoming if those curious National Parks managers
did not stop and ask WHY:
Hire more workers to clean the
Memorial
Ask existing workers to work
overtime
Experiment with different kinds
of cleaning materials
Put bird poison all around the memorial
Hire hunters to shoot the birds
Encase the entire Jefferson Memorial in Plexiglas
Move the Memorial to another part of Washington
Close the site to the general public
Technically speaking,
each of the above solutions
was a possible approach, but at great cost, inconvenience, and with
questionable results. Not great solutions.
The bottom line
Now, think about YOUR business, YOUR life.
What problems are you
facing that could be approached differently simply by asking WHY, and then WHY
again, and then WHY again … until you get to the real definition of the
problem?
If you don’t, you may just end up not correctly defining the problem. Not good. Nothing worse than solving the wrong problem. So put in enough time to understanding and defining your problem.
Don’t leap to problem-solving before you do. Lots of whys help us explore and thoroughly define the problem.
Imagine you could go back in time and give your 20-year-old self a bit of advice on investing in the creative process, coming up with new ideas, and producing good, fun work.
What would you say?
When things are not
what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to continually improving your continuous learning?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on learning from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
