We are all creative people. How much of our creativity do we tap into every day? Unless we are graphics designers, artists, musicians, writers or in a line of work that is generally tagged creative, creativity is not usually part of our key responsibilities to which our performance is measured against. I think it should be and it is up to the management to set the foundation for it.
Why not ask a software developer to add a flavor of creativity to deliverables? Would that give him a sense of flexibility to build reusable code and think out-of-the-box? Why not mandate a little bit of creativity to what a Analyst outlines in a process? Would that give her the freedom to think beyond rules, guidelines and standards to continuously improve processes? Would they begin to challenge status quo?
Google, as you may already know, has a 4-day work week for its technical staff. 1-day is set aside for their personal projects. It’s called Google Labs and many innovative products such as Google Maps were developed through such creative experiments. Many more companies are following suite today.
Can we let creativity open the doors to innovation?
I wonder what would happen if a Magician created tricks based on what his audience approved of with their applause? Or a stand-up Comedian who creates only those jokes that she knows would work a room full of laughter? Where is the magic in predictability? Where’s the fun in sticking to norms?
I read that there are 3 things CEOs wont give up control of. Quality to customers is #1. “your clients are your brand.” This is why customer satisfaction trumps revenue in corporate ideologies. It gets translated into the objectives and goals that trickle down to every employee in the organization. Customer satisfaction becomes “the why” for everything we do. That’s important. Customer is King. But if “the what” we do, “the how” and “the when” we do anything turns out to be for the same reason, then there is a problem. The King dethrones your creativity.
Can we set creativity free from stagnation?
Challenge lies in solving problems, to find solutions that satisfy. Real satisfaction comes from solving our own problems. How can then we channel our creativity to satisfy ourselves first before we satisfy the world?
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This is EXACTLY what I try to cultivate with my clients – getting back to the realization that we are all born as not only creative but also creative leaders with the ability to solve problems and live our life in the spirit of adventure and sincere zest. Great point and so glad to see that you agree.
-Deborah Connolly