I was excited when I saw that Oscar-winning film director James Cameron would be speaking at WBF10; indeed, he'll wrap the event on October 6. Having watched Avatar and Titanic and relived Terminator at least a dozen times, I'll be eager to hear from someone who defines innovation and creativity, particularly the ability to turn creative ideas into innovative products. This got me to thinking about creativity and why we peg some people as "creative types" when creativity is an inherent human trait. Some people may know how to foster creativity better, in themselves and others, but isn't there creativity all around us? I am curious about what Cameron has to say about that process.
Everyone is creative, innately, but most companies are not structured to engage that creativity. Think about all the times you've experienced walking down the street with a colleague, and in the midst of conversation about something unrelated to business, they come up with a random creative idea that might enhance business. I bet for most businesses, that idea never goes anywhere. But those ideas occur all the time because of innate creativity. I had the opportunity to experience creative outbursts recently at a company outing, curiously enough--the bus ride home, more curiously. After a long day of relatively structured activities, the bus ride became somewhat raucous, with a group of people breaking off into a game called "Celebrity," which required each successive player to name a celebrity whose name began with the first letter of the last name of the previously named celebrity. As the game progressed, and names were used and off limits, rather than slowing down, the speed at which people's synapses were firing became stunning, and the names conjured was breathtaking.
While a game of Celebrity will never solve anyone's business issues, the creativity on display, because that's what it was, was impressive. Similar scenes probably replay at the functions of innumerable other organizations. And these very creative individuals sit and do their jobs everyday, competently and quietly. Yet that same creative process continues as ideas pop randomly into their heads, whether at the desk, at lunch, in the elevator, wherever. We know that most of these ideas fade into the ether because most work environments don't encourage blurting out spontaneous ideas, which for all anyone knows, might solve a critical business issue. And so those seeds are lost in the wind.
Ditkoff laments that companies don't take advantage of this creativity and offers three reasons why, each of which focuses on a different structural problem.
1. "People are moving way too fast to recognize the 'seed of innovation' moment." Unless managers and employees are encouraged to plant seeds, they will blow away.
2. "People rarely think it's their job to listen and respond to the ideas of others." Even when we hear interesting seeds, if they are not served up in a brainstorming session, we don't think to say, "Hey let's write that one down and see if it can grow into something."
3. "People don't know how to give meaningful, innovation-sparking feedback on the fly." This is the old "yes and" familiar to those who have ever been involved in improvisation games. Creative ideas need to be met with "yes, and..."; too often, our business structures respond "no, but..."
What structures can you create to avoid these roadblocks to innovation? How can we encourage employees and managers to catch creative moments (to plant Ditkoff's seeds) before they drift away? Let that fester, and if you want to see how fast your employees can think on their feet, try having them all play a round of Celebrity. I wonder if you created the same game about your business, the same seeds wouldn't fly.
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