Innovations for creative teams

What do you mean by 'creativity'?

When we think of creativity we often think of innovation, and therefore we think of companies like GE, Microsoft, Apple or Sony, with its 'Go Create' campaign. Creativity is not always innovation, however. Although not all of us are involved in innovation, in the sense of thinking about new products, we all need to be creative almost every day.

In business, we may need to find a way to offer a seamless service to our customers when our systems are down. We need to find an acceptable way around a policy to keep our project going forward, or we may need to organize an exciting event with a very limited budget.

At home, it may be something like finding things to do with the kids on a cold and rainy Saturday when the electricity went down - a challenge even for the most creative among us!

The point is that we must be creative more often than we realize, and many of us do not consider ourselves creatively - how many times have you heard say "I can not think of anything" or "I have no ideas"? One thing is certain: if you think you have no ideas, surely will not have any. Not the best way to go about solving a problem, I'm sure you'll agree.

So why is that so often run out of ideas very quickly and we are able to overcome the problems? And why do some people seem to have lots of ideas - what are they doing differently?

The challenges for creativity in the workplace

Environment

Typical office and meeting room layouts are not conducive to creative thinking is. Many of us work in cubicles or open-space offices built on four sides with partitions formations. Each of us has a computer in front of us and when faced with a problem to solve and we sit and stare, hoping to arrive with the answer. Internet has become our lifeline and we believe it contains the answer to all dilemmas.

Our meeting rooms usually have a square or rectangular table with screens and / or flip at one end, usually when the president sitting or standing. Many of the meeting rooms that I saw in my work with the teams do not even have any windows.

None of these environments is useful when trying to find a creative way around a problem. The 'square-ness' of the rooms and tables creates mental boxes around to our way of thinking. Rooms without windows do not allow us to 'look into space', something that often serves to relax and open our minds. It 's quite difficult to' blue-sky thinking 'when you can not see the sky!

Sitting around a table with coffee and biscuits sweets does not help. Many people feel more relaxed and they think, according to research conducted by Dr Darren Lipnicki from the School of Psychology at the Australian National University, the differences in brain chemistry means that we can solve problems faster than we can lay standing up.

Many successful innovations have known where the creator was in a relaxed state. Archimedes is said to have had his Eureka! time in the bathroom, the idea of ​​Frankenstein is said to have come to Mary Shelley when she was half asleep, and, of course, we know that Newton was sitting under a tree doing nothing much when he discovered gravity.

Vertical Thought

In my experience, one of the barriers to creativity in the workplace may be thinking vertically, also known as conventional or linear thinking. Vertical thinking follows an analytical, sequential path in a particular direction and, therefore, is often considered the most logical way of thinking. This way of thinking is, of course, have a value in solving problems, however, often prevents us from opening our minds to all possibilities of exploration, because it focuses on finding the right approach and closing all the ideas that may not be correct.

The Apollo syndrome

One of the obstacles to solving problems as a team is Dr. Meredith Belbin 'Apollo Syndrome'. Dr. Belbin is the well known creator of the Belbin team role theory ®. His 'Apollo Syndrome' refers to a phenomenon observed by teams of highly successful, intelligent people who have failed when they tried to work together to solve problems.

There were a number of important factors common behaviors within these teams:


They spent an inordinate amount of time in discussion destructive with each team member trying to convince others to adopt their ideas and pointing out the flaws in others' points of view. Their decision making was slow and poor quality teams were difficult to manage as members tended to work on their ideas without taking into account the other

Only where there was a clear absence of a dominant individual has the teams work well, and it became clear that simply putting together a team of skilled individuals is not the best team.

Too many ideas, not close enough

Similarly, it is not enough for a team to consist only of the most creative individuals. To solve the problems it is obviously necessary to have people who are good at coming up with ideas. E ', however, equally important to include people who are good at assessing the ideas and decide what to do with them, as well as people who will see how to implement them. The lack of ability to use the ideas generated is a huge problem for the teams, and I've seen many a long and productive session for nothing because the ideas generated were not brought forward to use.

Methods and tools for creative thinking

Although he said he thought the vertical can inhibit creativity, it is worth recognizing that there are some very good tools that use this way of thinking for effective problem solving. One of these is the 'Reframing Matrix', a technique that allows you to put yourself in the minds of different people and imagine how they would tackle the problem.

The opposite of thought is the vertical lateral thinking, a term coined by Edward de Bono. Lateral thinking is concerned with generating ideas that might not be possible using step-by-step logic. It tries to find the largest possible number of approaches rather than a proper approach and allows the user to make leaps rather than follow a sequential process.

One of the most popular tools of lateral thinking is 'Brainstorming', where people come with as many ideas as possible, without judgment or analysis before the end of the session. Group brainstorming sessions should be very well chaired so as to avoid being embarrassed by the members or open criticism of their ridiculous ideas.

Another method, developed by Edward de Bono, is the technique of 'Six Thinking Hats', which encourages full spectrum of thought and separates ego from performance. Each hat is metaphorical and the color represents a different type of thinking - the data, intuition, logic, judgment, etc. Using the hats, team members may introduce different ways of thinking to the group, as they are required.

Roger von Oech is an author, inventor and creator of the 'Creative Whack Pack', a creativity tool consists of a deck of cards, each with a different strategy for research, development or implementation of your idea. We used the package in a laboratory problem-solving and creativity, with some surprising results. You can get the 'Creative Whack Pack' and other resources from our library

There is much research about the effects of music on the brain and is widely accepted that listening to classical music helps creative thinking. He believes this is because it slows the heart rate and blood flow, which helps us to reach 'alpha state' - a very relaxed state similar to meditation on the light - and creates new neural pathways that stimulate creativity. I mentioned earlier that a few rooms contains a CD player?

Mind maps are a useful tool to capture the outputs of your creative thinking. Mind Mapping has its origins from the third century, although the modern form was created by Dr. Allan Collins in 1960. Mind maps can be used to help generate ideas in a way that lists can not, or simply to capture the outputs were collected using another tool or method.

Breakthrough Creativity for your team

If you want to change the way the team is using his creative abilities, the first thing I would suggest is that you take them out of the office. This should not mean out of the building, but finding a place that is not bound to tables, walls or equipment.

Choose a good time of day to hold the session. Some people feel better in the morning, others at night. Talk with your team and see what works for them.

Clear your mind of irrelevant thoughts and relax. Think about how you can achieve this - maybe go outside and play tag for ten minutes before starting the session, or put on a CD of classical music and listen with your eyes closed for ten minutes. You could also try lying on the floor, like a yoga class. Do not knock until you've tried!

Talk about what roles people will play:


that will gather the information and resources needed to start? Who is the person best ideas? who is good at analyzing and evaluating for defects? it would be better to take the ideas back to the chosen implementation?

Remember that a lot of ideas does not necessarily mean a lot of solutions, so be discerning about what they are really worth following ....