Bits & Bytes, May 29

Again, some miscellanea from around the Internet.

Adults, Play and Creativity

Two posts on ‘play’ for adults, particularly in business. On one hand, it’s fairly well-known that play is an important ingredient for adults, both in creative thinking and in learning. On the other, I know there's real hesitation from the Regular Person who doesn't understand what we often mean by that statement. A random search on Google has some questionable suggestions by creative experts, such as “Learn to cut loose, even at work!” or “When you’re writing your next report, think like a child!”

I'm not sure this is a good example of playing at work, but a few weeks ago, at a workshop for a financial services company in Melbourne, an executive and I were analysing how to improve her 78-page slide presentation for an upcoming meeting of the Board of Directors. Her immediate supervisor demanded she put all of his slides in the presentation, but then said "But feel free to make it your own." (Talk about Creative Paradoxes, see below.)

After getting our heads around the complex topic, we began to joke about how we might turn the presentation into something playful. “What would the Board of Directors never expect?” And, "What would make her presentation a surprise?” Or, “What if the Board were in control of the presentation, instead of her?”

This last point became our springboard. After some brainstorming, we decided to turn her presentation into a type of television game show. We created a new title slide which asked the Board to choose the order of the six topics in her presentation. Yes, it required us to make a load of hyperlinks throughout the document, but in the end, it was now their presentation and not "hers."

Last week, I heard the meeting went very well, but more specifically, the Board appreciated the idea they could prioritise the topics based on their discussions earlier in the day. In fact, it generated so much interest, the Board only selected two of the six topics, and invited her back next month to discuss the other four. Clearly, she was thrilled to be re-invited, thus earning her more exposure with key influencers in the organisation.

Is that a fair example of incorporating “play” into a work situation? I’d love to hear other real examples ...

In the meantime, here's two posts for you to consider.

Adult creativity: Why we should make time for play

Also, a TED presentation by Dr. Stuart Brown, an expert on play. I particularly liked his thought: "The opposite of play is not work, it's depression."

Unsuccessful Brainstorms: Why?

Mitch Ditkoff from Idea Champions wrote an insightful post on why nothing happens after a brainstorm session.

Read his post for all of his points, but here's my list of the top seven reasons:

1. No organisation or ownership by the brainstorm sponsor.
2. A poorly trained or organised facilitator.
3. The brainstorm isn't organised correctly.
4. The outcome of the brainstorm isn’t efficient or effective.
5. Participants are not part of the process, and thus have no influence or responsibility
6. No teamwork.
7. Politics, negativity.

In my experience, the worst reason of all: no one is responsible for moving the ideas forward. In other words, it’s paramount to have someone accountable the moment the brainstorm is over to make the notes articulate and actionable. I’ve had great brainstorms dissolve into inactivity, and I’ve had horrible brainstorms saved by someone who organises the debris into something coherent.

The Paradoxes of Creativity

Two well-known creativity experts merge in this post: Roger von Oech (author of A Whack on the Side of the Head, among many others) relates the eight paradoxes of creativity, originally written by Michael Michalko (author of Thinkertoys, among many others).

Here’s Michalko's paradoxes.

To create, a person must:

• Have knowledge - but forget the knowledge;
• See unexpected connections in things - but not have a mental disorder
• Work hard - but spend time doing nothing
• Create many ideas - yet most of them are useless
• Look at the same thing as everyone else - yet see something different
• Desire success - but learn how to fail
• Be persistent - but not stubborn
• Listen to experts - but know how to disregard them

I’d add “Know the rules - but then discard them when they don’t suit.”

Eight Traits of Ineffective Leaders

Mike Myatt writes in Blogging Innovation about the eight traits of ineffective leaders. Go to the post to read his detail, but here are the eight traits. My favourite line: “Show me a leader with poor communication skills and I’ll show you someone who will be short-lived in their position.” So true. And, after last week’s IBM survey of CEOs: I’d add in “lack of creativity” specifically as a ninth trait.

1. Poor Character
2. Little or No Track Record
3. Poor Communication Skills
4. Self-Serving Nature
5. One Size Fits All Leadership Style
6. Lack of Focus and Follow-Through
7. Not Forward Looking
8. Not Customer Focused Bits