Creative Streak

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?”

Innovator vs. Pseudo-Innovator

 A cold, wet wintry day in Sydney is perfect for going through old stuff ... namely 11 boxes (I kid you not) of old articles on communications, creativity and innovation I've kept since I got my first job in 1984. I'm always amazed how some of the principles remain true after 25 years, others perhaps not so much.

One stand-out from this morning's gleaning is entitled "The Innovator vs. the Pseudo-Innovator", from the January 1980 edition of Executive Skills, an old newsletter from the American Management Association. It's interesting to me because the traits of an innovator have a natural affinity to the characteristics of a creative person. I cringe every now and then because I read a trait I don't follow consistently (so it's a good list, sort of like an Eighteen Commandments of Creativity). I'm not 100% sure I agree. For instance, "... prefers complexity." Personally, I prefer ideas which are simple, although I also understand the joy (among us INTPs) to reduce complexity to simplicity.

Anyway, an interesting read nonetheless. Any thoughts? Any others you'd add? HTML

The Traits of an Innovator vs. Those of the Pseudo-Innovator

The Innovator: ... is intellectually curious

   The Pseudo-Innovator ... is cynically curious

I ...is constructively critical

   P-I ...is corrosively critical

I ...seeks to improve the operation

   P-I ...seeks to impress others

I ...has firm convictions but listens to the ideas of others

Forrest Gump and Creativity

Forgive me, but it's a cold, wet winter day in Sydney. This morning, a friend sent this to me for two reasons. The first is he knows I love jokes about creativity. The second reason will be obvious when you read it. Enjoy!

Forrest Gump Goes to Heaven.

The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.

At the Pearly Gates, Forrest is met by St. Peter himself. As he approaches him, he notices the gates are closed.

St. Peter said, "Forrest, it is certainly good to see you. We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast. So, like Australia, we've decided to administer an entrance examination before you can enter. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven."

Forrest responds, "It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was."

St. Peter continued, "Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.

First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?

Second: How many seconds are there in a year?

Third: What is God’s first name?"

The Value of Creativity, At Last

Did you hear that cry of vindication? You should have. Thousands of consultants worldwide threw their hats in the air as a new global survey found that the most important leadership quality was ‘creativity.’ If you haven’t seen it, read the article now.

The survey Capitalising on Complexity: Insights from the Global Chief Executive Officer Study is notable for a variety of reasons.

First, the findings came from the highest level: 1,500 chief executives from every region in the world. Collectively, they ranked creativity higher than other competencies such as integrity, global thinking, influence, openness, dedication, focus on sustainability, humility and fairness.

Second, it was conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value. Not only is the endorsement by IBM significant, it’s rich with irony. Remember the phase “No one gets fired for hiring IBM?” You couldn’t find a more non-creative declarative sentence, so clearly, the brand overhaul of IBM’s reputation is nearly complete.

Third, the release of the survey after one of the worst economic period in history makes it extremely surprising. A senior manager at IBM Global Business Services said that “(CEOs) didn't fall back on management discipline, existing best practices, rigor, or operations. In fact, they (did) just the opposite.”

Creative Jolt: Breaking Habits

The inspiration for this post comes from a well-known quote by American actor Alan Alda: “Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."

Part of out of curiosity, I did a quick survey of (non-creative) friends and colleagues and found a decidedly non-startling fact: most people come and go to work the same way, every time. It's efficient, said one. It saves time, said another. I don't even think about it, said a third. In fact, one person offered a day organised entirely by rote. Same route to work, same coffee shop, same order, same routine at her desk, same place for lunch, etc.

"I'm going to get a lecture now on not being creative, aren't I?" she laughed.

Creative Jolt: Journal Writing and Drawing

I might walk out the front door without my house keys, but I never leave home without a pad of paper and a pen. It’s also my first answer if someone asks for one easy task to integrate creativity in their life: carry a journal.

Journal writing is a common creative activity shared by everyone from Michelangelo to Thomas Edison to John Hughes. I began carrying one simply because I have the world’s worst memory. Quickly it became a habit. Not just to write down an idea, but more often, to draw an idea. To use to sell an idea to client. Other times to record notes. Sometimes a word to look up. A bed-side spot to scribble an idea that popped into my head before sleep, or during a dream. I know draw every PowerPoint slide before I get anywhere near a keyboard (see artwork below).

In other words, any time inspiration hits, keep a journal handy to record it, to amplify it, to solve a problem.

For some people, journal writing - akin to writing a diary - is their way to make sense of a event, task or problem. My friend Marilyn describes it as "a way to make sense of a challenge that my brain won't let go of." Dylan, an old co-worker from my Burson days living in San Francisco, uses it to express himself when words are limiting - or "when my friends can't take me banging on about something." Whether you write or draw or something in-between, it's essentially the act of reflection - in my mind, another way to describe day-dreaming. You should drink eight glasses of water every day and every day you should schedule daydreaming into your day. Otherwise, when do you stop to actually THINK?

Unsuccessful Brainstorms: Now What?

It's going to happen, if each one of us hasn't experienced it already: a brainstorm that didn't generate one single usable idea.

A friend - also a brainstorm facilitator - and I were talking yesterday that one of the primary characteristics necessary for our type of work is a relentless optimism, knowing that you will eventually find the idea. The good news is chance is on our side. Experience has shown me over the years that in almost every brainstorm, the team eventually creates and develops the brilliant idea.

But, it does - and can - happen. So then what do you do? Ironically, use a bit of creative problem solving to identify the issue and eliminate it.

There might be something wrong with the environment.  The physical space isn't conducive to brainstorming. The room's dark, too hot, too cold, or featureless. Or, it's distracting (windows on a more compelling situation, ringing phones or bleeting Blackberries). No stimuli: toys, visuals, exercises. A solution?  Move. Go some place else, or if at all possible, go outside. Bring more and better stimuli into the brainstorm. Good food and beverage never goes astray.

There might be something wrong with one of the participants.  Perhaps the most common, and most difficult to work around. A single person detracts and distracts the collective imagination. They're negative, or positive but domineering, or stuck on assumptions, or unable to express themselves. Two solutions.  1) isolate the person and help them articulate the problem, and if possible, 2) have a brainstorm where they aren't involved.

What if it's the whole group, not just a single participant?  Perhaps the team needs to be re-organised. Instead of one large group, schedule two smaller groups. Figure out if there's a political issue.

There might be something wrong with the objective or purpose.  In most P.R. or communications brainstorms, the objective is always the same: get media placements. Or the absolutely worst, tell our consumer how cool we are. The solution? Re-frame the problem. Start by brainstorming different ways to state the same objective, then brainstorm either strategies or tactics to match the new objective.

There might be something wrong with the problem itself.  Similar to the previous point, here the team is trying to eliminate the wrong problem instead of trying to reach the same objective.  The difference here is that the team or the client typically defines the objective.  In this case, the target audience defines the problem. The solution?  The team needs to better understand the target audience, their opinions, current mind-set, their history or experiences with the organisation, product or service. Also, focus less on the demographics of the target audience, and delve more deeply into the psychographics (how they behave, what they believe, what personal values they associate between themselves and their reflection on the potential product or service.  

There might be something wrong with the research. The typical 'wrong' research is mis-understanding the target audience, but in my experience over the past few months, the growing problem are people who don't do any proper research. First and foremost, the results which pop up on the first few pages of Google or Yahoo is NOT research. The solution? Take face-to-face to the target audience. In 25 years of being part of brainstorms, I have never seen a target audience lie about what they want or believe. 

It may not be something you can identify.  After you've looked at all the circumstances, and still can't understand the problem, it's time to cut the losses and start again.

You can take the hard and drastic path. Fire the facilitator and get a new one. Get a new set of people. Ask yourself if YOU are the problem.

Or, you can take the simple and fresh path. Stop and breath. Let unconscious/passive creativity work on the problem while you and your team go on to something more pressing. Get a facilitator to help you manage the process. (Are you doing too much?) And most of all, remember you have relentless optimism. It's very likely the idea is there, it's just not ready to show itself, so start again tomorrow after a good night's sleep.