Create a Creativity-Inducing Environment
I developed what I came to call “imaginars” in place of seminars. These weekly meetings with my managers were, appropriately, held in our district’s Imaginar Room. While most companies were having seminars, we were having imaginars. A sign hung in our imaginar room that read: “None of us is as smart as all of us.”
Our theme was a constant reminder that no one individual could offer as much as the corporate effort of the entire group. My people went in there with the express purpose of discussing solutions to problems and creating new ideas to put into action. Creativity was not only allowed, it was encouraged. Creativity was our first order of business. When we really wanted to dig deep into ourselves for ideas, we rented a room at a local resort and got away from the clutter of daily activities. We covered the walls with flip chart sheets, filled with thoughts and ideas we later verified and put into practice.
Creativity Calls for Experimentation.
Creativity can create heat. A leader is likely to meet resistance from his or her team members as well as those higher in the organization. The thought of doing something new or different terrifies some people and makes the rest nervous. Yet the leader courageously asks, “Why don’t we try this?” The answer is almost automatic from his or her people: “Because we’ve never done it that way." To me that’s just not a valid reason to block creativity. Yet, you’ll hear it nearly every time a new idea is mentioned, if not in so many words.
Creativity Calls Playfulness.
An environment of playfulness simply means an environment that grants permission to have fun. In fact, it encourages people to have fun with what they do. Urge your people to play the "What if?" game and kick new ideas around. Some bosses will catch people brainstorming a new idea and demand they quit goofing off and get back to work. What poor, misguided souls. Their people were engaging in one of the most valuable exercises to improve production, and they were nipped in the bud.
Creativity Calls for Spontaneity. Take the "What if?" mind set seriously. Keep the door to new ideas open constantly. Encourage innovation whenever possible. I know a retail merchant, Stew Leonard, who started what he calls the One Idea Club. Each month, Stew selects about a half-dozen employees, making sure every job level and description is represented regularly, and drives them as far as two hours away to observe a store where customers are served well. The next day, the team that traveled together meets and each team member stands up and shares one new idea learned on the trip to use in their own store.
Try these creativity-enhancing techniques with your team members:
Encourage experimentation by praising "successful failures."
Encourage playfulness by relaxing old rules of conformity.
Encourage spontaneity by publicly recognizing new ideas and insights.
"A leader never forgets that creativity is contagious and can build inertia."
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