Jolt! (14 page)

The truth is, the leaders of the organization weren't bad people; in fact, it was just the opposite—these were wonderful leaders with a deep concern for their employees. They genuinely believed the office should have a uniform, professional look. They didn't realize that the right atmosphere enhances performance, creativity, and innovation.

Since that meeting we've talked the organization's leadership into letting people create their own workspaces and hang whatever inspires them on the wall. We relaxed the dress code and allowed employees to express their individuality. We've even adjusted the work schedule so people can define their own work hours for maximum productivity.

Understand, the transition was done under supervision so it wouldn't descend into pure chaos. Leadership was nervous at first, but now the morale, enthusiasm, and productivity have all surged to levels they had never experienced before.

Today that organization is a place where creativity happens and employees are allowed to question and be more innovative. It's a different atmosphere, and you can sense it the minute you walk in the door.

How do you change the atmosphere in your organization? First, schedule a meeting with your leadership team. I suggest the meeting be held off-site, perhaps at a resort or casual location. Get them away from phones, interruptions, and the pressure of the workplace.

Second, make your own list of what impedes creativity and innovation at your company. Make sure they understand that all restrictions are off and they shouldn't be afraid to be open and honest. A truly open and inventive atmosphere will never happen unless employees know they won't be penalized for their honesty. Make the list and discuss each point. And if you're in a leadership position, be ready for some criticism. Very often, poor innovation is a result of mismanagement, and you may be made to feel that you're partly responsible.

Be man or woman enough to take the heat and make the changes you need to make, personally and corporately.

Finally, translate the list into practical reality, which brings us to number four.

4. THERE ARE TOO MANY RULES AND SACRED COWS IN THE ORGANIZATION THAT RESTRICT OUR THINKING.

Here's where the rubber meets the road. Organizational leadership has to be willing to put their money where their mouth is. You have to make the list concrete, to make the necessary policy changes to make original thinking a priority. For instance, in our case, our first plan of attack was to provide more creative tools for the employees. In the past, certain software programs, equipment requests, and other tools were deemed too expensive or unnecessary. But for creative people, the right digital tools and software become essential. Just approving those purchases made a huge difference in employee morale.

So don't think creativity is just about thinking. In today's marketplace, Michelangelo would use the latest software, Rembrandt would want the new mobile device, and Leonardo da Vinci would no doubt demand a bigger video screen. Art historians tell us that the great masters of the past all used the best equipment and went to extraordinary lengths to find the finest materials for their paints, brushes, and canvas. They would be no different today.

• Make sure your people have the right tools for maximum creativity.

• Change the rules. Rethink policies. Question everything.

I'll admit this isn't always easy. In many organizations, certain rules and policies have been in place for decades, and changing them is similar to adding an amendment to the Constitution.

But change them you must.

When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied: “Only stand out of my light.” Perhaps some day we shall know how to heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for creative men and women is to stand out of their light.
—JOHN W. GARDNER, NOVELIST AND WRITING TEACHER

One of the most damaging sacred cows in organizations is basing employee status on seniority rather than talent. Yes, loyalty is important, but some of the most loyal employees I've ever met are loyal because of selfishness. They project loyalty to keep their jobs, retain their benefits, or hold on to their authority. Real loyalty is about innovation, original thinking, and helping the company get to the next level.

» NEVER MISTAKE LOYALTY FOR COMPETENCE OR VALUE. SOME OF YOUR MOST LOYAL EMPLOYEES ARE THE LEAST VALUABLE TO YOUR ORGANIZATION.

Everyone has intrinsic value. Every person has worth and is important. But a great leader always knows the people who bring the most value to the organization. Those are the people to be developed, trained, and cultivated.

Create an atmosphere of original thinking and you'll have more loyalty than you'll know what to do with. Most companies are so ignorant of how to develop an environment of innovation that if you do it, you'll have people coming from every direction to work with you.

5. WE'RE JUST NOT TALENTED ENOUGH.

I've put this last on the list because of the most frequently asked question at workshops and conferences. People from all walks of life come up to me and say, “I'm just not a creative person, so I'll never be able to do these things.” Others ask, “Can I ever be creative?”

All of us were born creative. Find any child and play with him or her for five minutes and you'll see creativity in action. Children can visualize worlds you've never dreamed of and places beyond imagination. The most bizarre fairy tales seem absolutely believable to a child, and there is no limit to the creativity of children.

This is beautifully illustrated in Chris Van Allsburg's classic Christmas book
The Polar Express
. A young boy is beginning to question the existence of Santa Claus, and after a breathtaking Christmas Eve trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express train, he discovers his ability to believe is directly related to his ability to hear a ringing bell on Santa's sleigh. Early on, the skeptical young man can't hear the bells, but as his belief in Santa grows, he slowly begins to hear the bell. When Santa gives him the bell as the first gift of Christmas, he and his sister can clearly hear its beautiful sound—but his parents can't. Later, as he grows up, his sister loses her ability to hear it, as do most of his friends. But because he never stops believing in Santa, he is able to hear the sweet, clear sound of the ringing sleigh bell for the rest of his life.

Creativity is no different. We all start out amazingly creative, but as we grow older, the ringing bell of creative thinking grows softer and softer. There is a difference of opinion about what causes this—the educational system, a growing maturity, the sense that we're “supposed” to be more rational as we grow up, taking on adult responsibilities—whatever it is, it's a tragic loss.

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
—SCOTT ADAMS, CREATOR OF
DILBERT

Granted, some people are more creative than others. Just as some people are stronger, faster, or smarter than the rest, some people seem to be born with more creativity. But the fact is, all of us were born creative, and we can all grow in creativity.

How?

Don't be afraid to start with a blank page.

Every great idea started from nothing, but most people can't move past a blank page. Start making notes or drawing pictures—dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp calls it “scratching.” Look for bits and pieces of ideas in any number of places—reading, watching, thinking, reflecting. Find places that “feel” more creative and spend time there. Perhaps it's a museum, a bookstore, or an empty chair in your bedroom. Wherever it is, that's where the creative process can start for you.

Stop worrying about being wrong.

The fear of being wrong is poison for the creative process. Creativity is not about right or wrong. It's about problem solving. Begin thinking in terms of problem solving and you'll master the art of creative thinking.

Understand that creativity is not a state of being.

Creativity is about action. You can't “be creative.” Don't believe me? Okay, try it. Try “being creative.” Any luck? I didn't think so. Creativity is the process of
doing
, and that act of doing is solving problems. Look at the list of great creative people—writers, artists, engineers, software designers, advertising executives, animators, and many more—they all were concerned about solving a problem, and they solved it with their work. A novel about injustice, a software program that helps create better photos, the painted ceiling of a chapel, an advertisement that sells juice. Creativity isn't about a state of being, it's about an end result.

That understanding alone will free you to instantly take your original thinking to a higher level.

The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas.
—LINUS PAULING, SCIENTIST AND HUMANITARIAN

Learn the art of brainstorming.

When I teach brainstorming techniques at workshops, my greatest obstacle is people who think they already know how to do it. Most people assume brainstorming is just getting a lot of people into a room and kicking around some ideas.

Wrong.

Effective brainstorming is a skill, just like good writing. Here are some tips to help you increase the productivity of your brainstorming sessions.

Create the right atmosphere.

Find a place with no distractions. I suggest a location away from the office, but that's not necessary. In fact, at a resort or similar location, the “fun factor” may be too much of a distraction. I have difficulty being productive when there are windows in the room. Likewise, sometimes it's best to find a brainstorming location with few other options so the team will stay focused on the goal. Just make sure it's a relaxed atmosphere where original thinking can flourish. Don't allow interruptions, and make sure everyone knows what the session is about so your team can be thinking about the issues ahead of time. Also, make sure the session is well supplied—paper, markers, chart paper, and don't forget coffee, cookies, water, or other refreshments.

Don't include too many people.

Jeff Bezos, founder of
Amazon.com
, says that the best sessions have no more people than you can feed with two pizzas. When you allow too many people into the session, it becomes unwieldy, unfocused, and hard to manage. Everyone will want to be involved, but you have to restrict it to the most pertinent people involved in the particular issue. I like to limit the session to six people if possible, and I rarely make it more than ten. Sometimes more can work, depending on the problem to be solved, but generally, keep the numbers lower.

Have lots of ideas.

Brainstorming is about volume. Make sure everyone knows there are no limits, no boundaries, not even budget constraints. The purpose is to get everything out on the table. You never know what your next big idea is, so at this point, don't limit yourself to what you think is possible or affordable. I suggest you have someone keep a list of the ideas and number them. That will help later when you go back to review, and it gives you some sense of how many ideas are being generated. One good suggestion is to hang poster paper or butcher paper on the walls and have people randomly write or draw their ideas on the paper. It keeps people moving, ideas pumping, and momentum marching forward.

No criticism allowed.

In the initial stages of brainstorming, it's not about how good an idea is or whether or not it will work. It's about getting the ideas on the table. So the most important rule of a good session is
no criticism
. If someone tosses out an idea and you call it stupid or unworkable, chances are, it will be the last idea you get from that person. And who knows? His or her next idea may have been the big one that saved the company. Don't let anyone criticize an idea or a person. Criticism is probably the biggest idea killer than can infect a brainstorming session.

Keep it to an hour or so.

Someone once asked film director Alfred Hitchcock, “What's the perfect length for a movie?” His response: “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”

The same holds true for brainstorming sessions. I've noticed that after an hour, people start getting restless and off track. Keep the sessions to an hour and you'll get the best out of people. In special brainstorming sessions, you can go longer, but I would provide long breaks at the top of each hour. Brainstorming is mental, but our minds are also connected to our bodies, and our bodies scream for breaks. Get up, walk around, get some coffee, or go outside.

The fact is, if you're having brainstorming sessions on a regular basis, an hour is all you need. Get into a regular habit of brainstorming with your key people and you'll find that you become a finely tuned idea machine. Speaking of fine tuning—

Fine-tune the ideas.

At some point, it's time to take the hopefully huge list of ideas and edit them to the best idea. This isn't easy, but it is necessary. Start with the obvious ideas that can't work because of budget, time schedule, or lack of resources. If someone suggested opening your sales conference with the Victoria's Secret models, that might be out of your price range. Having your marketing retreat on top of Mount Everest might be a bit tough as well. Make your first edits on the things that stand out.

Next, pull ideas that are probably good but won't solve the particular problem you're facing. Some great ideas are ahead of their time. Fine. Put them in your files and pull them out next year.

In the end, you should have your list of real, practical ideas that could work. It may be good to let that list gel over time. Perhaps you bring the team back in a week to discuss which of those ideas will work best. If you've developed a great team, then politics and ownership of ideas shouldn't be a problem. A great team knows it's not about individual stars, and one person shouldn't campaign for an idea just because it was his or hers. Develop a team that values the best ideas and will work to fine-tune the list until you all agree on the best possible solution.