How To Boost Your Team’s Creativity
Get your team out of a slump with these 5 tips.
Have you ever wondered where the drive to be creative goes? For adults, unless it has been intentionally nurtured, creativity is often a lost skill. The beauty of human beings is that we are inherently innovative. In the right environment, with the right tools, the creative mind will come back to life.
Creativity is often thought of as the domain of children or artists, not executive teams. Up until recently, the idea that creativity is an essential component of corporate culture was laughable. Not anymore. Creativity has proven to be the tool that can give you the edge when tackling complex problems.
One of the challenges that can arise is that many executive teams would like to use creativity like a hammer. When the job demands it, you go and get your hammer, and when the task is accomplished you return the hammer – only to be used again when it is needed.
This is not how this “tool” works.
By taking the steps to develop a culture where creativity is fostered, appreciated and celebrated, team members find themselves in an environment where their collective creative power can be tapped at any moment.
Executive teams can start sowing the seeds of this fertile ground by implementing strategies and systems to develop each individual’s creative skills.
Create A Culture of Safety
Your team members will not be willing to offer up creative solutions, as well as the problems they are facing, if they feel like they will be ridiculed. Make sure that they know that you have their back.
Alan Mulally, when executing what was perhaps the most spectacular company turnaround ever at Ford, made sure people felt safe to discuss the issues. When executives felt safe enough to bring up the problems, their colleagues sprang at the chance to help them. This brought fresh, creative perspectives to the problems that would have otherwise stagnated.
Read the whole story here.
Make It Clear That Creativity Is Appreciated and Rewarded
If there is a difference between your espoused values and your enacted values, you will lose the trust of your executive team. By appreciating and rewarding creativity, you show by your actions that you say what you mean and you mean what you say.
The real estate tech company Compass has created a system that allows employees and agents to make suggestions via their internal platform. These ideas are then up- or down-voted. The best suggestions are eligible for the hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money earmarked for R & D. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!
Take The Ego Out Of It
Problems don’t care about your ego. The untapped creative potential of your team is a vast and indispensable resource if you are humble enough to use it. Being in charge doesn’t mean having the best ideas all the time. Knowing how to extract the best ideas and give them to the right people to handle is an executive’s job.
John Maxwell is known for inviting his team to make suggestions for the next book that he will be writing. He sets aside time to deliberate and discuss all the ideas, and as a group they decide the best from there. The best idea should win the day.
Include Non-Creative Types
So-called “non-creative” types are the ying to the yang of the crazy ones with wild ideas. Every perspective is important. Not all team members may be great at coming up with ideas, but they could be damn good (or even great) at refining them. These people take something and make it better. Encouraging everyone to take part in the collaborative process will result in better solutions than you might otherwise expect.
Einstein is often credited with this quote. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” While I don’t believe that everyone is a genius, it does point out the fact that people have different skillsets and abilities that are equally important.
Eliminate Negativity
Trust can be broken in an instant when someone is being vulnerable. Putting your ideas out there, naked and unfiltered, can feel very high-risk. Do not tolerate negativity.
If there is a culture of negativity or sarcasm, nip it in the bud. It’s easy to imagine the detrimental effect this can have, not only on morale but on production. Think of the great ideas that never came to fruition because a team member was afraid they would be mocked or laughed at!
Alan Mulally famously told a board member at Ford that he didn’t need to like the changes he implemented, he only had to abide by them or choose to leave. Mulally’s new rules had “zero tolerance” for bad behaviour. The board member was stunned and chose to leave rather than stay at Ford.
You may or may not be faced with enacting change for an entire organization, but these five tips will help lay the foundation for free and easy communication among team members.
However, when you’re in a deep rut, understanding when and how to implement the right strategy can be a daunting task for any executive.
If you are interested in knowing more about coaching or how group workshops can benefit your organization, book a free introductory call with me.
If you’re keen to unlock some creativity of your own, read this post for inspiration.
Einstein said it best: “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
So loosen your grip on the status quo and allow time and space for fun!
