Creative Reaction

It really bugs me when I see lists of how NOT to do things. Sure it’s an attention-getting device, but it is one with a completely negative undertone, requiring translation of all the negatives into positives. Besides, you can’t tell people to not do something negative. It doesn’t work. You can’t say to someone, “Whatever you do, don’t think about man-eating cows”; he is going to think about man-eating cows! Instruct people to do something positive, so they can do something positive!

So, I’m translating this otherwise excellent blog post into positives.

Ten Steps to Allow Creativity to Flourish:

1. Brainstorm constantly. Focus on one issue at a time for best results.
2. Praise new and unusual ideas. Even if they are incomplete or flawed, give them some breathing room.
3. Stress innovation, even with its inefficiencies. Innovation is supposed to be a little sloppy. (See below.)
4. Manage mistakes. Allow them to happen; in fact, encourage them. They are an inevitable part of pushing boundaries. Learn from them. Do not create rules to prevent them except in mission critical areas (or issues of public safety and medicine). Most importantly, teach mistake recovery.
5. Hold loosely onto plans. Better yet, build a prototype rapidly and cheaply, learn from its shortcomings. Reiterate, rinse & repeat.
6. Look to competitors, other industries, and academia for ideas. The buzzword for this is Open Innovation.
7. Find fresh brains! Recruit outsiders. People in an industry tend to think alike and to be blind in all the same ways.
8. Lead transparently. Share the business’ successes and problems. Work together to find solutions.
9. Stress health. Encourage breaks, adequate rest, exercise and socialization – both inside and outside of the workplace.
10. Train, train, train. Train people about your culture. Train them to lead. Train them to further your vision when you are gone.