How do you use relationship building to enhance your creativity and innovation skills?

As much as I'd like to come up with brilliant solutions and game-changing ideas on my own, I always find that when I share my ideas with other creative thinkers, the concepts get better, the solutions more profoundly simple, and the presentations more penetrating. Having multiple people analyze the same problem and generate ideas as a group, poke holes in them, and passionately defend them creates some of the most engaging, groundbreaking, and fulfilling work I've ever done. But so much of our education system and cultural conditioning forces people to work alone and try to save the day as the hero. Collaboration is much more fun and rewarding, but it requires the daily practice of sharing ideas and letting others make the winning shot.

The journey of creativity and innovation is often filled with ups and downs, setbacks, and challenges. Building supportive relationships provides emotional support, encouragement, and motivation to persevere during difficult times. When individuals feel supported and valued, they are more likely to bounce back from failures, embrace experimentation, and maintain the resilience necessary for sustained creativity and innovation. Strong relationships provide a safety net and a source of inspiration, enabling individuals to navigate uncertainties and maintain a positive mindset.

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege to work with creative professionals from around the world. Their unique experiences and perspectives challenge me to see the world in different ways. This leads to rich collaborative relationships which bring out the best in each of us.

So much of our education, grades, office environments, awards, and myths focus on being the hero and doing things independently. Besides the occasional group projects—which students and business people say they dread—most organizations don't get enough practice sharing creative ideas with others. Therefore when groups get together, they're unsure where to start, how far to go into an idea, when to let it go and move on to the next topic, and how to keep passionate people from trampling over others' ideas. To get better at collaborating with others, you must practice it often, be ok with saying dumb ideas, and even get laughed at by others (humor is where the biggest breakthroughs come from). Keep the ego out of the room and play with ideas!

As an architect, I aim to get creatively stuck every day because that's when I know I'm close to achieving a big breakthrough idea. And the only way I can get over that mental block is to have the outside perspective of others tell me what they see, hear, or feel about a proposed solution. A key part of receiving input from others requires getting comfortable showing them my raw, unfinished, and half-baked ideas. It requires permitting them to attack your ideas so you can see where the holes are. And it entails being able to laugh together at how outlandish or implausible an idea might be. It's not about one person being better or smarter; it's about using collaborators as a test audience to run ideas by to gain feedback and suggestions.

Sometimes I'll work with groups collaboratively where we're all trying to bake the ideas as equal players at the table simultaneously with no one in charge. But it's much more productive to appoint a facilitator and project leader who can help steer the effort, moderate the discussions, and ultimately decide which direction we're heading in. This facilitator/project leader position can rotate between individuals within an organization. It's important to assemble a diverse group with different backgrounds and lifestyles because it prevents rigid and narrow-minded thinking. The facilitator must ensure everyone is heard and has an opportunity to contribute to the discussion. Bullying, intimidation, or mean-spiritedness is not allowed.

We have dedicated brainstorming rooms in our office where everyone is free to express themselves, and no ideas are "too stupid" to put out there. If anything, we encourage dumb ideas because that bravery often lifts the lid off a brilliant territory to explore further. However, we believe in putting ideas on the table and attacking them to see if they hold water and withstand the potential interrogation of our clients. We also believe in having fun, using lots of humor, and laughing at ideas, because this gets everyone engaged in the discussion. When people laugh, it's because some human truth has been revealed, and therein lies the big ideas. I can't stress enough the importance of regularly practicing group sharing and ideations sessions.