Create Like A Team: Unlocking A Superpower

The word ‘creativity’ usually makes us think of artists and performers like sculptures or stand up comedians, but creativity is one of those incredibly valuable, fundamental soft skills that applies to every profession and every industry.

Creativity is the willingness and the ability to look at and try something differently than before. That extremely cliche phrase, ‘think outside the box’ may be tired at this point, but it’s still quite relevant. It’s so easy for human beings, particularly organizations, to get stuck in linear thinking which is the very opposite of adaptating.

When problems arise that no one knows how to solve, creativity must happen in order to deal with them. The most obvious example is of course that worldwide pandemic we all went through not that long ago. So many new kinds of problems arose. Some entities adapted and survived. Some even thrived. Others didn’t figure out how to adapt and they suffered.

Solving problems is important, but that’s only half of it. Creativity is also what fuels innovation and growth.

The best example comes from NASA. They had to figure out how to send humans to the moon and back safely in a time where computing power was a tiny fraction of what we have today. In pushing this boundary they ran into countless challenges which yielded new technologies and new ways of looking at the natural world. They grew and innovated enough to accomplish that very ambitious mission.

Because I live in L.A, I gotta throw in a Hollywood example too. Pixar has made some of the best animated films of all time. When the company formed, animation had been chugging along for decades using standard practices with hand drawn cells. This new company set out to create theater worthy animated feature films using computer generated graphics. At the time it sounded ridiculous and impossible. But they did it. The creativity it took to make all that happen could only come from well connected groups working well with one another.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review found a strong correlation between creativity and business performance. The research showed that companies with a creative culture were better able to adapt to market changes and maintain a competitive edge.

The Conference Board's survey of global CEOs identified creativity as essential for driving growth, attracting top talent, and staying ahead of the competition.

So, how do we inspire groups to create together? We first help them connect like human beings. Creativity is a very human activity.

When I take groups through my Play Like A Team workshops, I establish an environment that helps people drop their guard a bit so they can see each other. Once people feel connected, I take them through exercises that continue to foster connection while inspiring acts of creativity. And unlike most ‘trainings’ people go thru, these are actually fun. We tend to laugh a lot. And since studies show that people retain and learn more when they have fun, that’s a double bonus!

If you’d like to learn more about how all this can apply to your group, I’d love to talk with you. Click here to schedule a free discovery call to talk about your team.

#Leadership #communicate #creativity #improv #teambuilding