MANAGING CREATIVITY: TOLERATING SOME CHAOS

What does it take to inspire creativity as a second nature among your employees?

The business environment is getting even more competitive and only exceptional solutions will drive any company to being a market leader. Exceptional ideas come from liberated minds. Minds that question even the best results and seek to improve them. As a leader, how do you inspire creative thinking as a norm in your team?

a)      Allow your team members to express themselves in their own language and style – provided they focus on what is critical and do not infringe on others. Creatives and out of the box thinkers can be wild;

b)     Make them contribute to solutions and feel listened to even where a position may have been reached. State problems and let them come up with solutions and moderate tactfully. Ask team members what they think in any context of a discussion;

c)      Where idea generation is involved, be just a member of the team – not the boss. Concede when your argument lacks depth and commend members with better ideas;

d)     Celebrate achievements and commend great performers. Also encourage cross learning and collaborations. Intentionally ask employee A to run their idea through employee B if it adds value;

e)     Refer to earlier brilliant thought lines if it inspires the thinker to get deeper into solving a current problem. Remind each team member of their strengths – and the role they play in idea generation.

Ideas need to flow and regulation may inhibit this.