Stifling creativity is easy...

This article is part #5 of a series on Creativity For Better Innovation. (See Article 1 on Virtual Workshops, Article 2 on Getting to your Innovation Sweet Spot, Article 3 on Bringing the outside world in - 5 practical tips and Article 4 Unlocking Breakthrough Innovation - 4 Barriers to Overcome.

Igniting creativity is more challenging but not impossible.?

At its best, the right creative environment can lead to a state of what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called ‘flow’. ??Time seems to fly by, people are engaged, it’s a really enjoyable experience and you achieve more than you thought possible.

Conversely, I'm sure we've all had experiences when it's not done well. When an environment is dull and uninspiring, cringe-worthy and unengaging.

The workshop creative environment has the power to either ignite or extinguish creativity.?It impacts intrinsic motivation, which in turn impacts on creative behaviours, specifically cognitive flexibility and persistence, which are critical innovation behaviours.?

So what are these soft factors that go beyond embracing seeking novelty, tolerating risk and ambiguity and best practice divergent/convergent thinking behaviours?

Exploring thinking on creative environment combined with my own experience, I've distilled five critical factors which create a rather playful acronym, SCAMP: Safety, Challenge, the Anticipation of novelty, Momentum and Playfulness.

Factor 1 Safety: create a psychologically safe environment.

It is well established that we need a secure foundation to pursue goals, take risks and freely explore new possibilities.

At a fundamental level, we need to ensure our fight or flight safety needs are met to activate the feeling, and learning and creative parts of our brain. This is often referred to as upshifting thinking.

For me, the clincher that establishes how vital psychological safety is, is that the brain processes social pain in much the same way as physical pain.

So, what are the practical things we can do to create psychological safety??

1.????The workshop facilitator sets the expectation that we'll be thinking differently than most people might in their day jobs, and that might initially feel a bit uncomfortable.?

2.????Reinforce that we welcome diversity of thinking and embrace healthy conflict.

3.????Be clear that everyone's input is equally valued. And reflect this both verbally and nonverbally.

4.????During divergent thinking defer judgement. And ensure this behaviour is reinforced.?Do reassure people that convergent thinking (filtering ideas) will come later in the process.

5.????Finally, reinforce the workshop and creative stimulus have been designed to create the conditions for everyone to play their creative 'A' game. Creativity is not just the domain of people who have the word ‘creative’ in their job titles.

Factor 2 Challenge: embrace creative tension

?When we help people connect with the ‘why’, the vision or higher purpose, this creates a sense of challenge. The creative tension between where we're at now and where we want to get to is really important to fuel creativity.?

The skill with challenge is to hit the Goldilocks ‘just right’ point. We want to make the challenge positive and compelling enough to activate flexibility, balanced with a negative state we want to avoid, which activates persistence.?

How can we do this??

1.????Always connect to the higher purpose at the outset of the process.?

2.????Make it clear that the team have been hand-picked for this specific challenge.

3.????Reinforce the purpose through the design of creative stimulus, ideation tools and prioritisation criteria. Consistency is key.

4.????Remember to reconnect with the higher purpose at the end of the process too, ending on a high.

5.????Ensure when senior leaders join they are briefed to reinforce the higher purpose.

Factor 3 Anticipation of novelty?

Pleasant surprises (novelty) create cognitive arousal.

What's even more interesting is that the anticipation of novelty is cognitively arousing.?To prove this out reflect on an epic holiday you've been on. Often the anticipation has been just as enjoyable as the actual experience.

So, do:

1.????Even before the event begins create a sense of excitement and buzz about what’s to come through engaging comms.

2.????Deploy a variety of physical/virtual environments to break people out of their everyday routine.?Also use a variety of exercises and interactions i.e. larger group, smaller breakouts, pairs and individual tasks.

3.????Design the creative stimulus to inject novelty into the process and disrupt thinking.

4.????Create excitement and anticipation of what's to come in the workshop.?For example, meeting provocateurs, the opportunity to learn more about consumers or thinking on latest trends.

5.????Don’t just do this once, reinforce the novelty and build anticipation throughout the process.

Factor 4 Momentum: create a sense of progress

Making progress in meaningful work is one of the most important ways to boost emotions and motivation during the workday.

?When we make progress, we're often in a more positive mood and more likely to experience joy. If you're interested in learning more about the power of small wins, check out this HBR article.

A sense of achievement creates a more fulfilling human experience for participants, which to me is really important. We're not robots, we're people seeking to have meaningful lives.

How can we do this?

1.????The workshop facilitator emphasises progress and celebrate wins / learnings along the way.

2.????Avoid long and unfocused sessions, have a clear and energising design.

3.????Keep content engaging. Think short TED Talk versus a one-hour PowerPoint extravaganza.

4.????Think through what stimulus can be sent in advance. This frees up time in the live sessions for energising debate, discussion and alignment, not downloads.

5.????Built in brain breaks so people can recharge.?

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Factor 5 Playfulness: the need for a light-hearted mood

Playfulness contributes to spontaneity and exploratory behaviours. It's an effective behaviour that not only supports idea generation, but I'd argue, is an essential mindset for innovation.

?I think playfulness is worth exploring for several reasons:

1. It ignites a childlike curiosity which is vital for creativity.
2. Social laughter relaxes people increasing feel-good endorphins, arousal and social bonds.
3. It provides a nice offset for the serious challenge at the heart of the project.?

Being in a good mood has also been shown to help people take in information effectively and respond nimbly and creatively.

And let's be honest, playfulness (in balance) contributes to having a rewarding human experience.

Of course, playfulness must be calibrated to the country, corporate and team culture.?

How can we do this??

1.????Give people permission to have fun during the process. Naturally, do this in a light-hearted manner!

2.????Celebrate playful exploration and curiosity.

3.????Inject playful and casual language into the process. This is not intended to be a board paper so park up excessive formality.

4.????A reminder to avoid humour at the expense of anyone. We're all about laughing with people, not at people as we collectively face into our human frailties.

5.????Avoid slapstick humour. It wears thin fast and may erode the safety or trust that has been built.

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Summary?

The creative environment has the power to ignite or extinguish creativity. Don't hope (hope is not a strategy!). Do deliberately design and deliver a creative environment that ignites creativity, delivers on your business objectives, and creates a more rewarding human experience.

?A reminder of the SCAMP principles:

1. Safety: create a psychologically safe environment?

2. Challenge: embrace creative tension.?

3. Anticipation of novelty

4. Momentum: create a sense of progress?

5. Playfulness: the need for a light-hearted mood?

While these principles come from my experience and learning from leading innovation and strategy workshops, they're equally transferable to broader corporate cultures, and even our own lives.

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A bit about me

I lead front-end innovation projects for clients, designing the project, creating and sourcing creative stimulus, and leading workshops.?I bring best practice learning on creative collaboration and co-creation immersive experiences, rapid innovation, and virtual workshops to all of my work with global, commercially savvy clients.

For more info please reach out on?LinkedIn?or visit?8innovation.com.