Encourage INGENUITY & CREATIVITY

Creativity and ingenuity take courage.  They are about taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun. They require the freedom to doubt the worth of common practices.

          Creative people often see familiar things as out-of-date and want to create something new and worth-while.

          Leaders and CEOs cannot order their people to be creative, but they can provide working conditions where creativity can flourish.

          If you can build a creative work climate you will ensure tomorrow is better than today.

Five of the best tips to help stimulate ingenuity and creativity

* Encourage workers to think

          Provide working conditions where creativity and ingenuity can flourish.

          Encourage workers to think about their future and the future of the organisation.

           Set up teams made up of people with different skills and experiences and challenge them to solve problems using brainstorming, mind-mapping and other innovative techniques.  

          Foster co-operation between teams and aim for a friendly, enjoyable, progressive stress-free workplace.

* Look at things a different way

          Question traditional practices.

          Good communication systems and honest feedback allow people to feel free to express opinions and suggest alternatives.       

* Aim to make tomorrow’s effort better than today’s

          Question every task and evaluate it. “Why do we do things this way?” “Is there a better way?” “How can we do better next time?” “What did we do right?” “What did we do wrong?”

* Let people make mistakes

          Accept the fact that there will be mistakes. Treat mistakes as lessons learned. The freedom to make mistakes without blame encourages creativity.

          Workers should not be afraid to fail. People know when they have made mistakes. Don’t criticise unless mistakes are made too often.

* Challenge people to solve problems

          Let them know you appreciate their curiosity, imagination and creativity.

          Be generous with your praise.

          Give rewards in proportion to the benefits gained.

          Build a good team, enjoy your work, make sure you and your staff all have fun and don’t take work too seriously.

–Geoffrey Moss

“Rules, negativity and blame are the enemies of creativity.” 

SOURCE: “Secrets for New Managers” Moss Associates Ltd and Cengage Learning Asia. Also available as an e-book from Amazon.com and VitalSource.