Creativity is important in the workplace as it can benefit both the organisation and employees by enabling businesses to be flexible and allow them to branch out in different directions. Our research conducted with our partners Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has given us quantitative data on how creativity is now considered one of the top skills individuals can have to truly seize opportunities, adapt and embrace change in today’s workplaces.
We know from our research that creative individuals quickly adapt to almost any situation, as they explore a wide range of options to discover new ways of doing things. When they face challenges that they are unable to solve through conventional methods, they look to seek a creative solution. This involves stepping back and looking at the situation from a variety of perspectives, which enables you to explore innovative ways of solving it.
By unleashing your creative side, you’ll be able to enhance your strategic mind and improve your business skills, benefiting both yourself and your organisation.
Try these 5 tips to unleash your creative side:
- Visualise
Start by visualising what it is you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it. Encourage your team to think outside of the box, by visually presenting this can truly help individuals to see differing perspectives.
- Talk
Don’t feel pressured to come up with a detailed plan straight away! It doesn’t matter if your ideas don’t make sense, you’re just getting them out of your head and bouncing them off other people. Listen to what they have to say, considering different perspectives and then put each idea into a sensible order before thinking about how they could work.
- No Rules
There are no rules to creativity because there are no bad ideas. When you or your team are generating ideas, open up the process to include every suggestion, no matter how ridiculous, by discouraging the use of words like ‘how would we’ and ‘can’t’.
- Start at the End
Sometimes it can be difficult to begin the creative process, so try looking backwards and start at the end, taking the benefits of the project into account, as focusing on the ‘what’ can help you uncover the ‘how’ of the process.
- Write it Down
No idea is too crazy or random when you’re being creative, which is why you should get all those thoughts down. Often it is useful to nominate a scribe to capture all the ideas that are being bounced around. Even if it can’t help you with your current project, it could prove useful down the road. Put these ideas on display, either on a whiteboard or ideas board in your office to encourage you through the process.
At AdaptiQ Minds we want to help individuals to unlock their creative side and we want organisations to benefit from the advantages of this. Contacting us is the first step.