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Home  Tools & Tips Don’t Be Afraid To Be Creative
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Don’t Be Afraid To Be Creative |
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Friday, 20 August 2004 |
Most adults have a fear of looking foolish which is one of the biggest hindrances to creative thinking, especially in a group setting. Have you ever been in a meeting and hesitated to speak up about the great idea that just popped into your head? We've all been there. We don't speak up for  fear of criticism. It's not an irrational or unjustified fear. It's real. Everyone is a critic in meetings. Many new ideas are attacked and quickly shot down. This impact is especially damaging when the senior person in the room immediately shoots holes in an idea. If you are a senior manager, keep this in mind. The best way to completely constipate the flow of creative thought is to shoot down or criticize a new suggestion. Be quiet, listen, and pay attention to what other people have to say. Who knows what it might lead to or what you might learn.
Of course conformity has its place, but all too often we just go with the flow and don't speak up. Why? Because it's easy to go with the flow and not make waves. On the other extreme, I am not suggesting that you consistently ramble off crazy ideas in a non-stop barrage throughout the entire meeting. You will be labeled a troublemaker and non-team player. You must find the balance here. The ones who speak up with new ideas are the most respected team members in the long run.
Here's a way to greatly improve the outcome of the situation described above. One of the simplest and most impactful things you can do is set the stage for the meeting. Tell people that this is a "creative thinking" meeting, that there are no bad ideas, and craziness is encouraged for the next hour. Set the rules for the meeting up front and give everyone a "license to think freely."
Review the brainstorming rules in detail and leave a copy up on the overhead screen or print out some copies and place them in front of each team member. As ideas start to flow, and the inevitable critics try to kill them, point to the rules and quickly gain control of the meeting. This is the best method to control the senior people in the room. Spending five minutes up front to set the stage for your meeting can do wonders.
Another way to remove the "fear factor" is to do some homework before presenting your idea to the group. If a great idea pops into your head but you don't feel comfortable just blurting it out, then jot it down. Tell the group you have an idea but want to "flush it out" in your own mind and present it at the next meeting. Take an action in the minutes to present your idea at the next meeting. Then later on, sit down by yourself or with a few trusted peers, and use the creative thinking tools to expand on your idea. Put together rationale logic to support why this crazy new idea has potential. Lay out the positives and negatives. Then when you present your idea at the next meeting, you'll have sound rationale for doing it. This is a method that is pretty simple to use to get a new idea seriously considered.
In the case where you have clearly established that this is a "creative thinking" session, then you are given the leeway to really change the rules. It's okay to think a little crazy; in fact it's highly encouraged. This book will teach you some great methods to get new and creative ideas going.
For example, write down the basic assumptions around the problem situation. Then reverse the assumptions and see what happens. Next apply the creative thinking tool Positive/Negative/Stimulating (PNS). Now that the assumptions are reversed, what is positive about the situation? What is negative about it? What is stimulating about it? We will cover the PNS tool in more detail later. This type of approach can generate a load of new creative ideas.
Another method is to introduce irrelevancy. Make up some assumptions that at first glance appear to be irrelevant to the problem at hand. How does that change your approach and outlook to the problem? Does it give you a new perspective?
How about making some assumptions that are completely absurd? Sounds crazy doesn't it? This approach will allow you to temporarily escape from your current boundaries and restrictions and is guaranteed to generate new creative ideas you would not have thought of otherwise.
We will learn the specific techniques and tools to put this type of creative thinking into practice. There are definitely times when you don't want to look foolish, but it is welcome and encouraged during the creative thinking process. Go ahead and act like a fool once in a while and see what new ideas you can discover.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 19 November 2004 )
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