The art of being creative at all times

Many people feel that often their best ideas occur when they are least expecting it, or doing something else. They rarely happen to order. Given the fact that most of us cannot afford the luxury of just waiting for ideas to happen, we often need to help the process a little.

From the minute you know you have to generate ideas, to be creative, or to design a programme, park the broad parameters in your mind. If you have the space, put the title or the development area on a large piece o flipchart paper, and, either using stick-it notes, or felt pens, add the ideas as they occur.

Make things as visible as possible and keep adding. As the ideas begin to flow, even the most insignificant points may ultimately become an important feature of the end result. Also have with you some means o recording thoughts when you are doing other things such as a small notepad, a dictaphone or a laptop computer. But often your mind just races with ideas and you need to be able to capture them quickly before theydisappear.

In these early stages it is important not to force the process, and if you find that the ideas are not flowing, leave it and do something else. Often people find that by doing something completely different their mind will suddenly start generating ideas. Creative thinking can also take place at night during sleep. If you focus on a problem before you go to sleep, something called the Theta process takes over and the mind produces its on solutions that are there when you wake. Some people find it easy to generate ideas, but most find it a challenge. Everyone has a different approach, but we will share with you some methods that have been proven to work.

Identify the times when you have your best ideas. Create the environment that works for you, perhaps a room with a special view and music playing in the background.

Identify where you work best. Some people go away to write or have special rooms but prefer to have their family or partner nearby so that they can break off from time totime to talk to other people.

Some people find that taking part in such leisure activities as swimming, running or climbing exhilarates them and helps the creative process.

Equip yourself with the right resources, a bit like taking an exam, sharpened pencils, lots of paper, coloured pens, and so on.

Spend time researching. Talk to clients and participants, visit resource centres and business schools.

Review what has been done before, clients' material, your own material, videos, books and magazine articles.

Build up your own sources of material, everything from photographs, press cuttings to more structured activities. If you have an idea write it up even if you are not going to use it on the immediate programme. It may be useful sometime in the future.

Set up a filing system, either computer or paper-based, but it should be well-catalogued and cross-referenced and updated each time you develop a programme.

Build up a network of contacts, other trainers, managers,consultants, mentors, people you know who are a source of good ideas. Be generous with ideas and others will share with you.

Regularly undertake self-development: go to training events and learn from the trainer, be an active participant.

Really try to think from the point of view of your client, trying to identify their priorities.

Some people find it hard to be creative on their own and need to bounce ideas around with other people. Again, using a dedicated space with good facilities can be useful. Some design teams go to leisure centres.

The art of the possible

Really innovative organizations ensure that they are constantly improving. They encourage their employees continually to look for a better way of doing things. There is also a dose link between senior managers and the work force. In some organizations every senior manager spends time working at the sharp end of the business, while in others mixed groups of managers and employees regularly meet to discuss businessimprovement.

As a trainer or an internal consultant you may be asked to run sessions where people are asked to create ideas, often as `away' days, where groups of people are encouraged to be innovative. As we discussed above, people often find it hard to be creative to order, and you can help by creating an environment which is conducive to ideas generation.

Like any development event, the objectives need to be clear and people to understand what outcome is expected. The day, or event, needs to be structured to allow people to mix with others. You need to build in activities which help people to identify issues and to begin to find solutions. Even more important is to work with the organisation before and after the event to ensure that ideas generated are seriously considered in the business environment.

Too often people go away on an event and build tremendous enthusiasm and energy, only to lose it once they return to the workplace. Many ideas founder because no one sponsors them. Sometimesorganizations have product champions, which may be teams of people, but which should always include a senior manager or a member of the executive who can ensure that the business takes the idea seriously. Equally, product champions throughout the business can ensure that at every level there is a commitment to developing the idea further.

Running an ideas generating event

As we discussed above, in running an ideas generating event you need to set very clear objectives as to what can be achieved. It is important to highlight that not all ideas generated will be suitable for immediate implementation. In order to maintain momentum and the motivation for the group, a process for planning the implementation should be agreed at the end of the event.

In some cases this may mean reconvening the group or setting up planning or design groups. Ideally, at the end of the event there should be agreement to meet again to review progress (this meeting may be quite brief), or if the event has been verysuccessful it may become a regular part of the business calendar. There are a number of techniques that you can use to foster ideas generation. Every trainer will develop their own preferred way of operating but the ones listed below have been used successfully by many individuals and organizations.

Brainstorming

This is one of the simplest yet most effective techniques for working with groups. It is either trainer facilitated or takes place in syndicate groups.

Using a blank piece of paper and a single topic or heading you note as many thoughts as possible, randomly, without any attempt to rank or order. Write them up as single words or small phrases. Usually group will generate two or three pages of ideas and comments before exhausting the process. The technique is designed to help with the flow of ideas and there are important rules; eg, no editing, no qualifying, no restricting.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF MANAGEMENT TRAINING ( Vol 4)
Kaye Thorne and David Mackey
Published by Crest PublishingHouse
Price: Rs 8,500 (7 Vol Set)

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