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| DESCRIPTION | |
| When it's lacking: - People can innovate, but if they trip up (spend too much money, fail the first time, detract from other projects, etc.), look out! - The culture promotes excessive caution. Nothing too much, too fast, too anything. - The "do it right the first time" mantra keeps employees from stepping outside the safe zone -- and into the place where breakthrough innovation comes to life. - The current way of doing things is staunchly defended. |
When it's thriving: + Risk-taking in the name of innovation is strongly encouraged. + Mistakes are seen as a fair price to pay for learning and innovation. + The organization values left-field thinking, as in: "That idea really came out of left field!" + The workplace presents all sorts of opportunities to be creative. + People are open to new ideas, trends, and approaches. |
| EXAMPLES |
| Kevin distinctly remembers the first time he met the new director of his government
agency. It was at an "all-hands gathering" -- 1,100 employees, all of them
skeptical of this latest in a string of political appointments. "Well, weren't
we surprised!" Kevin says. "He emphasized one point over and over: 'You
have permission to make mistakes.' Talk about proposing a different culture! Before
then, it was well-understood that you covered your backside, and that meant trying
absolutely nothing new." The employees left the session with their skepticism
intact, yet the director's comments marked the start of a slow but sure change process.
"For the first time in a long time, people started to experiment in the name
of better service to their customers." When the CEO asked the division managers to create up-to-date org charts, Sheila's division chief did what came natural to her. She exerted her creativity, submitting something that looked like a big circle -- there wasn't a single box on the page. She was proud of it -- in fact, all 30 employees in the division got a copy, and it proved to be a big hit. "Then the &*#@ hit the fan," Sheila recalls. "The CEO sent it back to the division chief, and written on it in red pen was the command to 'Use boxes -- no circles!' She called him and tried to explain why she had used a circle, and in the course of the conversation, he actually said that the circle version "doesn't look tough enough, competitive enough.' My manager would have been ticked off if she hadn't been so amused. She obediently drew the boxes, submitted it, and told us all to ignore it." |
| ACTION IDEAS |
| Don't just step out of the box -- throw out the box altogether. Get people to be
hypercreative. (Webster on "hyper": over, above, beyond, excessive.) The
best person to set a new precedent may be yourself. What current challenges call
for above-and-beyond creativity? Spend a day at a hypercreative company. Absorb their energy, approaches, ideas. Go there with a group of colleagues -- ideally, those who work right next to you -- so the resulting conversation and action can be done collectively. (Of course, competitors won't open the doors to you, but noncompeting companies will be flattered by your interest. Expect the red-carpet treatment...in creative ways.) Keep an eye out for situations/problems/opportunities that are begging for extreme creativity. Use them to set new examples of invention and risk-taking. The next time you're struggling with a problem or trying desperately to seize an opportunity, bring in an outside facilitator -- preferably one who has lots of experience in stirring creativity. Good ones are almost magical in their ability to turn on light bulbs. They can provide the breakthrough thinking that defines hypercreativity. Learn some of the creativity tools that facilitators routinely use, and make them a routine part of your organization's tool kit. Mind-mapping, for example, brings out the best of right-brain thinking in a group setting. Even classic brainstorming, when done right (which it rarely is), can open the way to dramatically new ideas. If your organization does some or all of the above, expect failure. And when it comes, don't punish it...encourage more invention. Keep the focus on "what we learned from this so-called mistake." |
| Copyright 1998-2002 by Tom Terez and Tom Terez Workplace Solutions, Inc. P.O. Box 21444, Columbus, Ohio USA 43221-0444. Tel. 614-571-9529..mail@BetterWorkplaceNow.com HOME | 10-Minute Briefing | Free Online Tools | Insight and Inspiration | Laugh and Learn | Buzzword Bingo | Kits, Books, and Tools | Keynotes and Services | Meet Tom Terez | Tell a Friend | Bronze Access |
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