Author Archives: Paul Sloane
Ten great ways to boost your personal creativityby Paul SloaneLet’s say you are wrestling with a tough issue – maybe at work, at home, with your children or in your social life. You have been stuck for a while and you can’t seem to make a breakthrough. You want to come up with some really creative ideas. What can you do? Here are ten great practical ways to boost your inventiveness and to crack the problem:1. Ask why, why?Ask, “why has this issue arisen?” Come up with six different reasons and for each of them ask, “why did this happen?” Keep asking why for each cause. This helps you to better understand the different reasons why this is a problem and so in turn you will see different possible solutions.2. Sleep on itPonder the issue and all its aspects for some time and then put it out of your mind. … Continue reading
Can quality and creativity cohabit in the same house or are they natural enemies? Can a quality process be applied to innovation?Let’s start with the first question. Quality involves the removal of unwanted variations, the enforcement of strict standards and controls, the application of best practice and the elimination of waste and errors. Creativity and innovation involve exploring many radical and unorthodox ideas, deliberately deviating from existing standards and controls, experimenting with prototypes and devoting resources to projects which are likely to fail.So at first glance quality and creativity look to be at odds. One is striving for the elimination of variation and error while the other is crying out for both. They are surely two opposing philosophies requiring very different mindsets and attitudes. Can they co-exist? The answer is that they can and they must. Every successful organisation has to solve the paradox of how to achieve at the … Continue reading
The brainstorming session is the most popular group creativity exercise in business. It is quick, easy and it works. But many organizations have become frustrated with brainstorms and have stopped using them. They say this group ideation technique is old-fashioned and no longer effective. But the real reason for their frustration is typically that the brainstorming meetings are not facilitated properly. A well-run brainstorming meeting is fun and energetic. It will generate plenty of good ideas. But a poor session can be frustrating and demotivating. Let’s look at some simple ways to ruin your next brainstorm meeting – so you understand what practices you should avoid.1. Having no clear objectivesA brainstorming session with a vague or unclear purpose will wander and lose its way. So be sure set a clear objective for your meeting. The purpose of the brainstorming session is to generate many creative ideas to answer a specific … Continue reading
CEOs have much more power than they realize. They can patiently create a climate of creativity or they can crush it in a series of subtle comments and gestures. Their actions send powerful signals. Their responses to suggestions and ideas are deciphered by staff as encouragement or rejection.If you want to crush creativity in your organization and eliminate all the unnecessary bother of innovation then here are ten steps that are guaranteed to succeed. On the other hand, if you want innovation to flourish in your organization, then you should avoid or eliminate these counter-productive processes completely: 1. CriticizeWhen you hear a new idea criticize it. Show how smart you are by pointing out some of the weaknesses and flaws which will hold it back. The more experienced you are, the easier it is to find fault with other people’s ideas. Decca Records turned down the Beatles, IBM rejected the … Continue reading
How can you ensure that in turbulent times you not only survive the organizational restructuring but actually benefit by it? Most businesses are having to change not once but over and over in order to meet the challenges of recession, competition and technology convergence. Some changes are all about cutting costs, although they may be called something else. Others are about realigning the business to cope with new opportunities. Either way it can be a bloody affair, littered with victims and casualties. How can you maximize your chances in the change maelstrom? One way is to take a positive approach to change and to be seen as an innovative go-getter who will help make the re-organization a success. Here is how:1. Adopt a positive attitudeDon’t be cynical about change. Don’t assume the worst. Don’t believe and repeat rumours about management conspiracies to do down the workforce. Change is inevitable for … Continue reading
Children learn by asking questions. Students learn by asking questions. New recruits learn by asking questions. Innovators understand client needs by asking questions. It is the simplest and most effective way of learning. People who think that they know it all no longer ask questions – why should they? Brilliant thinkers never stop asking questions because they know that this is the best way to gain deeper insights.Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said, “We run this company on questions, not answers.” He knows that if you keep asking questions you can keep finding better answers.When Greg Dyke became Director-General of the BBC in 2000 he went to every major location and assembled the staff. They came expecting a long presentation. He simply sat down with them and asked a question, “What is the one thing I should do to make things better for you?” Then he listened. He followed this … Continue reading
