Tag Archives: creativity

HOW TO LISTEN TO CREATIVITY

Creativity doesn’t always knock. That seems like an obvious statement but it’s amazing how often we find ourselves listening for that subtle rap. We wait for creativity to whisper in our ear. To talk to us in our sleep or spring a surprise thought on us in a moment of reflection. Its a poetic idea and sometimes creativity does appear in a romantic moment of revelation. However, creativity can also show up like a rumble in the tummy. A headache that won’t give or like a song worm that won’t stop playing a tune that only you can hear. Sometimes, creativity doesn’t speak it grumbles.

Listen to your instincts

A while back I created a social media campaign that I loved. It was clever, funny and delivered the key message my client had in mind, yet I hesitated to run the campaign. There was something about it that felt off. I couldn’t articulate what it was. No one else could see the problem either. The image was spot on, the message insightful… but it felt wrong, whatever it was, the ad didn’t feel right and as it happens it didn’t perform well.

Its not just what you do

It’s in moments like that when your instincts try to grab your attention that you understand where the pulse of creativity resides, inside. For years humans have seen inspiration as an external force. Elizabeth Gilbert in her book, Big Magic, talks about inspiration as having sentience. She describes inspiration as a force that goes looking for the right artist, writer, creator to help bring an idea to life. That all makes a quirky kind of sense to me. But what I wonder is, when that inspiration finds you, what is it connecting to? The idea doesn’t just land in your brain and wait for germination. It must connect to something that fires it into action. I think that something is our own creative power. If our creativity is primed, kept healthy and active, then when inspiration arrives, it sparks into reality. But none of that can happen if we refuse to follow our instincts.

I don’t share the story of my creative blunder so that you can commiserate with me, I share it because I should have paid more attention to my gut. Creativity was using it to send me a message. In retrospect, I would say that the problem was that the campaign did not speak to the audience as much as it attempted to speak for the audience. Not a smart move when the group in question was actively trying to have its voice heard.

Perhaps radio ad guru Terry O’Reilly, had it right when he advised that if you can’t tell what’s wrong with a piece, its the tone. Whatever happened, my creative instincts, my gut reaction was accurate. It didn’t feel right and I should have heeded the warning because creativity isn’t just about what you do, its also about what you shouldn’t do.

Creativity likes to travel

Fear also lives in the gut. It sits or swims waiting for the right moment to make you stumble and humble. If your creativity gets mixed up with fear, it can spell disaster in the form of numbing anxiety as your imagination plays out all the ways you can fail. It can also create gorgeous nightmares on canvas and on film. It can spawn books so scary you can’t read them unless you’re cuddled up under a blanket next to your loved one… or maybe that’s just me.

Fortunately, creativity likes to travel. It visits us in the brain where it plays with ideas and transforms them into genius. It visits us in our hearts where we create alluring dreams. The point is, creativity can come from many places. It can whisper, shout or thump, learn to listen.

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Communications, Management

Visual Meetings – How To Bring Meetings To Life

Debra Yearwood 50 Comments

Several years ago I was at a conference on systems thinking (essentially, understanding how things connect) and during the plenary sessions I noticed that tucked away to one side was a woman busily working on capturing the meeting proceedings in images. I was mesmerized. As the session progressed I kept looking from her to the presenters and I was charmed by the images that emerged. Her blend of colourful figures and words captured beautifully the vibrancy of the conversation in the room. The “Ah ha” moments were carefully displayed with a burst of yellow and orange marker that had a more lasting impression on me than any of the words I’d carefully jotted down in my notebook.

As the conference progressed I’d catch glimpses of the artist as she made her way through all of the plenary sessions and occasionally, the smaller concurrent sessions. I approached her at one point and asked her how I could get copies of her illustrations. She asked me for my card and I happily handed it over. Although months passed I did not hear from her and I kicked myself for not asking her for her card. Then one day a package arrived. It was from the conference organizers and they were inviting me to attend the next year’s conference. Amongst the conference details was a poster of all of the images from the last conference captured by the graphic artist. I was hooked. Although I had fond memories of the event, they had mostly faded, her images brought them all roaring back to life.

Cover of "Visual Meetings: How Graphics, ... — Cover via Amazon

After that experience, I wondered how I could capture some of that vibrancy in my regular day to day meetings. As it happens, I got my answer several years later while attending the same conference. The presenter was a fellow named David Sibbet. David talked about the power of images, he brought us back to those days long ago when we huddled around fires in caves and drew on walls, but he also brought us back to our childhood. Those wonderful colourful books that kept us engaged and made us want to read. Even today some of my favourite life lessons come in the form of blog posts from Susan Cooper, who uses her colourful illustrations to tell important life stories.

We have a very natural affinity for visuals. People love to see their ideas captured in an interesting and interactive way. This is why writing things out on boards is a standing practice of meeting facilitators. Big thoughts are also more likely to be developed because visualization allows you to see natural and unnatural links between ideas. Patterns become more visible and this gives the group an opportunity to get those big picture ideas that help create group momentum. Our memories benefits from using visuals too. By putting things up on a shared board the group can keep track and recall ideas more easily.

So why do we eliminate visuals from our regular meetings? Well the most common response is, “I can’t draw”. David would argue other wise and as I know from attending many art classes over the years, everyone can draw; we just need to be taught how. That’s precisely what David Sibbett does in his two books, Visual Teams and Visual Meetings.

Don’t believe me? Let’s see what you can learn in just a few minutes.

Start with a simple circle. Thinking of mixing something in a bowl—maybe egg whites. Before putting the pencil to paper, try out the motion. Use your arm in the process; it will make a better circle. Got it? Great, you now have a circle.

Add a few brackets and you have a bouncy ball.
Throw some lines beside the circle and it’s moving fast.
Add two dots and a smile and you have a head.
Point an arrow at your circle and you’ve made your point.
Place larger circles around it and you have a bull’s-eye or a central idea.

Getting visual doesn’t require rocket science or a degree in art. We are all natural drawers…stick figures can express ideas too. Introducing colour markers on a white board or giant note pad will easily do the trick of making meetings more engaging. Sticky notes are also a useful tool and can bring colour and shape to visual story telling. When doing a process mapping exercise one organization I worked with used sticky notes to represent each step in a process. As participants added sticky notes, the visual image grew. The ensuing image of multiple sticky notes spread across a wall was a more powerful illustration of the need to cut steps than any conversation.

I have had great success with strategic planning by putting markers and sticky notes into the hands of colleagues. The challenge is not about the ability to draw, it’s the willingness to try. Go ahead, let your inner artist out, you’ll be surprised by what shows up.

Have you ever had to draw to make a point? Have you ever used the back of a napkin to illustrate what you meant? Do you do better when visuals are used?

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Communications, Management

What’s Better, Ideation Or Creativity?

Debra Yearwood 11 Comments

My office went through the StrengthsFinder process earlier this year and “ideation” was one of my identified strengths. In the past when I’ve done similar things, in lieu of ideation I would draw the “creative” card. While my colleagues would nod in agreement, seeing it as a compliment, I’ve always been a bit suspicious of the description. What does creative mean and really, in practical terms, what is its value?

Before I go on I should point out that I love the idea of creativity in most aspects of my life. I like to paint, draw, write, garden, cook all things people generally think of as creative endeavours. Work in communications also requires creative components, and I believe in creativity’s role in enhancing everything from messages to services. My suspicion comes from the fact that I also know that if you are doing your job well, then it will be based in research and best practices. When those things are absent, the creative process can act as a blind or distraction rather than an enhancement. Making something that is poorly thought out or ill conceived look appealing or worst still, strategic, is a great way to build incompetency into your organization or project.

Doing a job well, any job, requires contemplation, research, planning and hard work. Talent can help, but without the other pieces it doesn’t go far. But when someone says, “your creative” I always get the impression that they think that is the whole process.

So is ideation any better as a descriptor? Perhaps. Without going into the full description, Gallop describes ideation this way, “People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.”

I have to admit, I love when small, seemingly inconsequential actions create big ripples. If you can figure out what small thing you need to do to make your big objectives line up, then you have a powerful tool. The Behavioural Insights Team from the UK, you may know them as the “Nudge Unit”, was created to explore just those things. Their research is focused on determining what little nudge is required to change behaviour. Some of their insights include.

Wrapping presents nicely increases the likelihood of the gift being well received.
A handwritten letter is more likely to get a response than a typed missive.
While people like choice, the more options you give them, the less likely they are to make a choice.

Facts like these intrigue me. They remind me that sometimes solving problems is not about coming up with the most original thought, the most elaborate plan, but better understanding how things work and what motivates people. Ideation doesn’t assume anything about the nature of ideas. It acknowledges that ideas can be creative, simplistic, time tested and any number of other things. That has real appeal to me.

Like creativity, ideation without due diligence in research and methodology will not produce good results. Consider that what we call brainstorming sessions are ideation sessions. Research shows that they produce poorer results than if people try to think of new ideas on their own. There are a number of reasons for this:

We tend towards consensus in group sessions and this means that most sessions develop variations on existing ideas rather than exploring new ones.
Introverted participants are generally less vocal in these sessions which means part of the group is never really heard and
We often go into sessions without research. Essentially we start from scratch.

Not all brainstorming sessions are created equal, but the general rules of engagement most people employ do not produce stellar results. So what works best, ideation or creativity? Or are they really just variations on a theme? Whatever your preferences, they both perform best when they are coupled with work, knowledge and strategic thinking.

What about you? What do you consider the pros and cons of creativity and ideation?

Image Courtesy of Leigh Righton through Flickr

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