1. Understanding Creativity at High-Performance OrganizationsCreativity's role in high-performance organizations| 00:01 |
Think of the most creative and innovative
organizations you know, like Apple or
| | 00:05 |
Google, Samsung or Ikea.
They're also some of the highest
| | 00:10 |
performing organizations in the world.
So, what's the connection between
| | 00:15 |
creativity and performance?
It comes from trying to stay ahead of what
| | 00:19 |
everyone else is doing.
In other words, these firms not only do
| | 00:24 |
things differently, they often do things
better.
| | 00:28 |
In fact, when best practices in your field
are documented, they become normal practices.
| | 00:35 |
So, the only way to get better is to do
things differently from others.
| | 00:40 |
This is creativity.
Let's talk first though about why
| | 00:45 |
creativity is so important.
Several years ago, I started seeing some
| | 00:49 |
trends that fascinated me.
Several global innovation indices showed
| | 00:53 |
that some countries like the United States
were slipping, and other areas like Europe
| | 00:58 |
and China were gaining.
I found reports about countries that were
| | 01:03 |
building creativity into their schools and
companies.
| | 01:07 |
Places I never really thought of as being
creative.
| | 01:11 |
Like China and Japan?
Mexico and Germany?
| | 01:15 |
But they were doing some remarkable
things.
| | 01:18 |
So, what was going on here?
It turns out that as other countries were
| | 01:22 |
becoming systematic about building
creativity into their schools and
| | 01:26 |
companies, the US wasn't changing as fast.
Because innovation has been so prevalent
| | 01:33 |
in America for so many years, the urgency
to change didn't appear to be so strong.
| | 01:39 |
But that seems to be changing all over the
world.
| | 01:43 |
Individuals and companies, cities and
countries are all trying to do things
| | 01:48 |
differently to get better.
Bottom line, if you keep doing what you've
| | 01:53 |
been doing, that may not be enough
anymore.
| | 01:57 |
Many firms have learned how to encourage
and use creativity.
| | 02:02 |
And you can, too.
Look at the changes Amazon has made over
| | 02:06 |
the years.
From selling books to appliances,
| | 02:09 |
electronic readers to movies, or look at
Google.
| | 02:14 |
It may have started with search, but now
it helps us map our way to a new location,
| | 02:18 |
and communicate with others in ways we
never could have thought of, even 5 years ago.
| | 02:26 |
Paypal has moved from a basic online
payment for ebay to a cloud based system,
| | 02:31 |
so, you can shop and pay from anywhere.
The key to the mall, doing things
| | 02:37 |
differently to get better.
So, let's start with you.
| | 02:41 |
How do you do things differently?
What about your company?
| | 02:46 |
What are they doing differently to improve
performance?
| | 02:50 |
If you're a lynda.com member, then you
have access to the exercise files for this course.
| | 02:56 |
I've provided a worksheet where you can
brainstorm examples of companies you know
| | 03:01 |
and like.
Companies that do things differently.
| | 03:05 |
Think about what sets them apart from
their competition.
| | 03:08 |
What makes those companies so great?
Why do they stand out?
| | 03:14 |
Going through this exercise can help you
start noticing how other organization do
| | 03:18 |
things differently.
And this can help to spark some ideas for
| | 03:23 |
your own organization.
| | 03:26 |
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| Assessing your organization's performance| 00:01 |
Helping you learn how to lead through
creativity and generate high performance
| | 00:05 |
is a goal for this course.
But sometimes, creativity and high
| | 00:09 |
performance don't always go together.
Some firms seem really creative, but may
| | 00:15 |
not perform well.
Others have high performance in their
| | 00:19 |
marketplace, or in their stock price, but
don't seem to be doing things differently.
| | 00:24 |
And still others are neither high
performing nor highly creative.
| | 00:28 |
So let's take a look at the four quadrants
of creativity and performance.
| | 00:35 |
Think about where your firm might sit.
Are you in the upper right quadrant already?
| | 00:41 |
Where you're performing well, and you
think you're trying to be creative to get
| | 00:45 |
even better.
Or, perhaps you're in the upper left quadrant.
| | 00:50 |
You're trying to do some things
differently and hope that might help
| | 00:54 |
improve performance.
Some of you may be in organizations that
| | 00:58 |
are performing really well.
You're in good shape, and what you've been
| | 01:02 |
doing has worked.
So you may think, why change?
| | 01:06 |
The urgency to do things differently may
not be so strong.
| | 01:12 |
The possible danger is that you do the
same things for too long, rather than
| | 01:16 |
consider ways that might help you improve
even more.
| | 01:20 |
Some organizations unfortunately are in
the lower left quadrant.
| | 01:26 |
When your performance is low, you could be
close to a crisis.
| | 01:30 |
Or sense that your organization is stuck
in this position.
| | 01:35 |
You may not be considering doing things
differently even if you need to.
| | 01:40 |
But let's think about some questions to
figure out which quadrant your
| | 01:43 |
organization is in.
First, if you compare your organizations
| | 01:48 |
performance measures to your competition,
where do you fall?
| | 01:52 |
Below, about average or in the top 25% of
your industry?
| | 01:58 |
Second, have you won awards, been written
about, or received comments from outsiders
| | 02:03 |
about how creative your organization is?
Third, do you and your leadership team ask
| | 02:09 |
a lot of questions about what the company
could do differently?
| | 02:15 |
Do you encourage employees to try
something new?
| | 02:18 |
Even if it may fail.
Forth, do you look beyond your own
| | 02:22 |
industry for ideas that might help your
company improve?
| | 02:28 |
And finally, do you have a systematic way
of generating and testing new ideas?
| | 02:34 |
If you answered yes to most of these
questions, you may be on your way to
| | 02:38 |
becoming a more creative organization.
This course will help you to develop those
| | 02:44 |
skills even more.
As a next step, I encourage you to share
| | 02:48 |
this graph with your colleges.
I've provided a copy of this graph in the
| | 02:52 |
exercise files.
Now see where your colleges would place
| | 02:56 |
your organization, and then talk about it.
Do you agree with where your organization is?
| | 03:03 |
And how did they reach their conclusions?
I hope your organization falls in the
| | 03:07 |
upper right quadrant.
And if not, we'll talk about ways to get here.
| | 03:12 |
And even if you are in this quadrant.
We'll explore some ideas that can help you
| | 03:18 |
take your organization even further.
| | 03:21 |
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| Six creative disciplines that drive high-performing organizations| 00:01 |
A long time ago, I asked a simple
question.
| | 00:04 |
What do organizations that are both high
performers and try to incorporate
| | 00:08 |
creativity have in common, if anything?
When I investigated very different organizations.
| | 00:15 |
From public sector to private, from the
arts to business, I was astounded to find
| | 00:19 |
out how much they do have in common.
Let's look at Apple as an example.
| | 00:25 |
It's had its ups and downs to be sure, but
on the whole, it's done very well over the
| | 00:29 |
years, in terms of company performance and
in being creative.
| | 00:34 |
So why is that?
It hires tremendously talented people.
| | 00:38 |
It epitomizes the idea of blending art and
technology, and it has a process to come
| | 00:44 |
up with new ideas.
It also has had a visionary leader and
| | 00:49 |
executive group, brilliant physical
infrastructure, and a powerful culture.
| | 00:56 |
I like to think of these elements as the
six disciplines of creativity.
| | 01:01 |
First, mastery and deep discipline
expertise in employees.
| | 01:06 |
This means, hire the best people you can
to get that discipline or expertise.
| | 01:11 |
By hiring the best, they are more likely
to be the best.
| | 01:17 |
Second, the ability to reach outside of a
discipline or field for ideas.
| | 01:23 |
This means thinking beyond your field,
creative high performing firms look for
| | 01:28 |
ideas beyond their fields.
Apple looks to art and design, not just at
| | 01:34 |
the functionality of their technology.
Third a discipline process to create new
| | 01:40 |
products or services, think of this as
having a system to generate new ideas.
| | 01:47 |
Most creative high performing
organizations use a similar process and
| | 01:52 |
then it becomes a routine.
Fourth, entrepreneurial and creative
| | 01:58 |
leaders who are disciplined in creating
and executing a vision.
| | 02:03 |
This means, making sure you have your
leadership roles covered.
| | 02:07 |
Someone who's great at setting a vision,
and someone, that may be the same someone,
| | 02:12 |
whose really good at execution.
If it's not the same person, then be aware
| | 02:17 |
you'll need to find people to play those
roles.
| | 02:22 |
Fifth, a discipline of place, and space
that encourages interaction and creativity.
| | 02:29 |
There's lots of research for the idea that
spaces and design can support creativity
| | 02:34 |
and high performance.
Be aware what can work for your firm.
| | 02:39 |
Sixth and last, a strong culture, that
supports creativity and innovation.
| | 02:46 |
The way that you encourage or discourage
creativity in your organization is hugely
| | 02:52 |
important, and sometimes it can be very
subtle.
| | 02:57 |
Ideas are like seedlings.
They can be squelched far too easily, and
| | 03:01 |
once they're gone, people may quickly
decide that it's too risky to offer up more.
| | 03:07 |
Remember that the disciplines aren't
linear.
| | 03:11 |
They don't have to be tackled in any
order, and they may change over time.
| | 03:16 |
Just as Apple is readjusting to being
without Steve Jobs, that may change some
| | 03:20 |
of the ways the culture works with the
process the company uses.
| | 03:25 |
The key is that the six disciplines work
together to allow for more time and
| | 03:30 |
inspiration, for creative thinking and
problem solving.
| | 03:35 |
You can find a copy of the Six disciplines
chart in the exercise files.
| | 03:39 |
Now, go through the list and think about
which of the disciplines your organization
| | 03:45 |
does well.
| | 03:47 |
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|
|
2. Applying Creativity at Your OrganizationDiscipline 1: Finding the best people| 00:01 |
Ask good leaders what keeps them up at
night, and the answer is probably hiring
| | 00:04 |
the right and best people in a field.
And why is hiring the best people from
| | 00:09 |
within a discipline or a field so
important for creative high performing organizations.
| | 00:15 |
For at least three reasons.
Put simply, people with high expertise in
| | 00:20 |
their fields can learn fast, act fast, and
adapt fast.
| | 00:26 |
When people know a field or discipline
really well, they can build on that
| | 00:29 |
knowledge faster and better than those who
aren't so good.
| | 00:34 |
This means, they reduce the learning curve
for gaining new knowledge.
| | 00:38 |
Second, when you put people who are really
good in their fields together, they
| | 00:42 |
understand and think in ways that can
speed their ability to act as a team,
| | 00:45 |
whether they're solving a problem or
coming up with some new ideas.
| | 00:51 |
They don't have to spend a lot of time
explaining why they do something, they
| | 00:55 |
just do it.
Finally, people with deep expertise often
| | 01:00 |
adapt fast, because they really know what
they're doing.
| | 01:05 |
They can try out new ways of operating, or
tackle new problems because they know the
| | 01:09 |
basics so well.
Also, perhaps one more subtle reason for
| | 01:14 |
hiring the best, is that it may encourage
a small amount of internal compeition.
| | 01:21 |
And that can spur everyone to work even
harder to get better.
| | 01:25 |
Look at Google.
The hiring process is long, thorough, and
| | 01:29 |
even once a young person is hired, there's
a training program that vets them.
| | 01:35 |
If you don't pass the training, you don't
keep the job.
| | 01:38 |
Hence, that little bit of internal
competition.
| | 01:42 |
So, how do the best firms find the best
people?
| | 01:45 |
Some of the highest performing firms use
really deliberate, lengthy processes.
| | 01:51 |
Many, like Google, also rely on their own
people to attract and refer top people.
| | 01:58 |
Referring someone puts an employees
credibility on the line, so, of course,
| | 02:02 |
they'll be very sure that the recruit is
very good.
| | 02:07 |
Next, rigorous and lengthy screening
helps.
| | 02:11 |
I work with an organization in the
healthcare field.
| | 02:14 |
It uses multiple screening stages when it
hires.
| | 02:17 |
This is done in a large part, not only to
find the right technical expertise, but
| | 02:22 |
also to ensure a cultural fit.
First, the recruit has an initial meeting
| | 02:27 |
with the firms development officer.
Then, the recruit goes through two sets of
| | 02:32 |
multiple interviews over several days with
people from different areas and levels.
| | 02:39 |
Last, the candidate goes through a sort of
live case study of an actual problem that
| | 02:43 |
the firm has faced.
Then as a final step, the recruit
| | 02:48 |
generates creative solutions and presents
them to senior executives.
| | 02:52 |
This can be grueling.
But if a person joins the firm, both sides
| | 02:56 |
are pretty sure it's a good fit.
Think about your hiring process.
| | 03:02 |
Do you try and find the best people in
your field?
| | 03:05 |
And how do you consider if they will fit
into your culture?
| | 03:10 |
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| Discipline 2: Thinking beyond your field| 00:01 |
In my research in consulting work with
highly creative, high performing
| | 00:04 |
organizations, the CEOs and their
employees are constantly on the look out
| | 00:08 |
for good ideas.
So where do they find them?
| | 00:13 |
Remember from earlier that once best
practices are documented, they become
| | 00:17 |
normal practices.
That's why highly creative CEOs go beyond
| | 00:21 |
their own fields, to find new ideas.
Many people talk about the dangers of
| | 00:27 |
operating in a silo, but looking beyond
your field is easier said than done for
| | 00:31 |
some organizations.
Blockbuster was a huge success initially.
| | 00:36 |
People flocked to the stores to pick up
DVDs, and settle in for a good movie.
| | 00:41 |
But what happened when Netflix entered the
market?
| | 00:44 |
It offered another approach, allowing
people to receive films by mail.
| | 00:49 |
And keep them, for as long as they wished.
New business model for Netflix, missed
| | 00:53 |
opportunity for Blockbuster.
Then, Netflix saw another trend.
| | 00:59 |
Customers wanted even more convienience,
and immediate access to films.
| | 01:04 |
So, Netflix pioneered streaming of films
and TV programs directly to customers.
| | 01:10 |
So how do leaders look outside their
fields for ideas?
| | 01:13 |
There are at least three ways.
They bridge fields, they blend fields, and
| | 01:18 |
they transfer ideas.
First you can bridge fields.
| | 01:23 |
That's what the actor Viggo Mortensen
does.
| | 01:25 |
He's an actor, but he's also an author and
a publisher.
| | 01:29 |
He reaches across fields and succeeds in
more than one.
| | 01:33 |
By working in different fields, he can
energize himself in each one.
| | 01:37 |
In a way, that's what Apple does.
It's really good in design, and really
| | 01:41 |
good in technology.
Second, people in organizations can blend
| | 01:46 |
fields or disciplines.
Apple uses this method, by making a
| | 01:50 |
product both beautiful, and functional,
and having high quality in both.
| | 01:55 |
Finally, you can transfer ideas from one
field to another.
| | 01:59 |
Think of (UNKNOWN) .org, it transferred
the idea of venture capital, put it online
| | 02:04 |
for small investors, and took it to people
in need in emerging economies.
| | 02:09 |
Venture capital from small investors,
going directly to people who need it in
| | 02:13 |
other countries.
So, one last example of transferring ideas
| | 02:17 |
from one field to another.
What do you think an emergency room, and
| | 02:21 |
airline pilots have in common?
What can they possibly learn from each other?
| | 02:26 |
Well, more than you might think.
Hospital emergency rooms, have learned a
| | 02:30 |
lot from airline pilots about the impact
of fatigue during crisis, about how teams
| | 02:34 |
under pressure can communicate better.
And about how to anticipate and avoid problems.
| | 02:42 |
So, some hospitals transferred those
lessons into emergency rooms, allowing
| | 02:46 |
doctors and staff to become more
efficient, less fatigued, and more effective.
| | 02:53 |
Now try this for yourself.
Find a magazine from a field far different
| | 02:56 |
from your own.
And see if you can find at least one idea
| | 02:59 |
in that magazine.
That could be useful for your own
| | 03:03 |
organization's ability to solve problems
in a new and creative way.
| | 03:07 |
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| Discipline 3: Making creativity a habit| 00:01 |
Does the idea of structure join with
creativity sound odd?
| | 00:05 |
In fact, having a structured discipline
toward creativity is essential for leading
| | 00:09 |
high performance organizations.
And Albert Einstein can help explain why.
| | 00:15 |
Einstein wore the same type of clothes.
Walked to work with the same colleagues on
| | 00:20 |
the same route every day.
Boring?
| | 00:23 |
Not to him.
As he has said, having some structure in
| | 00:27 |
certain parts of his life, allowed for him
to free up his mind, and be creative where
| | 00:31 |
it was important in solving big problems.
The same holds for highly creative
| | 00:37 |
organizations and leaders anywhere.
Having some structure in how to approach
| | 00:43 |
creativity can make the process normal and
routine.
| | 00:47 |
Instead of setting aside a retreat day to
be creative, the best organizations make
| | 00:52 |
it a habit, just part of daily life.
Highly creative organizations follow a
| | 00:57 |
similar pattern when they do things
differently and come up with ideas.
| | 01:01 |
Typically, they follow four phases.
Review what's been done, generate new
| | 01:08 |
ideas, test ideas, and use the best ideas.
Let's go through each of these, but
| | 01:14 |
remember to adjust them to fit your own
firm situation.
| | 01:19 |
Step one, review what's worked, what
hasn't, and figure out what you can learn.
| | 01:24 |
When BMW develops a new car model, they
don't start completely from scratch.
| | 01:30 |
They review what's worked well, save the
good parts, and figure out what to change
| | 01:34 |
to make the next one better.
Then, they get creative.
| | 01:38 |
Step two, generate new ideas.
Ideas can come in many forms.
| | 01:45 |
You can tweak an existing one to make it
better.
| | 01:47 |
You can come up with ideas that sit on the
back-burner until the timing is right in
| | 01:51 |
the market place or in the company.
You could generate big ideas or small ones.
| | 01:58 |
But I found from my experience in working
with creative companies, it's far more
| | 02:02 |
productive and efficient to have a
disciplined approach to generating ideas.
| | 02:07 |
A health care company I work with has
discovered that when people hold meetings,
| | 02:11 |
they typically spend about 15% of the time
in the meeting, coming up with new ideas
| | 02:15 |
to solve problems.
Some leaders now say they'd like to boost
| | 02:20 |
that to 25% of a meeting's time to be
productive and creative.
| | 02:25 |
The actual percentage is less important
than the habit they've instilled.
| | 02:30 |
By building in time, they've made
creativity a discipline that becomes routine.
| | 02:34 |
Step 3, test ideas.
Once you've got some good ideas, play with them.
| | 02:41 |
Try something out, quickly if possible.
Some will be right for the time and place,
| | 02:46 |
and others won't.
Toss them and move on.
| | 02:49 |
You know that Dyson vacuum cleaner, the
one with the ball?
| | 02:53 |
How many prototypes do you suppose Dyson
tested before he got it right?
| | 02:57 |
More than 5,000.
Now that's a lot of testing.
| | 03:02 |
But he got it right in the end.
So get to work, and test out what you
| | 03:06 |
think are your best ideas.
And don't be afraid to fail.
| | 03:10 |
Failing is a crucial part of finding good
ideas.
| | 03:13 |
So fail fast, but then learn from the
failure.
| | 03:17 |
Step four, use the best ideas.
Once you've found some great idea that
| | 03:23 |
works, launch it.
But do it right.
| | 03:26 |
Remember that having a great idea is just
a beginning.
| | 03:29 |
Turning into something that works is
sometimes tougher but certainly more
| | 03:34 |
crucial in the long run if innovation is
your goal.
| | 03:38 |
Have you ever thought about where
structure could help your organization
| | 03:41 |
create time and space to be creative?
Use these four simple phases to review,
| | 03:47 |
generate, test and use ideas to see if you
can be more efficient and more effective.
| | 03:56 |
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| Discipline 4: Setting up creative leadership roles| 00:01 |
So, you want to encourage creativity in
your firm.
| | 00:04 |
You've hired some great people, looked
outside your field for ideas and you're
| | 00:08 |
building creativity as a habit for your
organization.
| | 00:12 |
But there are a few more disciplines to
think about and implement.
| | 00:17 |
One of the most important disciplines is
to understand the kinds of leadership
| | 00:21 |
roles that help encourage creativity.
If you think about Apple or Microsoft,
| | 00:26 |
what sorts of leaders do you think of?
Surely, you think of Steve Job and Bill
| | 00:31 |
Gates as visionaries for their firms and
for their industries.
| | 00:36 |
But someone has to be able to translate
those visions into something that the rest
| | 00:40 |
of the world could understand.
And then, other people make those visions happen.
| | 00:47 |
Creative organizations tend to have three
types of roles to fill, creative
| | 00:51 |
entrepreneurs or visionaries who explain
why and where the firm can go.
| | 00:57 |
Creative leaders who translate that vision
into what needs to happen.
| | 01:02 |
And creative teams who figure out how to
take the vision and make it come true.
| | 01:08 |
Let's talk about each of those.
A creative entrepreneur is a person who
| | 01:12 |
can really see a direction and a vision
others may not.
| | 01:16 |
I remember, years ago, reading that
upstart Steve Jobs had a vision to put a
| | 01:21 |
computer on the desk of every school child
in the world talk about thinking big.
| | 01:28 |
That vision was something people can see
and obviously was a stretch fast forward
| | 01:33 |
to what the company is now.
Maybe you should have said put a phone in
| | 01:38 |
the hand of every person world wide.
The idea of creative visionary applies all
| | 01:44 |
over the world.
Vietnam is the World's number two exporter
| | 01:48 |
of coffee, imagine that.
And the CEO of the country's largest
| | 01:53 |
coffee firm, Chung Win Coffee, is a
creative entrepreneur for his firm but
| | 01:58 |
also for his country to be creative and be
a place that others will go to for ideas.
| | 02:07 |
The idea is that the creative entrepreneur
articulates a vision, a creative direction
| | 02:12 |
for the firm or for a country.
But to make it reality, someone has to
| | 02:18 |
turn that big idea into a more tangible,
doable target.
| | 02:24 |
What exactly does it mean to put a
computer on the desk of every child in the world?
| | 02:30 |
What types of computers and what sorts of
resources would the firm need to do.
| | 02:35 |
For Steve Jobs, Tim Cook has played that
role of creative leader.
| | 02:40 |
A role that figures out which ideas will
be feasible in the coming year or so.
| | 02:44 |
And which to put on hold for later.
The last creative leadership role is a
| | 02:49 |
creative team.
These are the people who figure out how to
| | 02:53 |
make the ideas into something to sell or
use and since forming these teams is
| | 02:57 |
important, let's talk about that for a
minute.
| | 03:02 |
A creative team needs to be diverse,
especially in how members think in their
| | 03:06 |
approaches to problem and in their
willingness to listen to different views.
| | 03:11 |
Leaders form those teams and at least two
different ways.
| | 03:15 |
Some firms use a drafting process where
managers ask certain players to join a team.
| | 03:22 |
Which can build in a little internal
competition among employees to be the best
| | 03:26 |
they can.
So they will get to go join great team.
| | 03:30 |
Other firms use self selection where the
members select the team manager they want
| | 03:36 |
to work with.
That of course, spurs the managers to best
| | 03:40 |
they can so people would want to be on the
team.
| | 03:45 |
Now, I want you to think about who plays
each role in your own firm?
| | 03:48 |
Creative entrepreneurs who determine why
and where to go, creative leaders who
| | 03:53 |
articulate what that vision means?
And finally the creative team, who decides
| | 03:58 |
how to make the vision a reality.
If you're missing any of those roles,
| | 04:03 |
think about who you might have, who can
fill them.
| | 04:06 |
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| Discipline 5: Building creative spaces| 00:00 |
Think of the last time you went into a
building or some space and you felt inspired.
| | 00:06 |
Maybe it was the great airport like
Copenhagen's or Cool Hotel the W in Las
| | 00:11 |
Vegas or even.
A Japanese garden.
| | 00:14 |
How often would you say that a business
office was inspiring?
| | 00:19 |
Probably not so often.
If you've seen pictures or visited places
| | 00:23 |
like Google or Starbucks, you notice their
offices don't look like most other
| | 00:28 |
high-rise or cubicle spaces.
These firms have invested in making their
| | 00:34 |
workplaces support a strong culture, and
creativity.
| | 00:38 |
Why is that important?
Researchers report that many employees
| | 00:42 |
think that workplace design is important
for their performance.
| | 00:46 |
And that it can encourage or discourage
innovation.
| | 00:50 |
On the other hand many employees think
that their firms don't really take
| | 00:54 |
advantage of the space as a way to
encourage performance or creativity.
| | 00:59 |
So, what are some of the elements that are
important and which you might incorporate
| | 01:03 |
into your own work space?
Nature is one of those elements and
| | 01:08 |
several organizations use it.
One has kept its offices just on the edge
| | 01:13 |
of a protected nature area.
This allows employees to have meetings
| | 01:18 |
while walking or take a break in the open
space when they need to think hard about something.
| | 01:24 |
That access to nature, according to
employees, also helps them come up with
| | 01:28 |
and shape ideas, because they can move,
they can go to a new venue, and be inspired.
| | 01:35 |
Other firms try to encourage accidental
meetings, and do that with building design.
| | 01:42 |
One creative way is to put bathroom at the
end of hallways.
| | 01:47 |
This forces employees to walk a long way
and in the process bump into people they
| | 01:51 |
might not work with and perhaps spark
conversations that might not otherwise have.
| | 01:57 |
Some firms have huge staircases in the
center lobby, big enough for people to
| | 02:02 |
stop and stand and chat.
Just like they might do in an Italian Piazza.
| | 02:08 |
But if your building space is fixed, don't
worry.
| | 02:11 |
There're other aspects you could change.
Some firms use flexible office layout or
| | 02:16 |
temporary space by having movable units
that can change over time as type of work
| | 02:22 |
or employee changes.
Other firms find that open space just
| | 02:28 |
doesn't work for everyone all the time.
So they've tried to build both common
| | 02:33 |
space and private space.
Software firms have big, open hive spaces
| | 02:38 |
where developers can gather, but also
separate areas where people can stop and concentrate.
| | 02:46 |
This mix of open and closed areas Allows
for different types of work.
| | 02:50 |
A Swedish firm, set up its conference
room, to be almost like a living room.
| | 02:56 |
Round coffee table in the middle of six
big arm chairs.
| | 03:00 |
Large enough to snuggle in, but also big
enough to lean forward, for a good strong discussion.
| | 03:07 |
Last, research confirms what many people
like Einstein and Churchill knew.
| | 03:12 |
Taking short naps, or breaks, to let your
mind wander, can increase productivity.
| | 03:18 |
My own university turned a small,
windowless room into a spark room.
| | 03:23 |
A place with just a chair, a lamp and a
white board.
| | 03:27 |
For people to step away for a minutes.
To take a quick nap, to let the ideas
| | 03:31 |
simmer or just to think.
I encourage you to take a walk around your
| | 03:36 |
own building and see how you might
transform your work space to encourage creativity.
| | 03:43 |
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| Discipline 6: Fostering a creative culture| 00:01 |
Even if you hire the right people, try to
instill a discipline creative process and
| | 00:05 |
plan your work space to encourage
creativity.
| | 00:09 |
Your dream of a highly creative, high
performance organization can fail if you
| | 00:12 |
don't have a good culture to hold it all
together.
| | 00:17 |
As leaders often say, your organization
will have a culture whether you like it or not.
| | 00:23 |
The goal is to make sure that you shape
it, rather than let it just emerge and
| | 00:27 |
become something that doesn't support your
vision.
| | 00:31 |
Culture is the set of actions that people
learn and do, when no one is looking.
| | 00:37 |
If that involves trying to encourage
creativity, what would it look like.
| | 00:42 |
Let's talk about three aspects of a
culture that encourages creativity.
| | 00:47 |
First, as I mentioned before, the ability
and support to take risk and be allowed to
| | 00:53 |
fail is critical.
Second, we can't expect all good ideas to
| | 00:58 |
come from the leader or just a few people
in an organization.
| | 01:03 |
You need to encourage ideas from all
levels.
| | 01:06 |
Finally, giving an idea a little chance to
grow by encouraging it.
| | 01:12 |
So, let's talk about each of these three.
Encourage risk taking.
| | 01:16 |
Think about how you learn to ski or play
the piano or make a presentation.
| | 01:22 |
Or make a sales call.
Did you do it perfectly the very first time?
| | 01:26 |
I bet even gold medal winners didn't do it
right all the time.
| | 01:31 |
So, why should we expect employees to
never make mistakes in organizations.
| | 01:36 |
Creative leaders allow for mistakes and
failure, especially if they can be small
| | 01:41 |
and lead to learning.
Over several years the food giant Kraft
| | 01:46 |
went from a bottom place to top place in
innovation.
| | 01:52 |
How'd they do that?
One shift was in the culture.
| | 01:55 |
As the Vice President of Breakthrough
Innovations said, the firm went from a
| | 02:00 |
culture of we can't to one of what he
calls positive discontent, where the firm
| | 02:05 |
celebrated people who try new things.
But it's hard to encourage creativity,
| | 02:12 |
since even the smallest gesture can
squelch an idea since ideas are like seedlings.
| | 02:19 |
So, look for ideas from all levels.
When one or a few persons seem to have
| | 02:25 |
most of the ideas in a company, I like to
call that idea central.
| | 02:30 |
The danger is that a firm can become too
dependent on just a few people, which can
| | 02:35 |
make others complaisant or even lazy and
the organization could miss some great ideas.
| | 02:44 |
One software company I work with
discovered it needed more touch points for ideas.
| | 02:50 |
That meant people at all levels needed to
look for ideas within their own networks
| | 02:54 |
in and out of the fields they work in.
It spread the responsibility of finding
| | 02:59 |
ideas to all levels and generated some
great ones that the leaders never would
| | 03:03 |
have found on their own.
Give an idea a chance to encourage
| | 03:10 |
creativity, creative leaders know they
have to give ideas a chance to grow.
| | 03:16 |
I find that many of them use three simple
words to make that happen.
| | 03:21 |
Tell me more.
Now, why are those words so powerful?
| | 03:22 |
First, they force slowing and listening.
That tells the person who suggests an idea
| | 03:29 |
that he or she is worth listening to.
Also, it shows that the leader thinks
| | 03:41 |
ideas and creativity are important, at
least for a few minutes.
| | 03:46 |
Next, those words convey an openness that
is absolutely critical for a culture of
| | 03:51 |
creativity to happen.
And finally, use the three powerful words
| | 03:58 |
to give an idea a chance to breathe.
New ideas are fragile.
| | 04:04 |
They're trying to sprout through the
mind's full and messy clutter of thoughts.
| | 04:08 |
And like a small seedling, if you step on
a new idea, it will die.
| | 04:14 |
So, by slowing down, asking to hear more,
the idea gets a little more time to become stronger.
| | 04:23 |
In the end, of course, an idea may not
survive if it's not a good one.
| | 04:26 |
But at least, it gets some time and
protection from immediately squelching it.
| | 04:33 |
And by giving it a little extra breathing
room, perhaps it can grow in ways that no
| | 04:37 |
one expected.
So, I encourage you to try these three
| | 04:41 |
ways to develop a creative culture.
Encourage risk taking, find ideas from all levels.
| | 04:51 |
And lastly, say, Tell me more.
| | 04:56 |
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|
|
ConclusionAssessing common challenges| 00:01 |
Infusing the notion of doing things
differently to get better is easy to say
| | 00:05 |
but sometimes hard to do, but as with many
challenges, the payoff can be great.
| | 00:12 |
So let's talk about three of the most
common challenges that leaders face when
| | 00:16 |
they try to encourage people to do things
differently, and how to overcome this challenges.
| | 00:22 |
Model creative leadership, don't just talk
about it.
| | 00:27 |
When leaders in a firm talk about doing
things differently, they need to be ready
| | 00:32 |
to show what they mean and live by those
words.
| | 00:36 |
That means modeling the behaviors they
want to see in others.
| | 00:40 |
In meetings, it means listening hard to
what people bring up that may seem off the wall.
| | 00:46 |
It may mean stopping for five minutes in
the hallway to say, tell me more, to an
| | 00:50 |
employee who's just come across a new way
to help customers or an idea that will cut
| | 00:55 |
out waste.
It means giving people and ideas some
| | 01:01 |
time, a couple of days, a week or month to
try something out and even let it fail to
| | 01:06 |
learn from it and do things differently
the next time.
| | 01:14 |
When it comes to shifting behaviors,
leaders must lead.
| | 01:18 |
They're the ones who connect people with
the future.
| | 01:21 |
And if it includes doing things
differently, then they have to show what
| | 01:24 |
they mean.
Don't just talk about it, do it, make
| | 01:29 |
creativity part of who you are.
Some people think that creativity has to
| | 01:35 |
lead to something big new product or
service some major shift in operations or
| | 01:39 |
cost reduction.
Yes, those things are nice, but doing
| | 01:44 |
things differently is a habit that we need
on all times in all sorts of places.
| | 01:51 |
Leaders and employees alike need to begin
to make creativity a habit, part of their
| | 01:56 |
daily routine, like brushing their teeth,
in ways large and small.
| | 02:02 |
For instance, if you look at your own
daily routine, you may find some small
| | 02:07 |
ways to improve your performance.
I'm a huge NPR fan, but decided a year ago
| | 02:14 |
to turn it off in my car.
Now my commute is only about 10 minutes so
| | 02:20 |
it's not long, but that silent in the car
has boost my ability to think through
| | 02:24 |
problems, to come up with new ideas.
Just because I decided to do something
| | 02:31 |
differently and give myself that quiet
space.
| | 02:35 |
Think through the daily routine that you
find in your own life, and in your
| | 02:39 |
organization's life.
Where are there small or large places to
| | 02:44 |
try something differently.
Now and then, put everything out there and
| | 02:49 |
consider whether it should be done in
another way that might enhance performance.
| | 02:54 |
As you do that, your employees will notice
and begin to do it themselves.
| | 02:59 |
Give it time.
Changing the way they behave and think
| | 03:03 |
takes time.
Don't expect to turn your organization
| | 03:07 |
into a creative hub overnight, especially
if it's not something you're comfortable
| | 03:11 |
with to start with.
Try it out in small ways and then build up.
| | 03:18 |
You're building the creative muscle, and
just like any sort of workout that takes time.
| | 03:24 |
One organization I work with uses what
they call a 90-day cycle.
| | 03:29 |
They choose a goal or something to try out
and push hard on that goal for 90 days.
| | 03:34 |
It might be, for example, to use a new
software package or how they find
| | 03:38 |
perspective customers.
After 90 days of intensive effort, the
| | 03:43 |
group comes together to review what worked
or didn't and decide what to keep and
| | 03:48 |
toss, and then move on.
As a CEO says, we can all focus on doing
| | 03:54 |
one or two things differently for a short,
intensive period.
| | 03:59 |
And that allows us to fail fast and learn
faster.
| | 04:04 |
Use these three challenges to help
encourage people to do things differently,
| | 04:10 |
and in the end, you may just increase
performance.
| | 04:15 |
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| Final thoughts| 00:00 |
Remember that creativity is nothing fancy,
nothing artsy.
| | 00:05 |
It's all about doing things differently to
get better.
| | 00:09 |
Better than you were yesterday, better
than last month, or last year, and better
| | 00:13 |
than your peers.
Any person, any organization, even any
| | 00:17 |
community or country that doesn't keep
trying to do things differently to get
| | 00:22 |
better, will get complacent and stagnant.
And if you're not moving forward, you're
| | 00:29 |
moving backward.
So what are the keys to remember?
| | 00:33 |
Think of the 6 disciplines.
First, hire and keep people with deep
| | 00:37 |
discipline expertise.
Second, look outside your field or
| | 00:42 |
discipline for ideas.
Look in science, look in art, on the
| | 00:46 |
sports field, anywhere, just keep looking.
Third, be disciplined about finding,
| | 00:52 |
reviewing and trying out new ideas.
Then, do it again.
| | 00:58 |
Don't get committed to any one of them too
early.
| | 01:01 |
Fourth, find and nurture leaders and team
members who're disciplined about executing
| | 01:06 |
creative approaches and ideas.
Fifth, use space and place as a discipline
| | 01:12 |
that supports creativity.
And finally, develop a culture of creative
| | 01:17 |
habit or discipline.
Over the years, I've watched people use
| | 01:22 |
these tools and ideas and done right,
they've help transform their organizations.
| | 01:28 |
I hope you'll take this disciplines to
heart, and use them for yourself as well
| | 01:32 |
as your organization.
Will it be easy?
| | 01:35 |
No, I won't kid you about that, but it is
doable and it's a worthwhile journey.
| | 01:40 |
And along the way, it can add a little fun
to the workplace.
| | 01:46 |
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