Challenging Beliefs to Unlock Creativity

As a Manager it can prove challenging to get your team to think of new approaches and ways of operating. So much of the regular day-to-day grind seems to drill in the 'this is the way we do things here' type of thinking that asking for out of the box thinking can prove daunting.

We've heard that change isn't easy. Rarely do we explore why. Primarily, change requires shifting our mindsets which proves problematical because they are largely held unconsciously. To change we must modify approaches based on beliefs that we hold as truths, which is responsible for creating the rigidity of our thinking. We hold truths as absolutes, meaning they are largely unquestioned. We hold truths and beliefs about...

• how work gets done
• how people should think
• how people should interact with one another
• science, technology, human nature, business, religion...

Everything we say and do is built upon our beliefs, our expectations of what works, why and how it works and beliefs concerning the application of that information we hold to be true. But, what if we challenged one or two of those beliefs? What if one or two of the beliefs we hold were... wrong?

The impact of shifting only one or two beliefs would be huge. Other beliefs, that are based on or dependent upon that first belief being true, would also be called into question. Challenging only one belief would open up avenues and opportunities of change. Shifting only one belief could lead the way to creating new approaches and ways of thinking. Certainly questioning even one belief would challenge the rigidity of our current thinking.

Often it is our existing beliefs that are standing in the way of change. We need to challenge those beliefs to open a new door of opportunity.

To begin the mental shift necessary to unlock your creativity you need to start by acknowledging that a different outcome or reality is possible. This acceptance allows the potential for a shift in thinking to occur.  Without it your mind remains closed to a different way of thinking. Allowing for just the possibility that 'different' or 'other' might exist is a critical first step.

Interestingly, even the process of thinking about how your thinking and belief structures are built begins to shifting your thinking. Opening yourself to accepting that some of your beliefs may not be absolute creates the possibility for new opportunities to take root.

If you want your people to become better at recognising opportunities, to being more creative in problem-solving, in finding different solutions, you need to begin by getting them to challenge some of their current thinking beforehand. Start by getting them to think about the structure and routines in their day that might be contributing to cementing their belief systems and stifling their creativity. Open their thinking by getting them to switch up their routines.

• take a different route to work
• sit in a different seat at team meetings
• reorganize their office layout
• do something different at lunch
• eat a new food for dinner instead of 'it's Wednesday so we have spaghetti'

Switching even small elements of your daily routine gets your brain shifting out of auto pilot and becoming more aware. After all, you can't take advantage of opportunities you don't see. Once your team's brains are primed to begin seeing possibilities and potential get the them to begin asking the critical question... What if this wasn't true?

This is the question that opens up those new doors by challenging assumptions, beliefs and truths. By questioning one belief, by asking what the impact is of it not being true, you create a domino effect of possibilities. Though all may not play out, you are likely to find some that are worth pursuing, that create the very possibility you needed.

To unlock the creative talents of both you and your team, begin by getting your collective brains off of autopilot by challenging some of your beliefs. Shifting just one belief or 'truth' may be all it takes to unlock a host of new approaches and possibilities. True change doesn't happen one person at a think but, rather, one thought at a time.

Tip Thursday - Creativity

New research out shows us that the earliest ideas voiced in a brainstorming session have a heavy
influence over the rest of the conversation, having determined the direction of future thoughts. Instead, experts suggest using a Brain Writing versus Storming approach. Have everyone write their ideas down first, before sharing with others. The point is to have the idea generation phase take place before any review or discussion. This prevents one idea from influencing the perspective or direction that the solution takes, opening new possibilities of thought to occur. Side note: this is also a great way to ensure input from all - including introverts!

Tip Thursday - Building your Creativity

As much as many of us tend to think of Creative moments simply striking as lightening bolts in a
random pattern, most people that rely on their creativity for a living - meaning they must be creative 'on demand' - have found it necessary to have a space that is completely devoted to their creativity. Entering that space serves as a trigger to their brains that it is now time to be creative.  Maya Angelou typically chose to work in small, no frills hotel rooms, rather than her home, as a separation of her living and working spaces, allowing her mind to recognise when it was time for her to work and be creative. This tip also serves as a great signal for increased productivity as well!

Making Your Luck

My eldest son is 'lucky'.  He has won more contests and free stuff over the years than anyone I know. Most are envious of his luck, typically lamenting how they just aren't that lucky, that fate somehow hasn't treated them the same.  However I know from first hand experience that he makes his luck.

He wins more contests because he enters more contests.  If there is a chance of winning anything, he drops his card into the slot, fills out a ballot, completes an entry.  Most people I know don't do that.  They determine that it isn't something they are interested in, not something they'd use, they don't want everyone to have their contact information... and they don't 'win' as often.  In essence, you can't expect to win 'it', if you're not in it!

This discrepancy though got me to wondering about whether this same attitude relating to contests and giveaways exists within the larger context of 'luck', especially when it relates to life opportunities. According to Dr. Stephann Makri, in looking into why some people seem 'luckier' than others, serendipity is more than just an accident.  Apparently 'lucky' people all recognise opportunities that present themselves and take action on them.  In his book The Luck Factor, author Richard Wiseman concurs that some people aren't necessarily luckier than others, they are just quicker to spot and take advantage of opportunities.

There is some research supporting the view that extroverts tend to be a little luckier than others, but this is simply because they tend to engage more people and more connections tends to correlate to having more opportunities.  It stands to reason then that luck can be cultivated, we can indeed create our own luck.

The following are some key tips to help you increase your Luck Factor...

Prepare yourself for Chance.  All of the studies indicate that those considered to be lucky tend to be much more open to new opportunities.  Exposing yourself to new opportunities and perspectives increases your chances at continuing to have more opportunities.  To practice your openness begin by looking at a situation that you have an established view and opinion on and then come up with 5 plausible alternative views.  Learning to broaden our perspectives helps prevent us from closing ourselves from new opportunities too quickly.

See Serendipity everywhere.  Serendipity is described as chance encounters that lead to happy outcomes. Don't just prepare yourself for chance, begin actively seeking it out.  Serendipitous events surround us, but we have to see them in order to act upon them.  You have probably experienced them a couple of times in your life, a chance encounter with someone that connected you to an unexpected opportunity.  However, as with anything, you see more of what you attune yourself to see.  You may feel that you saw no orange cars on your drive in to work but, primed to watch for them, you see five on your drive home.  Watching for serendipity helps to see and experience more of it in your life.

Take a Break.  Although conscientiousness has its benefits, it is no true friend to serendipity.  Being too rigidly focused on the tasks at hand creates a tunnel vision that limits your ability to give chance a... well... chance.  You have to allow yourself to be a little off track and loose in your thinking sometimes to be open to 'interruptions' to the process.  As we get older it may be more difficult for us to experience 'luck' in our lives because we often become more set in our thinking and our habits of behaving.  We need to relax and loosen up a little to give room for chance to step in.

Say Yes.  When we are first faced with new opportunities our first reaction is usually a combination of Intrigue and Anxiety.  Your path is determined by which one of these feelings you give in to.  Over time, we tend to develop our habitual responses and patterns of behaviour by selecting one response more than the others.  This is why some people's path is paved with more happy coincidences and opportunities, while someone else's path is riddled with regrets and roads not taken.  Managing your fears, developing your courage, increases your 'luck'.

Embrace Failure.  Not every opportunity turns out well or works out for us the way we would have liked. However, lucky people are resilient.  They don't view failure as a reason not to try again in future, they simply learn what they can and need from the failure so they can apply those learnings to the next opportunity.  Most successful business owners have had failed businesses first.  That's what taught them what it took to be successful.

Use the above tips to strengthen the 'luck' that you experience in your life.  We get more of what we work on and for in life.  Some may describe the result as 'luck', others may see it is a the by-product of work and focus.  Gary Player, a professional golfer once said...

"The harder I practice, the luckier I get"

Cultivate and build your luck by building your awareness and openness to it.  There is no reason to simply sit back and wait for opportunity to knock.  Why not open the door and invite it in?


To check out more on this subject, and to get even more ideas on boosting your luck, check out The Luck Factor for yourself...

Increase your Creativity - Sit Outside the Box

We have all experienced times when we want to be more creative with our solutions, perhaps even need to be more creative, but we just can't seem to come up with anything creative.  We push ourselves to focus but seem to continue to draw a blank on a new solution or approach.  As it turns out, new research is indicating that the solution to thinking more creatively may have less to do with focus than it does with location.

In one study, researchers at the University of Michigan and NYU had 102 undergrads complete a task designed to measure innovative thinking.  Some of the participants were randomly assigned to complete the task while sitting in a box (constructed of plastic pipe and cardboard) while the other group of participants worked on the task while sitting outside of (but next to) the box.  The result?  Those sitting outside of the box were significantly more creative in their thinking, arriving at 20% more creative solutions, than those sitting within the box.  

We know from other studies that there is a strong mind-body correlation, a link between what our body feels and what we think.  Problems we face seem larger if we are holding something heavy in our hands than they do when we hold something light.  We feel more positively disposed toward someone when we hold a warm drink in our hand than when holding a cold one.  It seems to make an almost intuitive sense then that our minds would feel less restricted if our bodies were seated in a less restrictive space.  

Even the outline of a box has an influence on our thinking.  In another study, students were given problems to solve and asked to walk while doing so.  One group were asked to walk along the lines on the floor, outlining a large square, while the other group was allowed to walk freely.  As is now to be expected, the group allowed to wander at will while problem solving did significantly better.  

When you look at the popularity of coffee shops around town being used as make-shift office space, perhaps we begin to understand why.  Maybe the patrons are not looking for the perfect latte so much as they are looking for a more open environment, conducive to creating the innovative solution they are searching for.  A study in the Journal of Consumer Research indicates that working in coffee shops, and other moderately noisy places, also boosts creativity. In this UBC study, over 300 participants were asked to work on creative tasks in one of three environments:  nearly silent, moderately loud (about coffee shop loud), and very loud.  The participants in the moderately loud environment did better on the creativity tests. Too much noise proved to create a distraction, while a moderate amount served to create a level of processing difficulty (absent from the silent room) that spurred creativity, by enhancing abstract thinking.

The implications of these studies are quite significant and should be considered when you are looking to tackle your to-do list for the day.  If you are merely processing information and need to think along linear lines, then perhaps sitting at your desk, in your office or cubicle, is sufficient.  When you reach that item on the list that requires more abstract thinking though, you may do well to switch up your environment.  Go for a walk, head out to a coffee shop, wander around the cafeteria, sit outside at a picnic table and work.  Change your environment to suit the work that you are attempting.  

My first book was written primarily at the cottage, on a laptop by the beach.  My second book was written largely in coffee shops, wherever I happened to be, before and between client meetings and sessions.  Each location suited the type of book I was working on, the way I needed to think, and both were written largely out of the office and away from my desk.

What changes might you need to make to the way you expect to get work done?  You may not have control over the office design but you have control over where and how you do your thinking.  Suit the environment to the process and the desired result to improve the quality of your thoughts and solutions.  As it turns out...

Thinking outside of the box is best accomplished by sitting outside of the box

Embracing Limitations

There is a lot of focus in business on the need to 'improve' our weaknesses, to overcome our limitations.  The
assumption being that we don't want weaknesses of any kind, that our weaknesses will hold us back and limit our opportunities.  What if, however, it is not our limitations that hold us back but the way that we think of them?

As long as we perceive our limitations as weaknesses, our limitations as a negative, we put our effort into masking or hiding them, into trying to turn them around or to at least become 'competent' enough in the area that others might not notice.  It becomes a cyclical game in which we put our energy into become stronger in an area that will never be a strength.

What if we put our energy instead, into finding other avenues to getting things done, while working WITH our limitations rather than around them?  We tend to think of creativity being synonymous with the need to think outside of the box.  However, kickstart your creativity by thinking a little closer to home.  Try thinking within the box.  Enhance and spark your creativity by learning to embrace your limitations.

Don't hide your limitations away, pull them out.  Examine them.  Define what the limitation means to you.  Often this definition is accompanied by a 'can't'.  There is something you feel that you can't do as a result of this limitation.  The key question then becomes...  how else might I do it?  Consider...

• If you are an athlete who loses their legs in a car crash, do you stop engaging in your sport?
• If you want to become doctor but don't get accepted into medical school, do you give up on your dream of being a health practitioner?
• If you draw detailed, realistic pictures but develop severe hand tremors, do you stop making art?
• If you stutter, do you avoid speaking in public?

You can't do things as you once did or would want to... what can you do instead?  Don't dwell on what you can't do... focus on what you can.  What is another option or possibility?  If you only view the limitation one way you will only get one answer.  View the limitation from as many different angles as you can to unlock different answers and possibilities, many of which would have been hidden from you had you not shifted your perspective.  

Sometimes we must first become limited to then become limitless

Instead of viewing your limitations as a roadblock to your success, view them as a source of creativity.  Your dream is not gone because of the limitation, you are just required to shift your vision of it or to walk a different path to get there.  Embracing your limitations liberates you from their confines, opening new avenues, new possibilities.  It is from thinking inside the box of our limitations that we end up opening the box fully.

Giving Your Creativity a Whack!

It is not unusual to find that our thinking processes get stuck in a rut.  We become too linear in our thinking, relying on the same problem-solving methodologies to provide us with new insights.  Like the popular definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over expecting different results), it just isn't going to net us a new or different perspective.  Enter... the Creative Whack Pack.

This tool came to me by way of Tim Ferriss (author of the 4-Hour Work Week) and I have to share it with you because I love it.  I've given you links below to pick up your own pack of cards (and the creator's book too if you want 'more') because I'm not parting with mine.  I am already envisioning the ways that I am going to be using it within my own business, let alone with clients!  Don't be surprised if we're in a meeting together and I pull out my deck!

The tool was developed by Roger von Oech, founder and president of Creative Think, a creativity and innovation based organization.  He has authored both A Whack on the Side of the Head and A Kick in the Seat of the Pants.  

In the Whack Pack you will find 64 different cards, each designed to provoke and inspire your thinking.  Each is based on the idea that sometimes you need a 'whack on the side of the head' to get you thinking in a new, fresh way.  Using the deck is infinitely preferable to actually whacking my head each time I need a fresh perspective!  Each card helps you to...

• challenge your current thinking
• break out of your habitual thought patterns
• look at things in a fresh way
• discover new sources of information
• create new idea generation approaches and techniques
• develop new decision making skills
• kick yourself into taking action

If you feel that your approaches are getting a little 'stale', or you are looking for something to help jolt the team out of their 'group-think' patterns you will find value from picking up a deck of these cards.  We tend to get so caught up in deciding and moving on that we begin to lack the creative-muscle needed to develop the break-through insights and solutions we need, whether in our professional or personal lives.  The Whack Pack provides an inexpensive and easy to use process to help us uncover those new insights and solutions.

                   

Life-Hacking - Could Yours Use a Little?

Life-hacking.  This is a real term, a real phenomenon.  Popularized by Tim Ferriss, through his best-selling book The 4-Hour Work Week, life-hacking is helping people to redesign their lives, their work, their paths, their approaches.  According to Wikipedia, life-hacking ...

refers to any productivity trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to increase productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life; in other words, anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way might be called a life hack.

Take Alex Day for example.  This young UK singer/musician hacked the UK music industry such that, with no manager, no producer, no agent and no PR help... took his single to #4 on the UK charts on Christmas Day, their biggest day of the year.  Oh... and he did it in 8 weeks.  Unheard of perhaps, but he hacked the system.  He looked for alternatives to the 'typical' processes, worked around the 'way it works' established systems, found a couple of loopholes and...  made it happen.  (see his story here)

Consider musician Amanda Palmer.  In her Ted Talk, aptly named the Art of Asking (here's the link), Amanda describes how, after being dropped by her record producer (because her band didn't bring in enough sales and revenue), she put her album out for free and simply asked people to pay what they'd like for it.  She netted well over a million in sales.

Two recent examples that I have simply tripped over (I didn't even go looking) that both highlight individuals that were willing (and able) to think outside of the proverbial box and try a different approach.  They weren't constrained in their minds by 'how things work' because those systems clearly weren't going to work for them.  Rather than give up or move on or... even worse... conform, they invented a new process, one that would give them the results that they were after.

How might this work for you?

How many times have you limited or restricted yourself from going after something that you want because there weren't enough resources to make it happen?  Because you didn't have the time to invest?  Because you didn't have the skills?  Perhaps all of these would be true if you were following the 'tried and true' approach to the issue but... what it... you reinvented the approach so that you didn't need the money, the expertise, the knowledge the... whatever is holding you back?  You create the rules and... go for it!

Re-invent.  Re-design.  Re-craft.  Re-tool.

When it comes to your life don't hate it... hack it!  The possibilities just grew exponentially!


(and... if you haven't read this yet...  here's the link to go buy it.  Read it.  Learn from it.  Do it.)

Forget what your IQ says; how's your Successful Intelligence level?

You have likely heard the saying... 'Common Sense isn't so Common', but have you ever really wondered about the impact of common sense on our success?  Psychologist Robert Sternberg has been conducting research that does just that.

Sternberg always found the belief that Intelligence tests could accurately predict business and personal success to be flawed.  Most standard IQ tests measure a very narrow range of abilities, many of which aren't strong indicators or predictors of success itself.  He therefore has begun presenting his thoughts on what he calls Success Intelligence, the ability to think in ways that help you to develop your personal excellence and to ultimately thrive and excel at work.

Your Successful Intelligence is made up of three key ways of thinking:

1. Analytical Thinking, which is the ability to solve problems and judge ideas
2. Creative Thinking, the ability to come up with new and innovative solutions to problems
3. Practical Thinking, the ability to use and implement your ideas effectively.

Your level of Successful Intelligence is greatest, and most effective, when these three key types of thinking are operating in balance with one another.  People with high levels of Successful Intelligence know how to make the most of what they have and are able to actively find ways to work around any of their limitations.  In essence, this is very much in alignment with what I share with clients all of the time: the need to focus on developing your strengths, while finding ways to minimize your weaknesses.

J. Robert Baum, Director of Entrepreneurship Research at the University of Maryland, says that your learning orientation has a direct impact upon your entrepreneurship success.  Those that don't learn much from their past experiences don't tend to gain much in the way of Practical Intelligence, thereby seriously impacting their ability to start or run successful new ventures.  Those with high Practical Intelligence though, tend to learn best by doing and not by watching or reading, providing them with hands-on, practical experience they can apply to a variety of different opportunities in future.

Your Successful Intelligence, and in particular your Practical Intelligence, is completely separate from your IQ, which is why some with very high IQ levels can prove to be unsuccessful in business while those with comparatively lower IQs might enjoy a great deal more success.  He and his group ran a number of experiments in which they determined that Practical Intelligence was a key determining factor in entrepreneurial success, rating much higher than IQ.  

The implication for each of us is, of course, to let go of any notion that we might not be 'smart enough' to take on new tasks or roles and that we should consider whether we have Analytical, Creative and Practical Intelligence needed to be successful.  

From childhood we have gotten too hung up on the concept of IQ being the indicator of how far we will travel in life.  Today we are coming to recognise that there are a significant number of other factors that contribute to our overall success, IQ is just one, which helps explain why that 'guy' who kept getting A+ grades all through school may just end up reporting to you, despite your solid B-level grades.  Turns out there's more to it, and to you, than previously was known.

The Lotus Blossom

No, I am not getting poetic on you, nor am I looking to share with you the benefits of yoga poses.  The Lotus Blossom is a Japanese Brainstorming Technique.  This was a technique originally developed by Yasuo Matsumura of Clover Management Research in Japan, and described by Michael Michalko, author of Creative Thinkering and Thinkertoys.

Lotus Blossom Diagram



This technique allows you to organize your thinking around specific themes, which allow you to keep your thinking fluid, allowing shifts in your thinking patterns.  All too often we attempt to brainstorm in far too linear patterns, not keeping ourselves open to alternative directions of thought.  Certainly the benefit of brainstorming in groups is to open yourself to the various possibilities that different minds bring to the table.  But when you are working with the benefits of just one mind, your own, how do you ensure that you are not missing potential pathways of thought by not fully exploring all options?  Yep... the Lotus Blossom.

Like Bubble Diagrams, you start with a central subject and expand it out into different ideas/themes.  In this technique, each of these core themes, representing various petals in the blossom, are expanded themselves to reveal key components or sub themes.  This continues to expand outward, in ever widening circles until each has been fully explored.  By expanding outward in such a way, you ensure that each theme becomes developed fully enough that all alternative possibilities are clear, allowing you to abandon or accept each.

How to:

1.  Write the central problem in the center

2.  List the main themes in the surrounding circles (A to H).  The optimal number of themes for a diagram that doesn't drive you crazy is between 6 and 8.  Consider what your specific objectives are, what the dimensions of the problem are... even... if your subject were a book, what would the chapters headings be?

3.  Each of these ideas in turn break out into forming new petals, generating eight new ideas or applications.

4.  Continue to expanding outward until no other expansion is possible.

The diagram itself allows you to begin to recognise emerging patterns and relationships between themes.  Sometimes, features not previously identified or recognised will emerge, offering new opportunities.  This technique can be applied to any area in which you need to generate new ideas, whether for a project, business issue, job search, or personal dilemma.  If your current brainstorming techniques seem to have stalled, give this one a try, or check out one of Michael's books for some alternative ways of approaching your problems.  It just might be that you just need a new way of approaching your problems to uncover new solutions and answers.