Thinking: Beliefs versus Actual Creativity

Most of us are creative and innovative when it comes to solving problems, we really are. But it would also appear that most of us go through a phase where we lose that potential or the motivation to push the boundaries and think of alternative possibilities for what we are doing. And you have to work to get it back once you get into those lazy habits of going through the motions of thought.

When I went to school, it seems like everything was supposed to be controlled and logical. This also seemed to start early and went up through my Master’s Degree program, where out-of the-box thinking was certainly not encouraged:

But then I hit my doctoral program at Chapel Hill, where my major professor Dr. Richard King and my associate graduate students all pushed me to think through and around the boundaries. The University of North Carolina was a fabulous institution for me.

Then came college teaching, consulting, and then my own business where creativity and innovation are demanded. Since 1984, there have been great colleagues and great challenges to push the boundaries, invent and re-invent ways of looking at organizational performance and implementation, and some wonderful business clients all looking for alternatives and change.

Now, I think the reality looks more like this:

What do YOU do to keep things rolling and to find alternative ways of doing things more better faster?

Generate some ideas by thinking about how this might represent how things work in your organization:

How many issues and opportunities can you identify? What are some themes of isolation and engagement? What about how your systems and processes work or about how you might make the workplace more motivating?

People can choose to do things differently. Their ownership improves the likelihood, quality and speed of implementation. Change is about people, as well as performance. And, people can also choose to be more creative.

You can read a bit more about thinking here:

For the FUN of It!

Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools. Managing Partner of Performance Management Company since 1984, he is an experienced presenter and consultant.

 
Connect with Scott on Google+ – you can reach Scott at scott@squarewheels.com

Follow Scott’s posts on Pinterest: pinterest.com/scottsimmerman/
Scott’s blog on People and Performance is here.

Square Wheels are a trademark of Performance Management Company
LEGO® is a trademark of The LEGO Group

<a rel=”author” href=”https://plus.google.com/u/0/114758253812293832123″ a>