What I realize is that creativity is essentially one of those things that’s a point of daily natural life or something we ‘wait’ to make a part of life, and often times with the later approach, creative output doesn’t always happen. From the idea folks that companies rely heavily on, or the creative ability to use humor in laughing at situations that are stressful, or perhaps the executive that has the ability to unwind at the end of the day by playing the piano…, creativity is an essential component to daily life, and well… survival.
What has been most profound in my research interviews recently in Los Angeles is the simple notion that creativity cannot be micro-managed. Now this may not seem like revolutionary information, but what is key here is the ability to know how and in what ways the process is being micro-managed, most often inadvertently. The key to progress in managing creative and innovative teams is to understand the ways in which the process impedes the goal. Now, that’s not all that different from the general knowledge we have of organizations and teams, the reality that the process often (unfortunately) impedes the goal. But what was reiterated to me over and over in my incredible week of interviews was how that affect is more detrimental to success than ever. In our lightening speed age of technology and the dissemination of information, this decade could not be a more important time to get information processes and communication right. Not only is the economics of business reliant on getting it right, but because of how quickly information is communicated, the ability to ‘correct’ communication has become increasingly challenging.
Back to my first point on ‘waiting for the time…’ The time, simply, for everything is now. The time to research ideas, the time to create ideas, the time to brainstorm and, the time to bring ideas to fruition is simply now. Because if you don’t do it now, someone else will, another company will come up with a similar concept, or even worse, your company will fail waiting for the right time to make things happen, creatively and innovatively.
Tags: ability, brainstorm, component, creative ability, creative output, creativity, doesn, fruition, general knowledge, humor, idea, information processes, knowledge, life, output doesn, playing the piano, research ideas, research interviews, Something, time