Creativity in business
Definition of creativity: The use of imagination or original ideas to create something new, innovative and exciting
This past six months has seen me reconnect with my creative side and I know I am not the only one…
From the beginning of lockdown, we have been thrown into a new way of living, spending more time indoors with less opportunity and freedom at our finger tips, so we have had to think of new ways to occupy our minds and creative hobbies has been a huge part of that.
From textiles to gardening, from wood work to baking, if we reflect at how we have spent some of our time these past few months, I bet we can all say we have embarked on something new and something creative at some stage.
Now I ask you- how did it make you feel?
I know how it made me feel; happy, satisfied, productive and excited.
Having a background in the arts, for me getting creative is a part of who I am and if I don’t refuel my creative tank regularly, I run out of steam and lose my mojo very quickly -particularly when it comes to running my business, so I know in order to operate my business to its maximum potential, I have to keep myself topped up with the creative stuff, though I do realise not everyone feels the same about art and creativity...
So, what if you are not artistic?
This is actually irrelevant, because when it comes to business you do not need to be artistic to be creative, nor be creative to generate new ideas.
Now more than ever is the time when many businesses have had to adapt, think outside the box and be innovative with their ideas- launching new arms to their existing offerings, pivoting their business models to slot into the current times and some are even starting brand new ventures, or at least considering it.
If you resonate with any, or all the above, then you will have at some stage had to participate in some form of idea generation and if not yet, you will.
The idea of incorporating creativity into business for many can be daunting and seem ‘fluffy’ and unnecessary, but as psychologist Edward de Bono says “Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learned. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves on teamwork, productivity and where appropriate, profits”.
Yes creativity is a skill that can be learned with the right tools and techniques in place, you can become a master of creativity for yourself or for your team and after all, great leaders are those who coach and empower others to think for themselves- creatively.
With the use of various frameworks anyone and I mean anyone can encourage those creative juices to flow and generate those light bulb moments that may end up becoming the most ground breaking ideas in your industry and at very least be the new business venture you are looking for, the new diversification in your current business you need right now or the solution to a challenge you are currently facing.
Amazingly, Mac’s multiple typefaces come from a calligraphy class Steve Jobs once took part in.
“If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts and since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them.”
Going back to that definition at the beginning of this article, the words ‘imagination’ ‘original ideas’, ‘innovative’ and ‘exciting’ all link to that one word- creativity.
We are all born with: creativity, intuition, imagination and curiosity – four human traits that can effectively never be replaced by AI or robots, so why would we not harness those super- powers and utilise them to achieve great things?
It is never too late to become the leader in your industry and how do you become that leader? By daring to use your imagination, combined with the curiosity to try new things, intuition to guide you in the right direction and creativity to land ground-breaking new innovative ideas this world still has plenty of room for.
I challenge you to invest time in integrating creativity into your business, into your working week, into your marketing strategies, into your teams and watch what happens…
A business without creativity is a business without ideas.
Fiona Duncan-Steer
For help in getting started with your creativity in business strategy contact me to arrange a free discovery call: fiona@rsvipnetwork.co.uk www.fionaduncansteer.com www.rsvipnetwork.co.uk