Creativity At Work - Breaking Mindsets

Often we think of having to change the mindsets of others, but what about our own? Shouldn’t we be challenging our own ideas as well as the ways of having ideas? The following list applies to both solo and group working:

• Develop a wide range of experiences and interests. The richer the experience the wider the range of possibilities. Why not take a different route home or try a different bus?
• Become aware of your own blind spots i.e. things that you do not think about consciously or sub-consciously.
• Step into the shoes of all your stakeholders, even those with extreme views.
• Try different techniques, mix up your ways of holding meetings, generating ideas etc. Keep the same ones and you will build up systematic blind spots or gaps in your thinking.
• Try different modes of thinking. If you are naturally intuitive then try to be rational. If you are working in groups then change the balance of the group. If you are familiar with NLP representational systems then work with a different one.
• Challenge of all of the ‘givens’. Many organisations do things because they have always been done like that. There are not always as many regulatory constraints as there might at first appear!

Creativity and Humour

Consider the following (depending on which country you are from you may miss the point in one or two):

"If you see someone doing the impossible, don't interrupt them"
Amar Bose (Bose Corporation )

"Space is not remote, you can get there in an hour if you can make your car travel vertically"
Fred Hoyle (Astronomer)

"A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree"
Spike Milligan (Comedian)

"I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. Its about Russia"
Woody Allen (Comedian)

"Those who say it can't be done are being passed by those who are doing it"
Anonymous

"I said 'nearest the bull starts'. He said 'baa', I said 'moo'. He said 'you start'"
Peter Kaye (Comedian)

"'Hallo Rabbit', he said, 'Is that you?'. 'Lets pretend it isn't' said Rabbit, 'and see what happens'"
Winnie-the-pooh (bear, philosopher and explorer)

Now you may chuckle at one or more of the above, but did you wonder why? It is the juxtaposition of (strange) ideas that does it. It is exactly this mode of thinking that we need in the business world to be able to see things from a new perspective, generate ideas and spot new opportunities.