These days, things change and evolve daily in the professional realm, whether it’s how you make a sale, how you keep up with SEO, how you schedule meetings, etcetera. I could go on and on with examples of things you do in your job that are continually evolving due to the creativity of human beings. If you’re not willing to get creative with your processes, methods and thinking, there’s a good chance your organization will fall behind in the race against competitors.
It will likely be uncomfortable, but it’s time to foster an environment of creative thinking in your workplace. Why should you think differently if you’ve always done things the same way and things are going okay? Well… if things are going okay that probably means things could be going great. Yet, they’re not…
It’s easy and takes little time/energy to keep doing things the same way, so it seems logical to maximize your resources by keeping things the same. With that being said… if you want to take your organization to the next level, you’re going to need to take a risk now by allowing some time and space for your people to let their creative thinking flow. You will be thankful in the future when you’ve found innovative methods of doing things, saving time and bringing in more money.
Fostering an environment of creative thinking can:
- Increase employee trust, motivation and engagement
- Relieve stress of employees
- Allow employees to develop their skills
- Increase problem-solving
- Create more cohesion and more effective collaboration
- Combat a fear of failure
What is creative thinking?
The term creative thinking is fairly self-explanatory but is essentially the ability to improve traditional methods/processes, question traditional rules, and uncover new and improved ways of finding success.
Traditional thinking is a difficult mindset to break, so how should you begin to combat this way of thinking?
- Make employees feel comfortable bringing you new ideas, keeping an open mind
- Take more risks and let your people do the same, experimenting when possible
- Be intentional about progression, because stagnancy ultimately means regression
According to Gallup, only 35% of employees are given a chance to be creative at work even a few times a year. To maximize organizational productivity and success, quarterly creativity sessions are not going to cut it.
Set your organization apart by fighting traditional thinking and fostering an environment of creative thinking. It’s your culture now.
