I have just returned from Shanghai where I was one of the speakers at an innovation conference.
Speaker after speaker talked about the many and varied different innovation processes and the need to become more consumer driven.
I agree with all of them.
But after one day and half of the conference there was something missing.
No-one had talked about creativity (until me).
The thought did occur to me that if a room full of innovation managers and leaders did not mention creativity why would the rest of the organisation be interested in it?
Yet creativity generates new ideas and solutions which drives innovation and growth.
Additionally in a world that demands more and more from less and less we all need to be able to think and act in a smarter, faster way.
This is the every essence of creativity.
This begs the question.
Why we don’t we talk more about creativity?
– We don’t teach it in our education system.
– We don’t train our managers in our business schools to value creativity.
– We don’t allow time for it.
– We rarely have creativity as a management KPI
– We have trouble measuring it.
– There are few role models in Creative leadership (Steve Jobs & Richard Branson aside).
– And lastly the only creative thinking tool that many of us use is brainstorming which actually does not work that well.
My point is this.
If we want to design the organisations and work of the future it has to include creativity.
And the starting point is to start talking more about it.