ne method we use in group activities to "break" the
"old habits" learned in school that stifle creativity involves loudly
acknowledging "failure" by chanting the name of the "failee" until the
group nears hysteria. Once individuals experience the "safety net" of
support/trust/caring around them, they are much more likely to continue venturing
"out of their sphere". Another benefit of the "failure" is the
catalytic value: one person's "bad" idea is the seed for someone else's breakthrough
idea. It is the celebration of a "feeding frenzy" where ideas can
synergistically build to a new solution that will drive a rekindling of the creative
process within organizations.
Individuals in an organization need to look for ways to
help make each other (and by extrapolation, the larger entity) be successful in their
attempts to "discover", develop, and test new ideas. But without trust and
encouragement, from the top down and the bottom up, this won't happen.
In future articles, we'll look at the next two factors crucial to solving the
"elusive, latent creativity puzzle": opportunities and forums to exercise
creativity, and the value creativity adds to the bottom line.§
Van Nutt is a partner at ImprovAbility,
a organization that uses interactive and participatory improvisational methods to train,
inspire creativity, open communication and build trust within organizations. Services
include community building, meeting ice breakers, brainstorming facilitation, and a full
range of quality entertainment services. Van can be reached via email. His phone and fax number is:
(608) 798-4855.
ne method we use in group activities to "break" the
"old habits" learned in school that stifle creativity involves loudly
acknowledging "failure" by chanting the name of the "failee" until the
group nears hysteria. Once individuals experience the "safety net" of
support/trust/caring around them, they are much more likely to continue venturing
"out of their sphere". Another benefit of the "failure" is the
catalytic value: one person's "bad" idea is the seed for someone else's breakthrough
idea. It is the celebration of a "feeding frenzy" where ideas can
synergistically build to a new solution that will drive a rekindling of the creative
process within organizations. 