6 STEPS TO INCREASE YOUR CREATIVITY SKILLS

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” — André Gide, French author (winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947).
“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.” — Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright and poet.

1. Foster an open, creative work environmenthttp://cliffartstudios.blogspot.comhttp://cliffartstudios.blogspot.com. To foster creativity, some companies provide workers with snacks, games, and “time off” during work hours. Google allows developers to work on their own projects one full day per week. Among other things, this has resulted in nifty services like Google News—so obviously, the approach works. You may not be able to offer that much freedom, but at least you can encourage communication, a positive attitude, and a low-stress environment. All these can support the greater mental flexibility and unshackled thought that result in profitable innovation. Team bonding events like retreats can also work, as long as you don’t make them competitive or stressful.

2. Motivate your team. Positive reinforcement in the form of rewards, bonuses, special privileges, comp time, and prizes will keep people on their toes. Not everyone will participate, but many will when they see their efforts have clear benefits.

3. Encourage diversity. A wide range of working styles, thought processes, and viewpoints is essential to avoiding groupthink, where a homogenized team loses the ability to see solutions obvious to outsiders. Innovation can only grow in a well-fertilized field. Rather than stunt its growth, find ways to encourage interaction and the exchange of ideas. Break down information silos between teams by getting them together to exchange ideas. Bring in speakers from outside to offer alternate perspectives. The cross-fertilization that results will blossom into ideas you can profit from.

4. Provide the proper tools. Carpenters can’t do their jobs with hammers alone; they also need saws, levels, planes, drills, and miter boxes. Make sure your people get the tools they need: computers, software, education, or training.

5. Create innovation teams. Build teams comprised of members with diverse working styles, experience, and skill-sets, whose primary purpose is to get together to innovate. I’ve seen this done as a full-time role or one or two days a week. Although some claim spontaneity goes out the window with such teams, solid communal thought, bantering, and brainstorming can result in surprising innovations.

6. Don’t penalize. To be truly innovative, you must risk failure. That’s just part of the creative mindset, since you fail more often than you succeed. If your team members fear punishment if their initiatives fail, why should they even try? Always provide a suggestion box, so employees can contribute anonymously. Even in an open environment, some people prefer confidentiality.