How can you be more creative at work today?
One thing that stops people from being creative at work is the way they define creativity. They see it as being about art and play which is often seen as the opposite of work.
To instantly be more creative, use more and different ways to define your creativity.
Here are five creativity synonyms (other words for creativity) to help you be more creative at work today.
The traditional definition of a pioneer is someone who is the first to settle in a new country or area.
But you can also pioneer a new way of working or a new market to sell your product to. Or it could simply be taking the initiative.
Take charge. Be a little independent. Try something different.
What is a small initiative or experience that you can pioneer today?
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is often misunderstood. His famous line is ‘the survival of the fittest’.
We often interpret this as the biggest, the fastest and the strongest are the ones who survive. But that’s not what Darwin meant.
He meant the fittest are the most adaptable. The ones who best fit their environment win and survive.
And the same is true in business. The world is facing dramatic change right now. We have wars, pandemics, wrestles for control between the US and China, the rise of AI and more. And this means dramatic change for your business too.
To survive you need to be more adaptable. And this means finding multiple ways to solve the same problem.
What can you be more adaptable around today?
French author Marcel Proust once said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Proust is pointing to the heart of sensemaking, creativity and innovation.
Sensemaking is how we make meaning from what’s going on around us.
As human beings, we all do this all the time. You walk into a meeting and you make sense of it based on who is in the room, the agenda that’s been written and what people say.
Normally, our sensemaking is automatic – we don’t think about it. Well, not in a deliberate way. But if you want to be creative and come up with new solutions to business problems then be deliberate about how you make sense of things.
A simple way to do this is to play the Martians Game I mentioned in this video.
At work today, explore the assumptions of what you’re doing and make new sense of them.
Legend has it that the Greek mathematician Archimedes had one of his biggest discoveries lying in a bath. When he saw the water flow over the edge of the bathtub he yelled out ‘Eureka’.
Eureka means ‘I found it’ and Archimedes had just discovered the displacement theory in physics.
Creativity at work is hard because we often focus on the wrong things. We focus on the generation of ideas. But we don’t focus on spotting the big idea when it comes. That’s like focusing all of your energy on throwing a ball but not learning how to catch it.
To be more creative at work spend more time looking for good ideas.
You don’t have to be the one creating them.
Simply be the person who finds them.
At work today, listen for the ideas that other people say that go unheard.
My favourite definition of leadership comes from the father of leadership studies Warren Bennis. He suggests ‘leadership begins when you set out to make something happen.’ It’s that simple.
In this way, leadership is creative because creativity is making something happen.
To make things happen, start being a leader.
What are you going to make happen today?
It is believed that the Inuit of Canada have over 50 words for snow. This makes sense when you consider they most of their lives in the snow. It helps to know the difference between snow you can eat and snow you can walk on. And it helps to know what the different types of snow tell you about the weather.
It follows that having more words for creativity gives you more ways to be creative.
The words you use define what action you take. To be more creative at work, simply use more and different words for creativity.
It will change how you see things and what you do.
Which of these five words excites you the most? Add a comment below and let me know
If you want to be more creative, here are three more posts to inspire you.
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