How can you use your creativity to understand the work's future
Leaders are focused on improving business measures such as return on investment (ROI) yet, it is likely that creativity may not be the first tool within the arsenal of employees you think of. Yet, Natalie Nixon, creativity strategist and founder of Figure 8 Thinking believes that it should be.
"Creativity isn't something you can have. It is essential to have."
Creativity is the fuel for the process of innovation.
It's believed that being creative is something only creative people do. Natalie says that it's proof the fact that we aren't aware of what creative is or how frequently we actually use it at work.
"Creativity is our ability to switch between amazement and rigor when it comes to solving problems, generate value and create meaningfulness."
When we commit to increase our creativity this leads to behaviors that allow for innovation. A focus on creativity helps to improve our patterns, and breaks old mental models, and allows us to engage in more collaboration.
Soft skills have been proven to be important
Natalie likes to think of innovation as inventions of a certain size. Since creativity is the catalyst for turning the idea into innovative ideas, it offers an immediate benefit from investment for companies.
The question is: Even though there is evidence that suggests the World Economic Forum rates creativity as the second-most important ability to become a highly productive employee for 2023 and beyond, there's a gap between the acknowledgment the importance of creativity and whether we prioritize practicing creativity.
3 strategies to change our mental models toward the direction of creativity.
Natalie is a specialist in the 3iCreativity Framework to shift mental models towards a more creative mindset. It combines three different areas of activity: inquiry and improvisation, and intuition.
1. Change from the certainty of a life to a fascination
Curiosity comes from a gap in information. Natalie says that in this new mindset the best thing to do is watch rather than learn. There are a few strategies that can be used to benefit from the shift are to concentrate on creative friction, engaging in lateral thinking, and keeping an expert on staff to answer any new questions.
2. The transition from rationalizing to intuition
We tend to depend on our intuition or "gut" to guide our decisions without even realizing that the process is taking place. Natalie recommends that recording "the the nudge" can help us learn to rely on the nudge more. Applications to this type of mind shift are normalizing play and mainstreaming designs which are sensorial or emotional.
3. Transition from planning to improvising
The shift in mindset, particularly is stressful especially those who fear of failure. Think of this shift in mindset as the distinction between a symphony that strives to be perfect and an improvisational jazz group. Integrating improvisation into your routine could mean purchasing prototypes or popping-up shops.
"Confident inquiry will eliminate myopia. Insights from a strategic perspective minimize the chance of making mistakes. The intensity of improvisation decreases the mulishness."
Article was first seen on here