As a leader, you want new and creative ideas to emerge from your team. But are you creating an environment where these ideas can flourish?
Some consider me a creative person and often I’m asked where my ideas come from. The truth is that I’m not sure. They just pop into my mind. It’s similar to how a song can get stuck in your head. It’s hard to explain as it just happens.
Upon further consideration, I do think that while creativity can be elusive, you can create an environment that produces more new ideas. It’s a state of mind that can be encouraged.
If good ideas are priceless to your business, then you should consider this recipe for creativity:
A Calm Environment
It’s hard to be creative when you’re stressed out. Think of your mind like a rubber band. The more stretched out it is, the more likely it is to break.
If you have people around you yelling and getting into frequent arguments, then you’re less likely to be creative. The outside stimulation is too distracting.
This is a challenge if you work in a pressure packed environment. When I worked in TV news, I was well acquainted with that situation. But there I found that if I could mentally or physically remove myself for just a few minutes, then the good ideas would start to flow.
Think about what you can do to introduce more calm into your team’s workspace.
Be Well Rested
To perform at a high level, you need to get the right amount of sleep as well as rest. Sleep is when you are unconscious at night. Rest can be about putting your feet up on the couch and reading a book instead of checking your work email while doing your laundry at home.
There is such a thing as mental mileage and when yours gets too high, you need to take a break and recharge. A great example of this is when you wake up with a good idea after a restful night’s sleep.
Seek Out Inspiration
Routines can provide tremendous structure and support at work but it is possible to become a prisoner to doing things the same way, all the time. You wouldn’t eat the same meal everyday, so why treat your brain like that.
Seek out new knowledge in your profession. It could be as simple as a reading a book or as complicated as attending a conference. You’ll open your mind to new ideas and possibilities.
Creative ideas grow best in fertile ground, which you can stimulate further by shaking up your routine. Take a different route to work, eat at a new restaurant, or visit a museum. The key is to get you out of your comfort zone. A broad horizon includes more room for new ideas to flow in.
These are just a few suggestions. I’d love to find out if you do something special to bring out your creativity.
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