Being creative requires a combination of key elements. Everyone hits a bit of a creative roadblock; the important thing is to know when this happens and how to get around it. Africa Report gives you five easy steps to boost creativity in your enterprise.
By Craig Falck for Africa Report
Photograph: © Redbaron | Dreamstime.com
Everyone hits a bit of a creative roadblock; the important thing is to know when this has happened and how to get around it. The solutions are right there, if you know where to look.
Creative stagnation is often a result of overworking. Ask your employees if they’re feeling tired, overworked, stressed… anything that will slow them down. If they say yes, give them time off, maybe a day or two or three, change their work hours to be more flexible, give them more freedom to do their own thing at work and be themselves. Nothing hurts creativity more than being boxed into something that a person isn’t. Let them do their own thing at work (within reason, of course) – give them more freedom to express themselves, decorate their desks to make themselves feel more at ease, play music in the office that won’t bother the other workers… that sort of thing.
Brainstorming is a great way to boost creativity. A group of people talking about a topic will always be better than just one person because people feed off others and their ideas. You might find that you go completely off tangent with the topic, but more often than not this will spawn new ideas and you might just find your answer hidden in these off-topic chats.
Keep your ears and eyes open no matter what you’re doing. People find inspiration in the strangest places, and you never know when you’ll be walking through the park or mall and spot something that screams “creative idea” at you. At the same time, keep a pencil and notebook handy at all times to quickly jot down thoughts like this – don’t rely solely on your brain to remember the details.
You might not realise it, but physical health is vital to mental health. If you’re healthy and happy, your mind will be less stressed and you will be more creative. If it means going to gym earlier, group exercise sessions, team building where you play a sport every second or third Friday within the company or even meditation, it’s important to make sure that your employees are fit and physically healthy.
It’s not always the easiest technique to try and sometimes is impossible to implement, depending on the work, but changing mediums is a great way to be more creative. Instead of working on a computer, give your employees pens and paper, let them get their hands dirty and more “hands on” than just typing on a keyboard and clicking a mouse. Marek Reichman is the head designer of Aston Martin and when he’s designing the company’s next supercar, he does it with a pen and a sketchbook before using CAD software on a computer. If different mediums are good enough for the man making James Bond’s car, it’s good enough for your employees.
Creativity isn’t an ever-flowing river. Sometimes there’s a clog along the way and you need to overcome it. Build a canal and get that creativity flowing again.
