Creativity Leads Productivity

Are you looking for ways to be more productive, or to help your team become more productive?

Trying to go faster is of limited use. Working harder will wear you out. Blaming yourself does not help. What you need is more creativity.

Creativity leads productivity by unlocking new ways of doing things. By breaking limitations. By forging new techniques. By testing the impossible. By focusing on solutions instead of issues.

Sometimes the problem is outside of you, but the solution starts within.

Find it. Create it. Do those activities that open up your mind to new possibilities. For some people that is exercise. For some people it is painting. For others it's a stimulating conversation with a trusted friend.

How can you spark more creativity that can lead to more productivity?

Here are just a few possibilities:

Think of the opposite of your deliverable. What would it take?
Combine an idea from other process. How would that work?
Take a walk and let your body energize your ideas. What haven't you thought of yet?
Make music, even if you're not a musician. How does it feel to have both sides of your brain working together?
Explore how a leader in another field tackles productivity. What solutions in that field might be interesting in yours?
Change your workspace to create more opportunities to flow, rather than impede energy. That could mean a desk where you stand instead of sit. Or placing equipment that is within reach.
Team up with new people and talk about the changes you want to make. What ideas do they have?

What creative ideas of your own spring to mind?

-- Douglas Brent Smith

Creativity plays a large role in our workshop Solving Problems. I invite you to contact me today about bringing this workshop to your location:

doug@frontrangeleadership.com

Comments

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Strong Self-Esteem

How do the people on your team feel about themselves? How about you? How do you feel about yourself? Self-esteem matters. The way we see ourselves influences the work that we do. If you want healthy, vibrant, vital work from your team, why not make sure that the way that they think about themselves is strong? There are few things stronger than healthy self-esteem. To strengthen self-esteem among your team members: Appreciate good performance by providing specific compliments Spend time talking one-on-one with team members just to let them talk about what interests them Smile The list is longer than that of course, but start with those three things and you'll like the results. And that is good for YOUR self-esteem, isn't it? -- doug smith

Your Reputation

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One Kind of Choice

It is not always the answer, but surprisingly often it is: It's easier to hire a motivated worker than it is to motivate an unmotivated one. That's not the end of the story. It could be great hiring advice though. Whatever the technical skills are for people you are interviewing to hire, be sure to ask some questions about motivation that can't be answered with a yes or no. Questions like: When were you the most motivated in your life? What kinds of work motivate you? What's your approach to a work day when for one reason or another you don't feel very motivated? If you had been here for one week, what would we see that shows us how motivated you are? Start there, and follow-up with more questions. Give each candidate time to convince you whether or not they will bring motivation to your organization. You can teach people almost anything, but it's always easier if they are already motivated. -- doug smith

More Than Convenience

This is probably get some disagreement. We've come to rely so much on one particular trait of business, probably even more than price. Convenience. We make so many decisions based on how EASY a transaction is. It's so much EASIER than ever before and we've all been spoiled by click-and-ship that anything with any friction whatsoever gets passed over. That's an understandable decision, but not always the best one. Convenience is great, but no substitute for quality. Hamburgers are convenient but wouldn't you rather eat a steak? (please excuse me my vegetarian and vegan friends.) Social media is convenient but how about the depth and richness of a long face to face conversation with a dear friend? I advocate that we consider other measures in our important decisions. Measures other than convenience: Quality Durability Care Beauty Drama What would you add to the list? Convenience is a poor measure of quality. Let's consider everything else that makes business -- a...

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