Creativity And The Role Of The Leader – When you think of creativity, job titles like graphic designer or marketer may come to mind. Still, creativity and innovation are important in all industries because business challenges require creative solutions.
Here’s an overview of the importance of creativity in business, how it connects to design thinking, and how to encourage it in the workplace.
Creativity And The Role Of The Leader
Creativity serves many purposes. It not only combats stagnation but facilitates growth and innovation. Here’s why creativity is important in business.
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For something to be innovative, there are two requirements: it must be new and useful. Although creativity is important for generating unique and original ideas, it is not always helpful. However, innovative solutions cannot exist without an element of creativity.
Creativity gives you room to work smarter rather than harder, which can increase productivity and combat stagnation in the workplace. Routine and structure are incredibly important but should not be implemented at the expense of improvement and growth. When a creative and innovative environment is established, the productivity level of a business can skyrocket.
Sometimes events – both internal and external – can disrupt the structure of an organization. For example, the Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how the current business world works. In such instances, imaginative thinking and innovation are critical to running a business.
Approaching challenges creatively requires adaptability but does not always require significantly adjusting your business model. For example, you may develop a new product or service or slightly alter the structure of your operation to improve efficiency. Big problems don’t always require big solutions, so don’t dismiss an idea because it doesn’t fit the scale of the problem.
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One of the main barriers to business growth is cognitive stability, or the idea that there is only one way to interpret or approach a situation or challenge.
Cognitive stability is an easy trap to fall into, as it can be tempting to approach every situation the same way you did in the past. But every situation is different.
If a business’s leaders don’t take the time to clearly understand the situations they face, encourage creative thinking, and act on conclusions, their company can stagnate—one of the biggest barriers to growth.
Creativity and innovation are skills commonly sought in top industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. This is largely because every industry has complex challenges that require creative solutions.
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Learning skills like design thinking and creative problem solving can help job seekers set themselves apart when applying for roles.
Although creativity is extremely important in business, it is an abstract process that works best with concrete structures. This is where design comes into play.
Design thinking—a concept gaining popularity in the business world—is a solutions-based process that works between the concrete and the abstract. Creativity and innovation are key to the design thinking process.
In Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar’s Design Thinking and Innovation course, the process is broken down into four iterative steps:
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The value of design thinking is that it connects creativity and routine design using both the operational and innovation worlds. But what are these worlds and how do they interact with each other?
The operational world is the concrete, structured side of business. This world focuses on improving key metrics and achieving results. Those results are usually achieved through routine, structure and decision making.
In the operational world there are many analytical tools needed for the operational side of the business, but not the innovation side. Furthermore, creativity and curiosity are valued less than in the world of innovation. Employees who initiate failed, risky endeavors are more likely to be reprimanded than promoted.
A world of innovation requires curiosity, speculation, creativity and experimentation. This world is important for the growth of the company and can lead to the aforementioned benefits of creativity in business.
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This world focuses more on free thinking and exploration than the functional side of the company. Although risk-taking is encouraged, there is little structure to ensure that the business runs efficiently and successfully.
Creativity should be encouraged and innovation encouraged, but never at the expense of business efficiency. The design thinking process is an excellent way to leverage both worlds and provide an environment for everyone to succeed.
As the design thinking process moves between the concrete and the abstract, it navigates the tension between operations and innovation. Remember: the operational world is an implementation of the innovation world, and innovation can be inspired by observations of the operational world.
Creativity often requires stepping out of your comfort zone. While you don’t want to risk crippling your business, risk-taking is an essential ingredient of innovation and growth. Therefore, providing an environment that encourages it can be extremely beneficial.
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Give your team the freedom to innovate without fear of retribution if their ideas don’t work. Some of the best innovations in history were the product of many failures. Look at failure as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future rather than a defeat.
It can be tempting to ask your team to innovate, but creativity isn’t just a state of mind. If your colleagues have the opportunity to be creative, you need to provide resources to encourage innovation. Whether it involves financial investment, tools or training materials, it’s in your best interest to invest in your team to deliver innovative results.
If an innovative idea doesn’t produce the expected results within a few months, you may want to consider discarding it altogether. Doing so can lead to missed opportunities as some ideas take longer to yield positive results.
Patience is an important factor in creativity, so don’t try to measure results too quickly. Give your team the freedom to improvise and experiment without the pressure of strict time constraints.
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One of the most important factors in an environment that fosters creativity and innovation is an open mind. Innovation requires constantly working against your bias. Constantly ask questions, be open to the answers you get, and don’t require purely conceptual ideas before moving forward with innovation.
A collaborative environment is essential for innovation. When teams work together to find a common goal, innovation thrives. To achieve this, make sure everyone has a voice. One way to do this is to hold brainstorming sessions where each member contributes and shares ideas.
Diversity fosters creativity and combats groupthink, as each person brings a unique perspective to the table. Consider creating teams with members from different cultural backgrounds who have not worked together before. Getting people to step out of their comfort zones is an effective way to encourage innovation.
Want to learn more about design thinking? Start by finding fellow professionals willing to discuss and debate using his framework. Leverage these interactions to consider how you can best leverage design thinking and create different approaches to business challenges.
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This exposure to real-world situations is important in determining whether learning design thinking is right for you. Another option is to take a course to learn about design thinking with like-minded peers.
If you’re ready to take your innovation skills to the next level, explore our Design Thinking and Innovation course, one of our entrepreneurship and innovation courses.
If you’re not sure which course is right for you, download our free course flowchart to determine which one best aligns with your goals. Leadership means influencing employees to achieve organizational goals. It is an important function of management which aims to increase efficiency and ensure achievement of goals. The main importance of leadership is as follows. They are;
Leadership is influencing, inspiring and motivating management employees to do more than they normally do. A leader motivates his followers to follow his concerns, suggestions and guidance.
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Leaders use various monetary and non-monetary tools to motivate their followers. In particular, good leaders always choose to use positive reinforcement to motivate their subordinates. And, it’s common that when people are motivated, they usually do more.
Leaders aim to challenge the organization’s routines and styles. They are considered changemakers. They don’t just think within the confines of the organization, they think a lot about the external market. They analyze market decisions and communicate them to employees in a simple manner.
Besides promoting change, leadership also encourages creativity in the organization. Employees are given the freedom to think and apply work techniques as they see fit. They are highly encouraged to discover and apply new techniques to perform existing tasks.
Often, leaders facilitate employees to apply new, creative and unique ideas to the organization’s functioning. This leads to creativity and innovation in the workplace.
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Employees are given opportunities to develop their skills and abilities. Leaders help employees identify themselves and realize their value through motivational communication, encouragement, and motivation.
They also play the role of a higher position than their actual position. It allows followers to learn new skills and freedom of decision making also enables them to make rational choices.
Leadership provides guidance to employees or followers on what to do and how to do it. They teach people how to do something. Leaders are good mentors and coaches. When followers need extra guidance, leaders do it. They do this by example.
Leaders are good team players. They promote a teamwork culture in the environment. They are
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