How creativity can help you make sense of the workplace's future
When leaders focus on improving business measures or return to investment (ROI) however, creativity may not be the first tool in the employee's arsenal that comes to your mind. However, Natalie Nixon, creativity strategist and founder of Figure 8 Thinking believes that it should be.
"Creativity isn't a luxury to have. It is essential to have."
Creativity is the engine for innovation
There's a perception that being creative is a thing only artists do, but Natalie states that it is proof the fact that we aren't aware of what creative is or how frequently we actually use it at work.
"Creativity is our capacity to toggle between wonder and rigor to solve challenges, generate value and create meaning."
When we make a commitment to improve our creative capacity, it generates behaviors that open the way to innovation. A focus on creativity helps us get better at pattern recognition, interrupts stale mental models and lets us engage in more collaboration.
Soft skills prove to be important
Natalie prefers to view innovations as just inventions at size. Since creativity is the catalyst when it comes to turning the idea into new ideas, it provides the tangible benefit of investment to businesses.
The issue? Although the World Economic Forum rates creativity as the second-most important ability to be a successful worker in 2023 and beyond, there's a gap between the acknowledgment the importance of creativity and whether we prioritize the practice of creativity.
3 ways to shift our mental models toward creativity
Natalie concentrates on the 3iCreativity Framework to shift mental models towards creativity. It incorporates three areas of activity: inquiry, the improvisation process, and intuition.
1. Change from certainty to curiosity
Curiosity is the product of an information gap. Natalie reminds us that in this new mindset the best thing to do is observe rather than know. A few practical strategies to take advantage of this shift focus on creative friction, engaging in lateral thinking, and keeping an expert on staff for new inquiries.
2. The shift from rationalizing towards intuition
It's common for us to use our intuition, or "gut" to guide our decisions without even realizing that we're doing it. Natalie suggests that recording "the nudge" will help us come to rely on it more. Practical applications of this mind shift include normalizing play and mainstreaming designs that are emotional or sensorial.
3. Transition from planning to improvising
The shift in mindset, particularly is stressful especially for people who are afraid of failing. Imagine this change in perspective as the difference between a symphony that strives to be perfect and an improvisational jazz group. Incorporating improvisation into your practice may look like investing in prototypes or pop-up stores.
"Confident inquiry will eliminate myopia. Insights from a strategic perspective reduce the risk of errors. Intense improvisation reduces in mulishness."