Creativity for the Win

Posted by: Tatiana Beale

Fri, 07/27/2012 - 08:00

Tatiana is a one-woman wonder with a broad skillset at her disposal. From driving Achievers’ culture initiatives to masterminding executive logistics, this Bay Area native does it all. Drawing inspiration from leadership and what makes corporate culture great, Tatiana puts her knowledge to the test by composing her culture-based blog posts. In addition to living all things culture, she gets her creative flare and passion for writing from her personal blog. Outside of work, Tatiana moonlights as a foodie, restaurant critic, event planner, and serial shopper.

Employee Success

Employee Engagement

Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a rut? Most employees have experienced this feeling, at one time or another, in between driving results and maintaining a work-life balance. Sometimes employees need creative inspiration in order to stay engaged.

In the Inc.com article, 5 Ways to Win with Creativity, Burt Helm discusses a few ways companies can boost their teams’ creativity, and use big ideas to beat out competition.

Creativity in the workplace helps promote innovation and drives dynamic energy. Engaged employees thrive off of this energy, as it can provide motivation for success.

Here are 5 Ways to Win with Creativity –

Get Curious: Challenge conventional wisdom, and imagine what can be, rather than what is. Asking questions like “Why?” and “What if?” can lead to finding insights that are hiding in plain sight.
Encourage Courage: When someone presents a bad idea, don’t immediately reject it – question it. Encourage employees to keep thinking big; even if they come up with nine bad ideas, the 10^th could be the golden ticket.
Challenge Assumptions: Just because something has worked in the past, does not mean it is right for the future. Challenge teams to 15-minute brainstorming sessions where they question traditional processes. There is always a better, easier, and more efficient way to get something accomplished.
Think Small: Memorable experiences don’t have to be expensive. Celebrate team successes with a happy hour or luncheon, and give out creative awards to top performers – the power of thank you has infinite ROI.
Shatter Conventional Wisdom: Identify widely accepted best practices, and see if there is a way to take a product or marketing plan in the opposite direction. Predict where the industry is going, not where it currently is, and encourage employees to think out of the box.

These 5 ways will breed creativity and will bust any employee rut and inspire employees to think differently. In this day and age, the most successful company cultures are stronger, faster, and more creative.

What do you think are some other ways to win with creativity?