It might feel that the last two years have pushed creativity and innovation to their limits just to keep going: ‘business as unusual’. Arguably, the businesses and organisations most capable of accessing their in-house creativity have survived best. Shifting to new working arrangements, new ways of interacting with clients and customers, providing new services… all necessary to navigate a world stumbling through a pandemic (and quite possibly the same for the early consequences of Brexit, depending on your business and customer base).
So, creativity and innovation are survival traits. The question is, do you have those traits within your workforce?
The left brain – right brain debate
Are you left-brained or right-brained?
If you answered ‘yes’ to one or the other, you’re only half right.
Undoubtedly, the different halves of the brain manage different functions and/or come into play in relation to different activities. However, this has led to theories of left or right brain dominance and impacts on our personalities and capabilities. Endless articles and pop culture references have led us to accept (without really understanding) some simple definitions and then put ourselves into boxes based on what we feel we each have a preference for. For example…
I’m right-brained because I’m more creative, artistic and intuitive.
OR
I’m left-brained because I’m more literal, analytical and logical.
Nope. Life is not so simplistic. For a start, it’s well-established that – physically – the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa. So, to take handedness as an example, all left-handed people are artists and all right-handed people are engineers, right? Hardly.
The fact is, we are all ‘whole-brained’ and fully capable of accessing our creative capacity (or being engineers).
Besides, this idea of ‘brainedness’ calls into question what exactly we mean by creativity and innovation. Surely, it’s about more than coming up with new ideas? It’s also about the use of those ideas. True innovation requires both creative thought and practical analysis. Good research is commonly accepted as integrating both quantitative and qualitative data. Intuition is only of abstract interest without a methodology to apply it. And so on…
Creativity and innovation requires we use our whole brain. Especially in business where results and outcomes tend to be measured in practical and tangible terms.
So, to the question of whether you have the traits of creativity and innovation within your workforce. The answer is an unequivocal yes. While some people seem ‘naturally’ creative, in reality, everyone is capable of innovation.
Whether you can access those traits, whether you’re encouraging or stifling them, whether they are helping your business survive and thrive or not… those are the questions to answer.
Maximum Performance’s creativity and innovation workshop offers an introduction to the creative process: how to challenge existing thinking, generate new ideas, and ensure the best of them are leveraged for business benefit. Whether you need a full-day programme, half-day, bite-sized or taster session… delivered virtually or face-to-face… we even have an app to help you embed the learning afterwards. Check out the link or give us a call on 01582 463460 – we’re here to help!
