The Darwinian approach to creative thinking

It was in the middle of a particularly boring conversation that I recently had my eureka moment. It’s not that the vision I gained is going to challenge my understanding of the laws of evolution or anything as grand as that but it has, however, assisted me in understanding a little more the dynamics of creative thinking.
When a group of people get to know each other extremely well by spending a great deal of time together, the group tends move into what I now refer to as a 'dormant state'. It is not as if they are asleep as such, but they begin to interact in ‘Safe Mode’. The group tends to become very apathetic towards creativity and decision taking. It often becomes a completely dysfunctional group and splits into smaller sub groups or it becomes an operational team devoid of the desire for change. In either mode the group tends to become overtly resistant to any kind of change and is too often closed for genuine creativity. Only the daily news or office gossip can temporarily divert its attention this way or that.
I have observed this phenomenon on several occasions but only recently recognized it for what it is. When I first step into a company, it is a usual process for me to quickly identify areas for concern, I do this by asking questions, by challenging the ‘norm’ that I see, and in doing so, I sometimes inadvertently awaken new thought processes.
I try to encourage the consideration of a different reality. For example I often hear statements like: “The trouble with our company is that there is no real communication between departments”. I like to challenge these kind of statements with “how should it be? What is your vision of interdepartmental utopia”? I then try to set about taking the first step to empowering people to tackle their own complaints. In the case of non inter departmental communication, I would encourage the first steps to building it – sometimes it can be as mundane as identifying a simple topic of mutual interest or benefit and then setting up a small meeting between a few people from the two departments in question. Results can be surprisingly quick and very encouraging, especially if progress is encouraged with a mixture of self discipline and benefit focus.
If mankind is to continue to move forward and solve the desperate problems it is currently facing, then influence makers need to be constantly ‘awakened’; to be challenged by new ideas. Often this can only occur by the simple addition of a stranger into a settled group, a change in the team's dynamics. In this way our reality is are challenged and we are forced to decide on new paths to follow; this way or that, to resist or adapt, to accept the stranger into the group (enriching its dna) or to rejecting him or her completely? Either way, decison processes are awakened and with them oportunities for change, no matter how small, are born.

No time to think

Everyone has a unique place where they tend to get their inspiration from. For some it is in the bath, for others it maybe walking the dog. ‘Ureka’ moments are precious and yet they are the creative solutions that allow us to offer real value.

Senior managers and interim managers are paid to be creative, they are not expected to be operational. And yet so many of us find ourselves going from one information download session (otherwise commonly known as meetings) to another without space between to reflect, and to process high quality inspirational thoughts and creative solutions.

Walking the dog is fine for one problem, but if you have attended five meetings in one day (or more), walking the dog may only solve one of them. As a result our meetings tend to get longer to allow us to think the issue through. The result being that they turn into inefficient brainstorming sessions, without the chance to mull over the the potential consequences of decisions taken.

Of course there are executives that have teams around them that prepare perfectly for meetings, that have already thought all the issues through and are just presenting to senior management in order to share their findings and to obtain approval. In my experience, however, these situations are rare.

Yesterday I went from giving one interview to another, with a two and a half hour investment pitch and an advertising campaign purchase meeting in-between. Decisions were made and the world is still turning but this is not ideal. I know it is not trendy to slow down but in this case I believe less is more.

If we are not taking the time out to contemplate potential opportunities and risks, then at least we should have members of our team doing so. The only question remaining is – ‘Do we trust them and their judgment sufficiently?’

Tip: if you drive home from work everyday with the radio on, or spend the time on the phone extending the day – perhaps once a week you should switch everything off and spend the time reflecting on conversations of the day (this is assuming you are good at multi-tasking and are driving along a boring motorway, not in a busy city).

I am off for my bath,

Harley