Creativity@WorkThe Importance of Creativity in the 21st Century Workplace

Creativity@WorkThe Importance of Creativity in the 21st Century Workplace

LogicalLinear

SequentialAnalytical

Reality/fact based

ArtisticCreativeEmpathic

ImaginativeBig picture

thinking

Left Brain Right Brain

The Stroop Test

left brain--right brain conflict

In most people, the left brain takes control, choosing logic, reasoning and details over imagination, holistic thinking and artistic talent.

Creativity

“Creativity is the ability to come up with original ideas that have value.”

-- Sir Ken Robinson

Being creative can be a way of thinking, a way of viewing the world. Being creative or artistic doesn’t always mean you should know how to draw or paint or play an instrument. And it’s a misconception to think only artists and painters can be creative.

Being creative is not about going crazy. It’s about being in control of what you are doing. And getting that balance right is very important.

Not scared of making mistakes.

Age

Creativity

5 10 15 20Less

More

Experiments show that most children rank highly creative before entering school. Only 10 percent of these same children will rank highly creative by age 7.

By the time they become adults, most kids have lost their capacity to be creative.

Creativity

Every public education system in the world places a higher value on left brain skills such as mathematics and logic than they do on using our imagination.

Our school systems are based on measurement and standardized testing. Unfortunately, some of the most brilliant things that people achieve are not

quantifiable in those terms.

LogicalLinear

SequentialAnalyticalReality/

fact based

ArtisticCreativeEmpathic

ImaginativeBig picture

thinking

Right Brain

Left Brain

Certain forces in the economy today which are changing things -- putting a premium on a very different set of abilities, a very different approach to business, to life itself. And these forces are causing a gradual tilt from left brain to right brain sensibilities.

The left brain abilities, the logical, sequential, analytical abilities were the ones that used to matter the most. But today they are no longer sufficient.And the abilities of the right hemisphere, creativity, artistry, empathy, inventiveness, big picture thinking; these abilities are now the first among equals. These abilities are the ones that matter most today.

ABUNDANCE

ASIA

AUTOMATION

Since 1974, there has been a 65% increase in American residential place per capita. But in spite of that, a whole industry has emerged to house their extra stuff. Self storage is a $17 billion a year industry.

There are a couple of ways in which Abundance is tilting the scales from left to right.

Not just a product, but an experience!

DESIGN = UTILITY

SIGNIFICANCE

+

In a world of abundance, even common, mundane, utilitarian household products can become objects of desire, IF they are well-designed products that transcend functionality and appeal to us on an emotional level.

1950

More

Less1975 2010

Prosperity

Satisfaction

Abundance Gap

American per capita GDP over the last 60 years has tripled but happiness is flat.

And this abundance gap explains why people are waking up to ideas like how to live a purpose driven life, how to find meaning in what you do for a living, 10 million Americans are meditating, 15 million Americans doing yoga, self realization, self actualization, Oprah is a cultural phenomenon.

This is going on at an unprecedented scale with all these people looking for a larger meaning, etc. who are suddenly starting to feel a void in their lives that can be filled only by using their right brains sensibilities – meaning, purpose, and significance

That's the other way abundance is tilting the scales, putting a higher value on right brain sensibilities.

ABUNDANCE

ASIA

AUTOMATION

150

2010

0

The Great Indian Outsourcing Story

ROUTINE WORKAny work that can be reduced to a script, a spec sheet, to a formula, to a set of rules, a series of steps to produce a right answer.

ABUNDANCE

ASIA

AUTOMATION

LogicalLinear

SequentialAnalytical

Reality/fact based

ArtisticCreativeEmpathic

ImaginativeBig picture

thinking

Left Brain Right Brain

Automation

In the last century when machines replaced human muscle. In this century, software is replacing the human brain. But which part of the brain can software replace?

Not the artistic, empathic right side, but the logical linear, rule based, left side.

Automation

Abundance

+

Asia

+

Automation

•The left brain abilities are necessary but no longer sufficient. •The right brain abilities have become the first among equals.

1. Can someone else do your job better for cheaper?2. Can a computer do your job?3. Does your product have significance in today's age?

ASK YOURSELF…

Agriculture Age (farmers) Industrial Age (factory workers) Information Age (knowledge workers)

Conceptual Age (creators, empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers)

In the Conceptual Age, in addition to our left-brain directed reasoning powers, we will need to master some essential right-brain directed aptitudes:

Meaning

Design

Story

Symphony

Empathy

Play

Design has become a fundamental business literacy.

Not just function, but also Design

Design is the antidote to commodification.

"I don’t think anybody thinks we're not in the design business. We want to design the purchasing

experience. We want to design the communication experience, and the user experience. I mean it's all

design."

-- AG LafleyFormer CEO, Procter and Gamble

"What we've got at GM now is a general comprehension that you can't run this business by

the left, intellectual, analytical side of the brain. You have to have a lot of right side, creative input. We

are in the arts and entertainment business, and we're putting a huge emphasis on world-class

design."

-- Robert LutzVice Chairman, Product Development Chief

General Motors

Not just argument, but also Story

"Statistics tell -- stories sell!"

Not just focus, but also Symphony

See the big Picture

Detect Patterns

Combine different things/ideas to make new ones

Not just focus, but also Symphony

Richard BransonFounder of Virgin Enterprises

John T ChambersCEO of Cisco Systems

Henry FordFounder of Ford Motors

Ingvar KampradFounder of IKEA

William HewlettCo Founder of Hewlett-Packard

Ted TurnerFounder of CNN

Not just focus, but also Symphony

Not just logic, but also Empathy

Standing in somebody else's shoesFeeling with their heartsSeeing with their eyes

It makes the world a better place

Not just seriousness, but also Play

We need to bring in a sense of humor, laughter, spirit of playfulness to our lives and our work.

Not just accumulation, but also Meaning

Which of these do I stifle?Which of these am I good at?Which of these would I like to learn more about?Conduct a project brainstorming session with your team that’s divided into six parts: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning.

Reviewing the 6 right brain aptitudes …

MeaningDesignStorySymphonyEmpathyPlay

ASK

Try

Further reading …

“A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future”

by Daniel H. Pink

Sir Ken Robinson says “Schools kill creativity” (Ted Talk)