TEDxFullerton – Matthew Jenusaitis – Importance Of Creativity In Business
Why is creativity important in business?
Encouraging creativity in the workplace can help boost business success. Creative thinking enables people to develop original ideas and to question conventions or preconceived notions. These actions can assist companies in developing goods, services, and other offerings that set them apart from their rivals.
Todays businesses also often encounter constantly changing environments. Therefore, professionals must quickly assess novel situations and devise coping mechanisms. Businesses can use creativity to meet current challenges as well as to anticipate future ones. These experts can keep developing fresh, enhanced, or exciting ideas that address the present and future needs of their markets by regularly implementing brainstorming or creative-thinking processes.
What is creativity in the workplace?
The capacity to generate novel or imaginative ideas and bring them to life is what is meant by creativity. Businesses can use creativity to foster more supportive and collaborative work environments or innovative solutions. Employee experimentation and thinking outside the box are encouraged by creativity. Along with experimentation, the creative process also entails questioning or examining issues from various angles. These traits may encourage more effective teamwork and brainstorming techniques.
What are the benefits of creative thinking in business?
As mentioned, creativity serves an essential role for businesses. Other advantages that creative thinking can bring to a company include the following:
Ways to increase creativity in the workplace
You can employ a number of techniques to promote and boost creativity at work. You can incorporate the following tips to promote this effort:
Encourage open-mindedness
Creativity often represents trying new things. This practice necessitates listening to suggestions from coworkers or employees with an open mind and without passing judgment. Take a cue from improv theater groups and use the “Yes, and” technique to encourage open-mindedness. With this approach, the group can accept an idea and build on it rather than criticizing it or outright rejecting it. The use of “no” must cease for all ideas to be heard. People are more likely to share their ideas, no matter how outrageous they may seem, when they know they won’t face rejection.
Promote diversity
A workforce with a variety of perspectives, backgrounds, and skills can foster the growth of a more inventive company. Think about these factors when hiring employees or creating teams. Additionally, you can encourage diversity by fostering collaboration between various departments. When different individuals or groups work together, everyone is able to view a situation from various angles. They might notice something that they never would have considered otherwise. Changing their viewpoints can encourage them to come up with more original and imaginative solutions.
Consider flexible work arrangements
You can give workers more freedom by implementing flexible working arrangements when you can. Possibilities for working from home can increase comfort for employees, which can lower stress and increase productivity. Additionally, they might have more freedom than if they were confined to an office desk, which would allow them to be more creative and active. Allowing employees to pick their own hours may also foster creativity because it gives them the freedom to work when they are motivated or most productive rather than being constrained by a rigid schedule.
Host brainstorming sessions
Regular brainstorming sessions can be held to generate ideas for your company. Through various games or techniques, these meetings encourage collaboration and idea sharing among participants. Select participants for these sessions with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives to encourage creative thinking. Additionally, you must designate a leader who can establish the guidelines for the activities and steer all discussions in the right direction. The group’s leader also works to maintain a respectful atmosphere where everyone is given a chance to speak.
Allow employees to recharge
Day-to-day tasks and creative efforts can take up significant energy. Allowing your staff to take personal time will help them stay motivated. Along with encouraging staff to take paid time off when needed (and in accordance with company policies), you can encourage breaks throughout the working day. For instance, some businesses create wellness programs to educate staff about the value of maintaining their mental and physical health and how to do it.
Simple breaks from work can be as short as a quick stroll, time spent outside, or five minutes of meditation. Additionally, you can encourage employees to take breaks by creating peaceful areas inside the workplace for them to unwind. Similar to that, if you have outdoor space, you might want to designate lovely spaces where staff members can spend time, like for lunch or meetings.
Embrace failure
Fear of failure can hinder creativity. These people keep doing things the same way they have always done them in order to reduce the possibility of failing. Even though no company wants to fail, taking risks can result in amazing successes and innovations. Employees may feel more free to exercise their creativity when a company promotes risk and experimentation. Collaborate with your coworkers and use a failed project or plan as a teaching opportunity. Celebrate the positive aspects of the effort and talk about how you can learn from it to make future attempts better.
Reward employees creativity
By rewarding those who exercise creativity in your company, you can encourage it. Trying something new can be challenging, so offering a reward might encourage staff to share and test out novel ideas. These accolades also show how highly the company values original ideas and actions. By establishing this value, you can show how important it is to the business culture and encourage innovative thinking at work.
You can recognize an employee’s or a coworker’s initiative by encouraging them to act on it or by implementing it yourself. Some employers even honor employees for their creativity with awards. They could also pay teams a bonus to encourage them to work on projects that test out new ideas.
Examples
As mentioned, creativity can offer numerous benefits for businesses. You can use the following examples as guidance:
Creativity in marketing
Businesses frequently have the chance to showcase their creativity in their marketing strategies, such as through experiential marketing. For instance, a neighborhood pottery studio might employ conventional advertising strategies like purchasing space in a neighborhood newspaper or mailing flyers. However, they might show their creativity by offering a free workshop where anyone who is interested can stop by and try making pottery for themselves.
This workshop gives them the chance to learn more about the store and determine whether they would enjoy it enough to buy classes. Reading an advertisement or flyer may not feel as engaging as participating in an activity. With the help of this innovative marketing strategy, the shop attracts potential customers and draws attention to itself.
Creativity in problem-solving
Businesses can also use a variety of creative activities to address issues at work. For instance, they could evaluate a good or service and come up with ways to make it better or create something entirely new using the SCAMPER technique. You can help project teams see existing ideas from new angles or perspectives by using a creative-thinking exercise. Creative-thinking exercises promote judgment-free zones, so all ideas are welcomed. Your project teams can use their imagination and develop more creative ideas thanks to this freedom.
The following can serve as guidelines for applying the SCAMPER technique:
Creativity in sales
Sales represent another area where businesses can benefit from creativity. A one-size-fits-all strategy may be used in a conventional sales model, allowing clients or customers to select from a limited range of options. For instance, a software provider might provide three pricing tiers. However, by adopting a more sympathetic and tailored strategy, sales professionals can show creativity.
If clients object to the pricing, these experts can come up with creative solutions that better meet their needs. For instance, they might provide a discount if the client agrees to let a specific number of employees use the software. This strategy offers a more user-friendly experience that benefits all parties.
