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I think one of the most important, but under-emphasized, qualities of
effective leaders is creativity. When most people hear “creativity” they think
of artists and will often say, “Oh, I like that stuff but I’m not a creative
person myself.” They couldn’t be more
wrong.
Creativity is more about thinking differently and seeing things from
new perspectives. Artists certainly do
that and we reap the benefits, but it is possible to bring creativity to
everything , and all of us can learn to be more creative. Why do this?
We all encounter situations or problems or needs that require
solutions. We can come up with the
“same old same old” but, as a very smart person once said, “The definition of
insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different
results.” Creative thinking is required
to solve those problems, prevent others, and, most importantly, proactively
innovate new ideas, solutions, products, and services for our
organizations. I believe creativity has
never been more important, given the pace of change in our culture. Creativity is needed now just to keep up and
super creativity is needed to truly lead.
I recently read an excellent, brief piece about creativity that I
highly recommend, called “Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creativity.” In this piece, you will
find clarification about creativity, tips for how to improve your creative
thinking, and things to anticipate if you are a creative thinker. I’ve read it a few times now and I highly
recommend it.
