Days of Uncertainty are designed for creativity, and so far 2021 promises a lot of uncertainty. My experience shows that creativity and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. You need to develop a bold vision and strategy for the company, be tenacious with business development, and take care of the details and infrastructure of the company. The best way to switch between all three competencies is to practice your creativity.
That said, here are 21 creativity hacks for you and your team. When practiced with both amazement and rigor, they can produce amazing results.
Micro-sized retreats.
Why wait for an annual retreat that is expensive and often leaves you wanting more? Organize smaller, low-budget, low-budget mini retreats that only last half a day.
Take a 5-minute walk every day.
People should be on the move. Blood circulation supplies oxygen to our brain, which supports our cognitive function in spades. I am always amazed how these walks inspire me.
Take time to daydream.
Daydreaming is important. It allows our minds to recover from the intensity of the frontal lobe and trigger neural synapses in other regions of our brain that are where all great ideas come from. Depending on the day, I set my daydream breaks between 90 seconds and five minutes.
Become a clumsy student.
Which hobby, which new skills or which fun thing would you like to explore? Start learning it and assume how bad you are at it in the early stages !. You develop a sense of humor about yourself and practice what I call “the 3 i creativity system”: inquiry, improvisation and intuition.
Practice rigorous sprints.
When you have a big task ahead of you, don’t take three hours. Instead, work “Rigor Sprints” in 20-40 minutes. Turn off your phone and all notifications. Keep enticing items out of sight and drinks out of your reach and just work it out. Then reward yourself with a day dream break.
Think sideways.
Attend a webinar in a very different area than your own. You will make two discoveries: tweaks to similar approaches in a completely different context, or an entirely new approach to addressing a similar problem that you and your team are facing.
Draw bouquets of gratitude.
During my day, I scribble an awkward looking flower on my whiteboard, including a lettering that captures gratitude. This could be a request for quotation, a completed project, a time unexpectedly found, or a nice chat with a friend. At the end of your day, your drawn bouquet of flowers will keep you positive and aware of the interconnectedness of all things. This is the key to integrative systems thinking – a cornerstone of creativity.
Reshape your relationship with the time.
We rush from meeting to meeting and this causes stress. Stress means that we are reactionary, which is the opposite of creative. Try to reserve certain sections of your calendar for thorough, focused work without calls or meetings.
Redesign your workspace.
Nowadays, when you work from home, make a commitment to cordoning off your work area from work and only working so that you don’t get distracted. This means that there are no exercise equipment, dishes, or handicrafts nearby.
Pay attention to your senses.
Pay attention to how light, smell and temperature affect your creative mojo. For example, I know I need a strong, focused light on my desk. I also invest in expensive candles or incense, making sure I’m not too cold or too warm.
End each meeting with a question.
Sure, it’s good to culminate a meeting with call-to-action, but it’s also good to try to end your next meeting with a provocative question. Questions are inputs. Ask new questions and start getting new results.
Log intuition.
On a personal level, take stock of when to follow and when to ignore your intuition and the outcome of each situation. Such evidence will help you respond to the bump in the future.
Take your time to play.
Playtime isn’t just for kids. When we play, we practice leadership skills such as working together, negotiating, actively listening, and anticipating what’s next. So start by integrating the game into your company’s work culture.
Do an autopsy.
With this look ahead, you have to imagine that it is in 6 months and the project has failed. Ask your team to make a list of all bugs. The opposite actions become the recipe for success.
Use time constraints.
Creativity loves time, money and talent constraints. Great ideas are bubbling up in these bottlenecks.
Bring back break.
Deliberately plan an organization-wide break where no calls or meetings are scheduled and your team gets together for carefree moments.
Doodle.
Try scribbling on a post-it note for a minute every day for a month. Not only will you enjoy the wall art, but you’ll also experience the rigor of keeping a promise to yourself.
Show and tell.
Invite executives and senior permanent employees to share information about initiatives the company has developed in the past. Invite newer and younger employees to share their ideas. This creates trust – a basic requirement for creativity.
Take regular breaks.
It doesn’t sound intuitive, but taking more breaks will increase your productivity. Add padded time buffers between meetings to get up and away from your desk. Try to gradually move to a four-day work week.
Do thought experiments.
Here’s one: set your timer for a minute and watch an object in the room around you. Think of all of the people involved in creating the ideas, materials, and supplies for this property. The silence and the recognition of connections promote awareness of your own tasks.
Read fiction.
This helps us enter a culture, geography, gender, time, and / or space that is different from our own, resulting in greater curiosity and empathy.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
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