Creativity has always been at the heart of business success. There is no doubt that anyone with a groundbreaking idea—one that surprises and fascinates—has the essential ingredients for their business to take off. This has always been the case, but it is even more so today, in a world where mechanization and digitalization have been closing in on the activities and tasks in which humans can outperform machines in terms of performance and value creation.
Creativity, imagination, is one of the territories that we still hold in our power. In the coming decades, That creativity will not only be a crucial asset to differentiate us from the competition and prosper, but it will become—more than likely—the epicenter around which most of the jobs of the future will revolve: the raison d'être of the human factor in companies.
The importance of the method in creative dynamics
Innovation is what makes the difference, but sometimes it’s not easy to awaken the creative genius that helps us find the key. The muse is capricious, but as Picasso pointed out, if they come, let’s catch them working. Generating ideas can result from a spontaneous or fortuitous process, but these can also come as a result of the implementation of a certain technique, the support in some method designed to move the threads of the imagination to encourage the emergence of new concepts, the weaving of new connections and the opening of new doors in our perception.
Hemingway He said that one of the keys to having a productive writing day was, literally, starting to write as soon as possible. To do this, he said he used to leave some idea from the previous day in the notebook to start on the next one with determination. Other great authors talk about the benefits of establishing a work routine. Each master has his own notebook, and these vary depending on the people involved and the goals being pursued.
In the business world, the situation is no different. There are also means to ensure that the creative process does not get in the way. In an environment where this aspect is so vital, it is worth knowing about some of the means that can help unleash creativity at various levels of the organization, maximize the potential of emerging ideas, and define the steps to effectively implement innovations.
A few creative techniques to bring ideas to life
Let's start with one of the most renowned techniques: the technique of Brainstorming. Its name, «Storm of Ideas,» is quite illustrative to explain the concept. It is a common dynamic among small and medium-sized groups that is often used primarily in the initial phases of the creative process, and consists of the indiscriminate release of ideas by the members of the session, regardless of the development phase in which they are located.
The written aspect of this dynamic is named after Brainwriting and it works in a similar way, although it records the ideas that arise in writing.
The prolific Maltese writer and psychologist, Edward de Bono, He is a character worthy of mention in this section, on the one hand because he is an expert in developing creative dynamics, and on the other because he is one of the greatest proponents of lateral thinking (essential in the creative field). His creative techniques of Provocation and the Six Hats are among the most apt and popular in the business world.
The technique of the Provocation It consists of developing sentences or ideas that do not have a clear meaning a priori, either because concepts that are usually dissociated are mixed together, or because the logic of the construction is strange. With it, we manage to open up new lines of thought that go beyond common notions and can help generate original ideas.
In the case of the Six Hats We are talking about a metaphor designed to approach a problem from different perspectives or viewpoints. Each color corresponds to one of the different views:
- The white hat is the starting point.
- Yellow positions itself in the advantages.
- The black players are at a disadvantage.
- Green makes a stop at the alternatives.
- Red focuses on the emotional part.
- Finally, blue controls and directs.
Taking the example of great geniuses and artists who have left their mark over time is not a bad idea when designing techniques that help us in the creative dynamics of an organization. Characters like Molière, Da Vinci or Walt Disney inspire some relevant techniques in this field.
Molière's method is known as the technique of the «Ojos Limpios». It consists of inviting people outside the project to contribute new opinions, free from influence or previous conditioning.
The trick of the Italian genius Da Vinci is similar to that of Mental Map It was developed by the researcher Tony Buzan and is based on using graphic techniques (drawings, diagrams, illustrations, maps, scribbles…) to visualize, associate and organize the information that arises. It also provides important benefits when transmitting or expressing ideas.
The main objective of the Walt Disney Method The reality and criticism (necessary in the process of formulating an idea or strategy) should not hinder the daydreaming, which is nothing more than the core of the creative process. This method separates the three branches: dreams, reality, and criticism with the intention of facilitating the full flow of creative content first, before moving on to analysis phases.
Techniques such as those of Attributes, The technique SCAMPER, or the Design Thinking These are other examples of methods that are worth investigating and that are quite commonly used in commercial settings.
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