Creativity at work

 

To put the hour-glass figure of Strategic and Creative Thinking into daily context (original note: 5 Jan 09), think about the last time you were trying to be creative at work.  You probably performed the steps outlined below, either consciously or intuitively.  It’s what most of us have learned to do, either in school or through trial-and-error.

1. You started with an objective or goal so you understood your exact purpose.  (The green line along the top.)

2. You conducted research, gathering information.  You read, talked to people, surfed the Internet.  By absorbing your research, you learned new information; some of which you knew, most of which you didn't.  Your information became knowledge.  (The green dots, underneath the top line.)

3. As you researched, you also began to make decisions about the quality of the information you gathered.  You found some information very important.  Other information wasn't what you needed, but it helped to point you in another - perhaps more accurate - direction.  Some information ultimately wasn't very helpful at all.  In the end, you decided some information was right and other information was wrong.  (At each step, you had less green dots, but more 'better' dots.)

4. Then, a momentous thing happened.  After thoughtful consideration, you uncovered a vital piece of information which completely changed how you understood your knowledge.  Or, several pieces of information coalesced into a critical understanding of the assignment or topic.  Perhaps you even cried out “AHA!” (The red dot in the center.)

5. This moment was the impetus to begin brainstorming in earnest.  With this piece of information, you thought, "I could do this - or this - or this - or this or this or this."  In all likelihood, you gathered colleagues together to get more ideas to create even more ideas.  (The blue lines radiating down from the red dot.)

6. Eventually, among all options, you selected one or two of the good ideas to hone into the best option.  You might also have conducted additional research to help make sure you were perfecting your idea in the right way.  (The blue arrows at the bottom.)

7. Your final step: implementing your refined idea to help you achieve the original goal of the assignment, which in turn, linked you back to your first step.  (You selected one 'arrow' - the best idea - to implement.)

There, you have the basic principles of both Strategic Thinking and Creative Thinking.