We’re developing a strategic thinking webinar for a client on cultivating and sustaining creativity among its salesforce. Since the webinar is with the organization’s sales leadership, the focus is on creative thinking skills they can and should be embracing to help their salespeople see opportunities in new ways.
Part of the creative thinking skills content will come via our Idea Magnets material. It’s focused on what successful creative leaders do to cultivate ideas both on their own and within their teams.
One specific comment during a talk with the client upfront focused on how to get salespeople thinking creatively bigger and differently on a daily basis. That discussion got me thinking about how the Brainzooming approach on extreme creativity and fostering creative thinking skills came to be.
Giving "One" for Team Creativity
Maybe more specifically, it got me thinking about how I had had to change my own approach to business to keep up when I started working for an incredibly creative, dynamic strategic mentor, Greg Reid, at YRC Worldwide.
Greg came to our business-to-business transportation and logistics company with a completely different sensibility than anyone else there. He operated faster; he operated slower. He thought bigger, and he thought about minute details no one would ever notice. He would challenge people beyond the point where anyone on his team was left standing behind him for support. He’d make us think through everything we were going to do then throw it out and improvise because something changed, and he saw tremendous potential success in doing something completely unexpected. He was often not on time, but he was never late.
Above all, for those that were up to the pace and eager to learn new creative thinking skills, it was an incredible experience to work with him.
10 Ideas for Stimulating Extreme Team Creativity
When thinking about how a leader cultivates team creativity, I’ll share this list of healthy ways to stretch a team to the point where it CAN’T do things the same old way and still be successful.
Want to stretch your team to grow its creative thinking skills?
Try:
- Selecting multiple goals.
- Taking on more than it seems you can finish.
- Dramatically accelerating timelines.
- Creating new rules.
- Holding incredibly high, unwavering performance standards.
- Taking so much time to think about things that it seems you’ll never start and get finished.
- Going higher in the organization whenever a client or partner tells you, "No."
- Never letting a gatekeeper stop you.
- When negotiating, always asking for more.
- Expecting to consistently do something that is “scary” different.
Pick a few of these items (or even all of them) off the list and start running your team with these expectations. You’ll find out who the successful creative thinkers are RIGHT AWAY! - Mike Brown
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Boost Your Creativity with “Taking the NO Out of InNOvation”
Download our FREE “Taking the No Out of InNOvation eBook to help generate extreme creativity and ideas! For organizational innovation success, contact The Brainzooming Group to help your team be more successful by rapidly expanding strategic options and creating innovative growth strategies. Email us at info@brainzooming.com or call us at 816-509-5320 to learn how we can deliver these benefits for you.
