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Where do new
ideas come to you? When you first wake up? In the shower? Visiting an art
museum? People often achieve a breakthrough in thinking when their
attention is diverted to a different context. |
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THE RUT |
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When a
group of people focuses on troubleshooting a problem, designing a product,
or delivering a service, its members create routines to simplify the
complexity of their work. Eventually they develop a shared set of
assumptions around what the problem is, what a solution will look like,
what the customer needs, etc. This is a normal process, and its effects
are mitigated to the extent that members of the group are exposed to new
ideas. |
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GETTING OUT
OF THE RUT |
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Taking
a team out of its normal work environment and exposing it to new ideas,
perspectives, and ways of being together can lead to an infusion of
creativity, innovation and higher performance. Certainly this can happen
by serendipity as individuals get an inspired flash of brilliance when
walking their dog or driving down the expressway. But the culture of the
team may not serve well as an incubator for one individual’s new ideas. |
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By
sharing together new and fun experiences, team members naturally expand
the options available to them in how they work together. Photography
can be used as one metaphor for seeing things from a different
perspective. Through the act of creating images that have new and
different meanings for team members, people realize they have more choices
in how to view their own work context. |
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Another mode of
expanding a group’s creative capacity is through the improvisational
art form. By engaging in game-like exercises in suspending judgment,
focusing on what is here and now, and being outrageous, team members
experience a form of right-brained learning that is nonlinear and defies
reduction. Over time, they discover new ways of being together that
embrace learning from mistakes, heighten receptivity to new ideas, and put
joy back into work. |
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Leveraging
creativity and learning to accelerate change |
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| Copyright ©
2002-2010
Inflection Points |
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This page last modified
on 04/12/10 |
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