Creativity at work and innovation — creativity applied to the professional world

This article on creativity at work follows the personal creativity; which I can only recommend that you read. Indeed, in terms of creativity coaching, professional and personal creativity are closely linked. Not only in terms of method, but also in terms of state of mind. Then, you can’t talk about creativity at work without talking about innovation. So I will address these two themes together and also invite you to leave your comments and share.

Creativity at work and innovation
Definition of innovation
In the previous article, therefore, I defined creativity as the ability to create something new, to bring something new. The often accepted definition of innovation is “creativity with use”. In any case, this is how Roberta Ness, an American professor recognized as one of the best specialists in innovative thinking, defines it. And everyone knows that the United States is one of the most innovative countries in the world.
I took Prof. Roberta Ness’s course through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the University of Texas. I mention this because the online courses are a definite advantage, and free, to continue learning throughout your life. Maintaining or developing one’s learning capacity is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for innovating. Indeed, in a constantly moving and rapidly accelerating society, showing curiosity and continuing to learn allows you to stay in tune with your world.
However, innovation, like creativity, requires progress or advancement. It is therefore a matter of thinking and then doing what does not yet exist. Innovation is therefore based on other paths than those of learning, since it is at the forefront.
Finally, innovation covers many fields: social innovation, technological innovation, innovations in services, innovation in health and medicine, organizational innovation and change management …

The challenges of creativity at work and the innovation process
Creativity is a challenge for companies, which of course seek to develop or even boost creativity at work. Indeed, creativity in companies is the leaven of innovation. Creativity regularly makes the difference in terms of the development or even the survival of a business.
Some innovations come from breakthrough innovative ideas, but much more often, innovation is based on successive improvements (by layer) of a product or service.
Among the examples of innovation and innovative companies in recent years, we will retain “start-ups” and internet giants of course; like for example Google and Facebook. Facebook is based on an innovation from the first MySpace-type social networks. Google is based on an innovation from the first generation of search engines such as Yahoo.
Everyone has heard about the quality of work life (QWL) of employees at the California company. You should also know that Google makes available to its employees half a day per week to reflect on their projects, on condition that “it will be useful one day” to the firm (source A. Collery — Mister Happiness, p78, Ed. Larousse ).

In professional coaching, we approach this question of coaching innovation and creativity at work with great interest. Especially since the creative work manifests itself from the start of the innovation strategy and its process. Even researchers in innovative laboratories must first consider new paths of creativity before considering the production of an innovative object.
Innovative minds and creative people
The Human and his perfect imperfection

As always, whether in life, business or coaching, people are at the heart of my concerns. Creative people and even less creative people, in a constantly changing world, are invaluable. Indeed, the more our world changes, the more we need everyone to move forward.
I would like to remind you that many discoveries are the result of error or chance. So, if Christopher Columbus had not made a mistake in his calculations, he would not have rediscovered America. If Spencer Silver hadn’t been wrong with his glue dosages, we might not have got any post-its. If Fleming had not been so disorganized, he would not have come to develop the culture of penicillin etc …
To imagine that we are in control of everything that happens to us in life is madness and limits personal creativity. Collective creativity, at the same time, does not stop, however.

Original thinkers and creative geniuses
Executives, business leaders, executives and managers … in order to help you identify certain employees with a creative profile, or perhaps even to identify certain traits present and / or missing in you / them, I will summarize here a TedTalk for you of Adam Grant concerning the surprising habits of the original thinkers. Adam Grant is a professor of organizational psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
The original thinkers have:
A — a slight tendency to procrastinate; which is actually their incubation period. Creative genius par excellence, Leonardo da Vinci took 16 years to paint the Mona Lisa.
B- fears and doubts.
They go through the same creative process as most of us; namely when you have an idea:
1- It’s awesome >> 2- It’s tricky >> 3- It sucks >> 4- I suck >> 5- It should be fine >> 6- It’s awesome
However, they avoid step 4 which causes self-doubt and can prevent us from going further by paralyzing us. On the other hand, they doubt their idea. This doubt of the idea stimulates them, pushes them to test it, experiment it, refine it. In fact, early drafts always suck and it’s a matter of agreeing to get back to work. The originals are afraid of failure, but even more afraid of not trying.
C- tons of bad ideas. It takes lots and lots of bad ideas to come up with a masterpiece.
Methods and tools of creativity at work
The methods and tools of creativity at work go far beyond simple brainstorming. Besides, if there was just one thing to emphasize about the latter, it would be to invite around the table people with very different ways of thinking.

PIG In MuD
“Knowledge is having the right answer, intelligence is having the right question”
“If I had an hour to solve a problem of the utmost importance I would spend 55 minutes finding the right question”
Albert Einstein
Developed by Roberta Ness whom I cited more, the PIG In Mud method (literally “the pig in the mud”) seems very interesting to me for boosting creativity at work because it seeks to broaden the field of possibilities to respond to a challenge. . Each letter has a corresponding step:
P — Problem. Knowing how to ask the correct answer is the necessary condition to obtain the correct answer.
I — Identify the frame and get out of it
G- Generate ideas
In — Incubation
M — Mix the best ideas together
D — Disseminate
As the saying goes, you don’t solve a problem with the same mindset that created it. This method opens the mind.
Disney strategy and other genius strategies
One of the creativity techniques that struck me the most during personal development training was brought to me through NLP modeling strategies. Among them, my favorite is undeniably the Walt Disney strategy. This adult genius with the soul of a child suffered several hundred bank failures before he could finance his dream. Everyone knows the result. Because after creativity comes commitment and endurance.
Several genius modeling books (Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Einstein etc) were written by one of my mentors, Robert Dilts, who trained me in generative coaching.
Design Thinking, Lean Management and Agile methods
Design thinking, lean management and agile methods are characterized by their pragmatism and a form of co-creativity with the client.
Synthesis of rational thinking and intuitive thinking applied to management and innovation, design thinking is a very beautiful tool. Its main quality in my opinion is that it seeks to collect regular feedback from the end user in order to involve them.
In the same state of mind; lean management, particularly well suited to start-ups with limited resources, is based on continuous innovation. Market cycles are shortened, progress measured at regular intervals, and user feedback is sought.
Finally, there are the agile methods. They are based on four values:
1- Individuals and their interactions, more than processes and tools.
2- Operational software, rather than “exhaustive” documentation.
3- Collaboration with clients, more than contractual negotiation.
4- Adaptation to change, more than following a plan.