Creative Thinking and Leadership

What do you think about at the end of the day? Do you think about what you accomplished that day? Or do you dream about what you could do differently tomorrow?

One type of thinking focuses on concrete facts and analytical thinking.

The other type of thinking involves dreaming and creative thinking.

You probably do a little of both, but it seems to me that most people have a preference for one over the other. And gathering from the conversations I have in executive coaching sessions, many of us favor analytical thinking over daydreaming and speculating. We’d rather deal with facts, data and charts than “what if…?” Wouldn't you agree?

According to a global IBM survey of chief executives, creativity is the most sought-after trait in leaders today. In these times of disruptive innovations, creative thinking is especially crucial for the rise and continued success of start-up to stalwart companies.

Facebook, Google, Apple, Procter & Gamble and General Electric are prime examples. Without continual breakthroughs, these organizations couldn’t sustain success. Companies whose leaders learn to innovate more quickly, cheaply and with less risk will emerge from any downturn stronger than ever.

For leaders, it starts with an innovation mindset. In my coaching practice with business leaders, this is a continuing challenge for high-achieving, results oriented business executives. Many have become over-reliant on analytical skills.

Creativity is not something that is learned, as much as rediscovered. People are born creative. Just look at children to see how naturally they use their imaginations. But somewhere around adolescence, we begin to stifle our creative impulses as we become more aware of what other people think of us.

We learn to be more cautious and analytical. This tendency becomes even more pronounced as we join organizations that favor critical thinking. As we become mature contributors to corporate culture, we are continually rewarded for our analytical abilities.

Creative thinking takes a backseat. But you cannot achieve innovations unless your company’s culture supports new ideas—even those that fail.

According to Wikipedia, until 1990, creativity as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking increased in the United States. Thereafter, the scores have been declining. Possible causes include increased time watching TV, playing computer games, or lack of nurturing of creativity in schools. There may be a mistaken assumption that encouraging creativity in schools necessarily involves the arts when it can also be encouraged in other subjects.

I think there are several common fears that block us from using our creative thinking and they are more common that we would admit.

What’s your opinion on the loss of creative thinking in business today? I’d love to hear from you.

Zen Riddles

"How do you get through a gateless gate?" That's a Zen riddle.

What it really means is, 'how do you accomplish the impossible - a paradigm shift?'

Well, you start by defining the problem creatively and shifting paradigms, by listing many ideas, and by combining them innovatively into creative trigger-ideas and workable solutions. Committed action plans and the real work follow.

"What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Another Zen riddle.

Most people don't know the answer. Some answer the “sound is silence,” a breakthrough in realizing that the answer does not have to be clever.

When I ask children this question they look puzzled. Sometimes they wave one hand through the air listening for the answer. Actually, the waving of one hand is one answer to the question. This is hard for some people to understand.

In some Zen training, this riddle of the "sound of one hand clapping" is given to novices starting to master Zen. The novice meditates on the meaning of the riddle, and makes daily visits to the Zen master for many years while absorbing the riddle's teachings.

The Zen answer has many nuances that we need not pursue. Suffice to say that many years of meditating on the "sound of one hand clapping" produces a paradigm shift in the novice's view of reality.

Paradigm shifts help creative thinking. A paradigm is a belief structure within which you think and act. The paradigms within which you operate affect your creativity. Usually they box you in and produce tunnel vision.

A paradigm shift is a change in your belief structure that changes your perspective and allows you to see things differently. My purpose in using the riddle about the "sound of one hand clapping" is to produce a quick paradigm shift to help creative thinking and active listening.

I want to jolt people into realizing that the way we perceive a problem limits our thinking that also blocks our creative thinking. Hopefully, this discovery will prompt a change in perception of creativity, and help people to see the value in being spontaneous and intuitive, as well as rational.

All this is triggered by a Zen riddle. This article is also like a Zen riddle in that it is intended to change your perceptions, produce paradigm shifts, and enhance your creative thinking.

It's like the sound of our brain thinking creatively (a paradigm shift); like silent explosion in the universe.

Apply this to your workplace; and explore the paradigms that shackle your creativity and box you in. Find and shift one inhibiting paradigm each day. Devise new answers to the two Zen riddles presented above.

In addition, list creativity-spoiling habits of others that stifle your creativity. Resolve not to do them to other people. Assert to people who interfere with your creativity.

Make action plans to do these things on a systematic basis each week.