How to Spark Creativity for Your People and Organization

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” — Edward de Bono

If you’re an HR or learning leader, the sentiment above should make your ears perk, and not only because one of those fields is literally mentioned in the quote. 

These functions face new levels of complexity and integration within business structures. Now tasked with managing key priorities including retention, skill building, career development, and internal mobility, many leaders in HR and learning and development (L&D) are working across traditional silos and collaborating strategically around a more holistic vision. 

To successfully bring it to fruition, forever repeating the same patterns simply won’t do. Radical new thinking is required for this moment, and the way to activate it within your organization is by rallying around a culture of creativity. Seth Godin explores this topic in his LinkedIn Learning course, Creativity at Work. Here are some of the key ideas.

What it means to be creative

There’s a misconception that creativity is a magical gift that only some are born with. Being creative doesn’t mean you need to be a brilliant artist or imaginative fiction writer. At its core, the skill of creativity is about curiosity, and a relentless drive to explore that curiosity.

Many people stare at the same business problems every day and fail to act upon them. Why? They’re stuck in the same old patterns. A lack of curiosity prevents them from even truly looking at the problem and challenging themselves to see it differently. 

Breaking ground. Thinking outside the box. Disrupting the status quo. Use whatever cliché you wish, but at the end of the day, creativity is the essence of innovation. It’s making change happen, and forging real progress.

It can be both thrilling and scary. Embrace it all.

Techniques to cultivate creativity and spur innovation in your organization

Again: creativity is a skill, not a gift. That means it can be developed and refined. These habits and best practices will help foster a culture of curiosity where no problem is unsolvable and no goal is unattainable.

#1: Commit to failure (and rethink it)

Let’s start with the scary part: failure. An experimental mindset is instrumental to creativity, and experiments often don’t achieve the hypothesized result. That doesn’t mean they weren’t productive. It’s been said that Thomas Edison made a thousand unsuccessful attempts at inventing a longer-lasting light bulb before one finally switched on in his head. 

If you decide that a business problem is worth solving, then commit to being wrong until you’re right. If there was some shortcut or obvious path to the solution, it already would’ve been traveled. 

On that note, it might be worth resetting the way your organization talks about “failure.” That sounds like an unproductive outcome. Eliminating wrong answers is not unproductive. It’s a necessary part of the journey to success.

#2: Follow the rules of Pictionary

In many guessing games, answering wrong once means the end of your turn. Thus players tend to be cautious and reserved in giving a try. 

In Pictionary, though, being wrong isn’t a failure, it’s just part of the game. When your teammate is drawing a picture, you can start guessing immediately and infinitely, as soon as you see the first line appear on the paper. “It’s a tree! It’s a building! It’s a light post!” Get to the right answer quickly; move on to the next drawing.

Encourage the people in your organization to think along these lines, and make sure to lead by example. Remove the stigma of being wrong. Celebrate every guess, and build upon it for the next one until you can move onto the next turn. 

#3: Empower everyone to speak up

Another dynamic that can stifle creativity is impostor syndrome. It’s that little voice in your head that keeps you from sharing your thoughts — not only because you might be wrong, but because it’s not even your business to speak on the matter. 

It’s not your department. It’s not your expertise. It’s not your place. 

Here’s the thing though: when it comes to solving problems with unknown answers, you are an impostor. We all are! If someone had some grand authority to fix the issue, it’d be fixed. You never know where a great idea — or at least the seed of one — will come from, so invite all the “impostors” to speak up, even across functional lines and from the lowest ranks of seniority.

#4: Democratize the quality of leadership

There’s a difference between managing and leading. Managing is mandatory. If you’re managing, you are compelled to give directions and people are compelled to follow them. Leading is voluntary. If you’re leading, you are making the choice to step forward and others choose to get behind you.

Not everyone is a manager but everyone can be a leader, and that’s an excellent mantra to instill for a creative culture. Anyone has the capacity to make contributions that change the business. In fact, individual contributors are often the most valuable sources of insights and ideas because they are in the trenches, experiencing the effects of organizational issues directly.

Unlock creativity, and innovate when it matters most

Creativity already resides within you, and everyone in your organization. The key to unlocking its potential lies in removing the barriers that suppress it, like fear of failure, perceived cost of being wrong, or feeling out of place.

Leaders in HR and L&D have a unique connection to, and investment in, the workforce. Make sure you’re nurturing your most valuable human resource by taking active steps to unleash creativity.