Want to be an innovator? Start by being creative.
No matter where I travel with my work, China, Europe and across North America, I hear people talking about the importance of innovation. What I don’t hear discussed nearly as much though is creativity. This is troubling but it also provides an opportunity.
The reality is, if an organization is truly committed to being innovative, it has to practice and generate creativity. Creativity is the rocket fuel to everything innovative!
Armed with a Masters in Creativity (Yes! There really is such a thing.) I've given a lot of thought to what creativity really is and how it can be leveraged in business. Creativity, which I define as the engagement in, and output of, novel, fresh and useful ideas, on its own isn't enough to spark innovation. Innovation takes vision, the ability to conceive what others can't yet see' investments and risk (to name a few things) before it can happen. I define innovation as the broad adoption or commercialization of creative ideas and knowledge into new business models, products, services and/or experiences. In this sense I’m talking about creativity outside of the realm of artistry, which it usually is associated with.
Sound easy??? Not really, is it?! To generate novel, fresh and useful ideas takes hard work. That's why I’ve created this space, The Creativity & Innovation Fit Zone, where you can explore sources and places for creativity and learn things you can do to exercise and practice your creative muscles. It's a place where you work to develop the mental muscle to be creative and the mindset it takes to do it again and again and again.
As your trainer and coach, I’ll also delve into Design Thinking, or what is sometimes referred to as Human Centered design. It's my preferred methodology to help you be both creative and innovative. In this Fit Zone, we’ll explore making things happen, and the chasm that exists in many organizations that talk a lot about innovation, but have nothing to show for it. Any time you want to get fit, you are going to come up against constraints and barriers to doing so. I provide the inspiration, insight and actionable ideas so you can develop your creative fitness for more results in innovation.