See on Scoop.it – Creativity and Learning Insights
Today, frog is pleased to release the Collective Action Toolkit (CAT).
Simple reminders for people who already know how to work with groups.
See on designmind.frogdesign.com
Marci Segal, MS. Creativity and Change Leadership. Freeing leaders’ thinking so they can create new futures.
]]>Smiling can imply a sense of humour and a state of amusement, as in this painting of Falstaff by Eduard von Grützner. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So proper, isn’t it. A new word to describe what we’re all feeling, the situations we face, and what others around us are dealing with too, and on so many levels, all at once.
VUCA = Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. What a whirlwind, no? (Check out VUCA’s description in Wikipedia and its platform for leadership.)*
One big opportunity exists to comfort the VUCA-afflicted, to create a cradle of sorts. I’ve learned that people feel poorly, unwanted, abandoned, angry, confused, frustrated, worthless when their needs are not met, and with the VUCA storm, plenty who may be feeling that way. Do what you can, eh? Keep your knees bent, keep your sense of humour and keep it simple.
Creativity and innovation practices in VUCA are departures from the days when we could predict cycles in industry, for example. In the past as is now, efforts we put forward to create new ideas, make new decisions and take new actions guarantee us a foot away from what we used to do and a step forward to whatever’s next.
In VUCA times, however whatever’s next will lead to whatever’s next after that, and so on and not always in an incremental line. And not necessarily one change at a time. The changes could be as ‘wow-producing’ as entering a whole new dimension of reality we never knew existed.
Today’s entrepreneurs are living the myth that it takes one person at a computer with an idea to change the world, and some of them succeed, changing everything forever on many levels simultaneously and in unforeseen ways with unforeseen consequences.
How VUCA influences Innovation
Because you can assume each landing stage of planned innovation is impermanent, the innovation gates for go-no go decisions that you create will need to scrutinize ideas for adaptability and flexibility in addition to other relevant qualities.
No wonder prototyping and agility are words is everyone’s language; they help manage people’s expectations of innovation execution. Put something out there, find the flaws, fix them or improve the execution to eliminate what’s not working and keep what is, and what will scale to future needs. Keep an eye, ear, mind to trends and events and adapt as best you can. This pro-gility (prototype + agility) understanding of the world could be one of the cradles we use to soften the blows of living through and leading in VUCA times.
How to handle VUCA. A simple (instead of a complex) remedy: Do your homework, think big, get things right (as best you can) and get the job done. Oh, and you’ll need to broaden your scope a little, keep your knees bent and your sense of humour. Working well with others would probably help too. Collaboration and new partnerships too.
* Not sure if you know this, some of the skills associated with creative problem solving include affective attitudes (from Creative Leadership: Skills That Drive Change by Puccio, Murdock and Mance, 2007). Perfect for VUCA times, wouldn’t you say? Creative problem solving.
- Tolerance of ambiguity
- Tolerance of complexity
- Openness to novelty
- Sensitivity to the environment
- Tolerance for risk
- Avoiding premature closure
- Playfulness
- Sensing gaps
- Dreaming
- Curiosity
We’re here to help you, feel free to get in touch.
BTW – this is part of a conference talk I’m preparing. If you want me to deliver it at your place, let me know. It’s a great conversation starter. Maybe for World Creativity and Innovation Week April 15 – 21?
Cheers
Marci Segal, MS, Creativity and Change Leadership: Freeing leaders’ thinking so they can create new futures.
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At the end of Dan Ariely’s talk last night at Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, there was enough time for three questions from the audience, so I asked one. Dan spent the hour prior highlighting research from his book The (Honest ) Truth about Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone – Especially Ourselves. He cited studies and entertained with stories that showed
- ways in which people cheat
- under what conditions people lie
- what motivates people to rationalize their cheating and lying as good behaviour.
During the Q&A I asked, “Is it true that everybody cheats and everybody lies?”
“Yes,” was Dan’s response. “And in the future, we’ll be seeing more lying and cheating than we do now.”
Dan ended his talk saying we are all too good, that we don’t cheat enough. He suggested we should cheat more often because there are many opportunities to do so. This sentiment puzzles me. Is his support for a cheating lifestyle or approach aligned with challenging assumptions so as to question the rules, and then break them (i.e. cheat) for the sake of innovation?
Later, he was signing books, I asked:
“What relationship do you know about between creativity and dishonesty?” He laughed. “Creative people cheat MORE,” he said. “There’s an entire chapter in my book on that. Cheating is about storytelling, weaving a tale others can follow about the reasons why a person cheated. Creative people are very good at that.”
Today’s Questions
- What’s your take? Is creativity related to cheating and lying? If yes, how so?
- Is it helpful or hurtful to consider creativity and innovation subsets of cheating?
- If cheating and lying are on the rise, as Ariely says, then what do you suppose will be put in place as we adapt? What new products and services might emerge?
Marci Segal, Freeing leaders’ thinking so they can create new futures
Related creativityland posts
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]]>The rules for filing a US patent will change this spring. They will honour inventors who are first to file, rather than those first to invent. see Leahy-Smith America Invents Act Implementation.
Today’s Questions
- What do you like about this change?
- What future positive potentials are presented because of this?
- In what ways might this will influence the creativity of big business or/and entrepreneurs?
- What does each industry stand to gain and lose? Tech, pharma, consumer goods, etc?
- What effect might this have on business schools? Science schools?
- Do you feel that entrepreneurship will take on a new flavour, direction? How so?
- What new business ideas emerge for you knowing these rules are about to change?
Marci Segal, Freeing leaders’ thinking so they can create new futures.
Related articles
The New Patent Law: End of Entrepreneurship? Forbes, Robert Jordan
]]>Collaborating to make what’s right easy to do. Hm. Maybe this could be our 2013 slogan for World Creativity and Innovation Week April 15 – 21. Thoughts?
Marci Segal
]]>When I was fresh out of university I went looking for a job. After getting fired from a number of them over the years, I decided it was more about identifying the work that needed doing and going ahead and doing it. Creativity professional was not a job category in the 1980′s, nor was innovation consultant.
Reminders to think different, be bold, unique and brave abound today because of the untimely passing of Steve Jobs. Here’s the irony. Jobs creation is a huge political agenda item. Could that mean a Steve Jobs-like jobs creation?
Lots needs doing, I’m sure you agree. Harvard Business School is taking a Steve Jobs approach to landing jobs.
According to a Wall Street Journal report covered by Business Insider…
“Last year, 95% of Harvard Business School students landed jobs or launched companies within three months of graduation, reports the Wall Street Journal. And HBS intends to keep it that way — in part, by creating more entrepreneurs.
This fall the school is rolling out a new curriculum, which focuses more on ethics and “hands-on training in entrepreneurship and leadership,” its dean Nitin Nohria tells the Journal:
One of the most significant changes that we have made in our M.B.A. curriculum this year is a platform we’re calling the FIELD [field immersion experiences for leadership development] method. Students will be required to develop a micro-business. We’re going to give them $3,000, and they have to launch a product or service.”
Wouldn’t it be great if all institutions of higher learning passed along practical skills and support to enable their students’ sense of success in the society? Thanks Harvard Business School, for showing some how it can be done.
Here’s a little inspiration for you from the man himself, may he rest in peace.
Related articles
- Steve Jobs: 7 Secrets to His Success (abcnews.go.com)
- Steve Jobs Wasn’t (Just) a Leader – HBR (bjconquest.com)
- Steve Jobs, Whose Imagination Invited Us To Play (npr.org)
- Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert Pay Tribute To Steve Jobs (laughingsquid.com)
“Sure thing,” Jordan says, meaning WTF, why now, OMG!
Jordan calls in a panic. “What can I do Marci?”
“Breathe,” I said. “Take a look at the checklist from our session, remember the 6 points? I’ve just emailed them to you, just in case. Pick one to spark new ideas. Ready?”
- Create something totally new: a new capacity, a new culture, a new team, a new activity, a new strategy, a new skill, a new paradigm, a new habit, a new friend.
- Enhance or Develop: your capacities, your team, your organization, your potential, your efficiencies, your effectiveness, your resource conservation, your sense of humour, your connections with others, your sense of self-worth
- Eliminate or Delete: something that is no longer useful, an old idea, clutter, inefficiencies, waste, confusion, obstacles, debt, bad mojo
- Implement Systems: sustainable change, upgrade your ability, communicate more effectively, engage new people, collaborate across boundaries, bump up your expertise, expand your networks
- Enliven: core values, satisfaction, curiosity, discovery, relationships, peace of mind
- Reduce: fatigue, confusion, anxiety, irritations, time wasters
“Just pick one and go from there. Remember to keep your sense of humour.”
“Thanks Marci, helps a lot.”
I’ve helped many individuals overcome the fear of what do to when the boss or client says, ‘be creative’ and am happy to help you too. Let me know if you’d like a workshop, keynote or webinar on these six (and the magic 7th) to help you over the hurdle to generating new ideas and making new decisions so the creativity can flow.
Related articles
- Dose of laughter good for dementia: study (news.theage.com.au)
Hand's free computing
Just back from the World Futures Society Conference in Vancouver. Can’t help but see that tomorrow’s world will not be anything like it is today, or was yesterday. Whether you like it or not, we are on the brink of massive change.
According to the Millennium Project, we face 15 overriding challenges for the future, among which are: the rich/poor gap, potable water, status of women, energy, transnational organized crime, globalization convergence of technology and sustainable development and climate change.
Our individual and collective challenge is to negotiate between today’s reality and tomorrow’s eventuality. Whether you act or not, changes will occur. Better to contribute to the future than to deny it. Passivity is more dangerous than taking risks.
We need to trust, collaborate, communicate, with each other with integrity. New social skills are needed so that new ideas are accepted and modified rather than rejected outright, for the purpose of collectively building a solid foundation to support what is coming next.
“It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
“If two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, both are useless.” – Darryl F. Zanuck
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” – Henry Ford
“Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
New ideas + new decisions = collective creativity.
Related articles
- Social Intelligence and Tomorrow’s Service Class Jobs (martinprosperity.org)
- World Future Society (wfs.org)
Have you ever experienced jet lag?
Jet lag occurs because your body’s cycle, it’s circadian rhythm, is thrown off course. You experience daylight and darkness at different times than what you are used to and this disrupts your natural times for eating, sleeping, hormone regulation and body temperature variations. Your body is out of alignment with the new environment and can’t immediately adjust to the new location’s rhythm.
How do you know if you are jet-lagged? The common symptoms are headaches, insomnia and fatigue, disorientation and irritability, grogginess, mild depression, constipation and/or diarrhea.
Have you experienced Time-zone lag?
Time-zone lag (TZL) occurs when new ideas are rejected. New ideas hold promise for a different future. A person who says no a new idea shows a preference for continuing on a path set in the past rather than welcome creating a new one. Creating a new path requires mental and physical effort, focused attention and new decisions that disrupt established natural rhythms. Saying no is a protective response to make sure things continue to run smoothly within established boundaries.
You know you are experiencing TZL when you hear people use idea-killing statements such as, “we’ve tried that before”, “it will cost too much money”, “you want to do what????” Symptoms include feeling rejected and discouraged, insecure, confused, irritable and angry, disappointed, frustrated, mildly depressed, lonely, worthless.
Time-zone lag interferes with innovation
Experience shows that when people feel TZL they are less likely to be open to or contribute new ideas. A remedy is needed. Innovation and creativity are rising in popularity as business skills to get new ideas and make new decisions to chart new courses of action and achieve results.
Quick fix for Time-zone lag
Totally eliminating TZL takes time, let’s face it. Use this short-term remedy to help reduce its hold.
When presenting new ideas visit each time zone to make it easier for your idea to be accepted.
- Talk about its past – what occurred before, earlier conditions
- Bring it to the present – what is happening now, current conditions
- Position it with future possibilities – what trends are emerging, future conditions
- Energize it with a vision – what transformation potential does it hold, unique unparalleled conditions
New ideas and new decisions are required for cracking open new thinking to create the future. Use the TZL remedy to facilitate others’ safe journeys into the next new world and to increase the likelihood of hearing a ‘yes’.
]]>While beginnings are often inspiring, fresh, full of possibility and potential, endings can be sad. Emotional investments for comfort are cashed in, replaced with anxiety of the new.
Creativity Professionals owe it to their clients to help build confidence in the transition. Successfully moving forward involves also saying goodbye.
Wouldn’t it be nice if as each ending occurs it does so with a bang, like REM’s classic line – “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine?”
Here’s one creativity exercise for you to welcome a new way of doing business, living life, moving house…
Write your own words to replace the song’s lyrics, and keep the chorus. Then, as a group or team, sing the revised song together. Put pictures to it to make it more meaningful. It’s a wake of sorts that eases the transition into the new. I used this as a closing program for a client group not so long ago. Worked like a charm. Everyone was up out of their seats applauding and dancing. What a kickoff to a new way of doing business, eh?
What other exercises do you use?
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” is a song by the rock band R.E.M., which appeared on their 1987 album Document, the 1988 compilation Eponymous, and the 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine… The Best of the I.R.S Years 1982–1987 It was released as a single in 1988, reaching #69 US Billboard Hot 100 and later reaching #39 in the UK singles chart on its re-release in December 1991.
Lyrics
That’s great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes,
an aeroplane – Lenny Bruce is not afraid.
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn,
world serves its own needs, dummy serve your own needs.
Feed it off an aux speak,, grunt, no, strength,
The ladder starts to clatter with fear fight down height.
Wire in a fire, representing seven games, a government for hire and a combat site.
Left of west and coming in a hurry with the furies breathing down your neck.
Team by team reporters baffled, trumped, tethered cropped.
Look at that low playing!
Fine, then.
Uh oh, overflow, population, common food, but it’ll do.
Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed dummy with the rapture and the revered and the right – right.
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light, feeling pretty psyched.It’s the end of the world as we know it.
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.Six o’clock – TV hour. Don’t get caught in foreign towers.
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn.
Locking in, uniforming, book burning, blood letting.
Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate.
Light a candle, light a votive. Step down, step down.
Watch your heel crush, crushed. Uh-oh, this means no fear cavalier.
Renegade steer clear! A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies.
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline.
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
It’s the end of the world as we know it. (It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it (It’s time I had some time alone) and I feel fine.
(I feel fine)
Related links
- Assessing Transition Readiness (wmbridges.com)