Individuals

Most of us can feel in our bones that the current economic upheaval is not going away any time soon, despite what the statistics may indicate. The good news is that there is an anecdote, be more creative in the everyday way that you think, act and be. Despite what your experience has been to date, “everyday creativity” is fundamental to being human, it can be learned; and with improved skills and insight, it is not as difficult to navigate as it may sound. Everyday creativity contributes to and enables innovation. This is not to be confused with artistic creativity, which is typically associated with innovation and the domain of those who have special functional skills and talent. We are talking about the innate genius that is within every individual and which is likely to become a cost of entry in the new economy.

It is highly probable that individual’s roles and responsibilities within the business world are going to change substantially for all participants, mandating the use of skills and insight previously required only from the executive suite. Formal leadership, or what we refer to as big L leadership can no longer keep pace with the level and complexity of the change that they are experiencing. To keep pace, they will have to push down responsibility for what we refer to as small l leadership decision making, communication, coordination, learning and change management to individuals throughout the whole organization. Big L leaders are not likely to have the time to effectively train individuals in these skills, nor will they be able to diagnose needs and skill gaps because that has not historically been their skill set and there is no precedent for this kind of change.

Development of small l leadership skills will likely evolve to become ad hoc over the next few years because the nature of the skill and insight upgrades are likely to be customized to individual desire and situational needs. Self diagnosing what skills you need to improve and what insight you need to hone will be the first application of everyday creativity.

The ongoing application of everyday creativity and ultimately innovation will depend on circumstances and an individual’s personal stage of development. To accommodate the need to self diagnose needs, we have presented some of the learning opportunities relative to each of the 3 foundational layers of thinking/doing/ being that support innovation. Represented by the 3 legged chair below, the first foundational (thinking/doing/being) level of Innovation is Trust, the 2nd is Engagement and the 3rd is Everyday Creativity.

In addition to this diagram, we include a self assessment called “How Innovation Ready is Your Organization” that you can complete to assist you in identifying some of the areas that you might consider improving your skills in.

Some examples of teleseminars, workshops and skill upgrade opportunities currently offered to individuals relative to each of the 3 foundational levels include:

Trust:
Having difficult conversations
Collaborating to cover your blind spots

Engagement
How to Move Faster than the Speed of Change
Making confident decisions in uncertain times

Everyday Creativity
How to Connect with your Passion Every Day
Creative Problem solving
Overcoming Personal Performance Barriers

It should be stated that upgrading skills and insight of this nature results in a win/win/win/win outcome. Being more trusting and trustworthy, engaged, creative and ultimately innovative benefits the individual, the team and organization along with family and society at large.

Here are some of the more personal benefit testimonials from individuals that we have worked with over the years.