We’ve all been in a meeting where people failed to participate. One person runs the agenda. One person writes on the board. Everyone else occasionally checks in but also checks email, text messages and does other work. Conversely, we’ve seen what can happen when someone is passionate about a project. Energy and inertia can often be sparked by a creative idea. That’s when something big can happen.
It’s this search for more passion and less passivity that brought together four experts for a panel at London Tech Week. The panel on how to harness the creative potential of people and organizations consisted of Ryan Gavin, general manager for Microsoft devices, Madelyn Hankins, Steelcase director for the UK and Ireland, Phillip Ross, founder and CEO of UnGroup and Cordless Group and Leif Huff, executive director and partner at IDEO. Here’s a glimpse into what they talked about.
REFRAME CREATIVITY
Hankins began by explaining why organizations need to reframe creativity from a soft topic to a core business issue. Creativity is not just for musicians or writers, she explained. To be successful in the future, workers at every level and in every role will require the ability to generate creative ideas and solve problems in unique ways. Creativity fuels innovation and, therefore, growth.
Ross co-wrote “The Creative Office” which explores how creativity can manifest in our environment. He referenced the famous quote subscribed to Winston Churchill, “We shape our buildings and, in turn, they shape us.”