Creativity

Hello I am Steve Campen with a short ten minute presentation on Creativity

Can you teach Creativity – you’ve seen those claims by companies who will come along and make your staff ‘creative’ – so can it be taught?

No you can’t teach your staff to be creative, here is an example

Give Rembrandt a canvas some brushes and paint and he will produce this:

Give Doris from Accounts a canvas some brushes and paint and she will produce this:

No amount of ‘thinking out of the box’ sitting around on primary coloured bean bags will turn Doris into a new Rembrandt

But Doris did create something and we are capable of some creativity. So you want to harness the creativity your staff have.

So how do you create a structure for your staff so they can make the best of the creativity they have?

Here are some great ideas – primary colored bean bags – on every floor – maybe a few scatter cushions and a bit of craaaazy art work? Or hire one of those expensive ‘mind’ companies that will come in at great cost and lecture your staff about how they should all be like Disney and start being ‘more’ creative ? OR look at some simple structures that will help staff be more creative?

This is a guy called Tony Buzan. He was a regular guest on a show I produced and he came up with ‘mind mapping’ – mind mapping has been with us for millennia - Ton’y mind maps look a bit like this.

Yes it’s a drawing – so what’s wrong with good old fashioned lists and ‘action’ points? Well cast your mind back to the dawn of history – our cave men ancestors had got a bit of stick with some wode on it – what did they do – write a list for Ralph in shipping could improve his work-flow – NO they drew – I think one of the early images was of a mammoth that someone had proudly hunted down – mind maps work because it taps into the way we interpret the world.

Back to Doris again – here is a human brain, kind of. Mind maps mirror the way your brain functions in a radiant rather than linear manner. Mind maps can map out your thoughts with association and triggers to stimulate further ideas.

Mind maps are a bit like trees – a tree of knowledge with different ideas coming out from the branches.

Mind maps always start with one central key word

That branch out into chapter headings or main associations with that word

Hey its those bean bags – someones going to be ‘more’ creative today – I think not. Mind maps use bright primary colours – use differentcolours for different branches – its fun – it’s colouring-in with an adult purpose

Use images in mind maps however rubbish they are. If your working out a TV campaign draw a TV it helps you help your brain get itself round the thing you are trying to create

When branches have common links, link them

This is an example of a mind map – it’s about the impact of global warming. You can see how easy it is to visualize this concept – see the colours and doodles

Three things to take away

1 you can’t be taught to be creative – it’s a talent we are born with – but all of us have some kind of creative talent – but remember 2 Doris will never be Rembrandt – even with a sex change and a lifetime studying under a great master – her pictures will always be crap – and finally 3 simple structures can help your staff use their creative ability, things like mind maps. If you want to know more about mind maps