1. 2008 | Issue 2 | Coffeyfiles | 7
H
ow many people does it take to
come up with a dynamite idea?
Five? Ten? A hundred?
You might even find inspiration on your
own. But according to Dan Greenberger,
chief innovation officer of GPS Creative,
your chances soar when you harness the
creative skills of a team. And that includes
people who aren’t in the room.
“A good idea can come from anywhere,”
Greenberger says. “Everyone from your
CEO to your doctors, nurses and even your
patients should be in your idea pool.”
The creative process involves unique
mental skills, and everyone has a creative
wild side, even if it’s best expressed by being
analytical or persistent. When a constellation
of skills comes together within a team, it
produces far more than the sum of its parts.
“It can become an idea machine,”
Greenberger says.
The science of creativity
Greenberger has a background of three
decades in advertising, and that’s where his
ideas about creativity got started. But hard
born to be
Put together your creative dream team
—Continued on page 8

2. science is what showed him how people
and groups can put creativity to work.
“Creativity can be broken down
into discrete categories,” he says. “A
person might be great at just one or two
categories, but on a team, those skills
interact and ideas multiply.”
Greenberger lists these four creativity
categories:
k Clarifying—gathering data and
searching for opportunities.
k Ideating—stretching the imagination
and generating ideas.
k Developing—coming up with workable
plans.
k Implementing—putting plans to work.
Diamonds in the rough
These categories translate into thinking
skills that can occur in people with diverse
experiences and opinions—even if they
have little knowledge of your subject matter.
You don’t have to be an expert on a subject
to have a fresh idea, Greenberger says.
Fresh ideas can be anywhere, so make
it your business to go out and hunt them
down. Talk to people who normally
wouldn’t have input on your issues, and
bring their ideas back to your team.
“Think of it as the largest creative team
ever assembled,” says Greenberger.
Breakthrough thinking
If bringing ideas in from the field seems
like a stretch, get ready for more new
rules. Greenberger recommends these:
k Put away your assumptions. They can
be the enemies of creativity and change
and can waste the diversity of thought
from your colleagues. For example, don’t
assume an idea won’t work because no
one in your industry has ever tried it.
k Agree to allow any idea into the mix.
Push for novelty—a wild idea can spur
creative thought.
k Think like a kid. Great ideas can pop up
when you’re being playful and having fun.
k Keep up the idea flow until you have
a large pool of ideas and thus a better
chance for great ones to emerge.
k Hold off discussion and judgment until
later. Unedited ideas can generate energy
that produces even more creative thinking.
k Express what you like about the idea.
This can lead to valuable spin-offs,
even from unworkable ideas.
k If you have misgivings with an
idea, express them as questions. For
example, say, “How can we make that
less expensive?” or “Who can we get to
change it?”
k Leave with an action plan, including
what to do in the next 24 hours.
Keep up the good work
A room full of creative people can
generate a lot of excitement, and that’s
when remarkable ideas start flowing.
But according to Greenberger, there are
hazards that can weaken that energy:
k Negativity. It causes fear, frustration and
embarrassment, which stifle ideas.
k Habits. Following tradition keeps the
unexpected from happening.
k Playing it safe. Mistakes can yield
unexpected benefits.
k Self-editing. Thinking small limits your
pool of options.
k Quitting too soon. The best ideas often
come after a lull in the process.
Reach for success
When your great ideas find their way to
fruition, the impact can be remarkable.
Clarifiers
ask the right questions
and gather the relevant
facts. They need time
and support to get
answers.
Ideators
see the big picture
and love to stretch
their imagination.
They thrive when
others have fun
with the process.
What kind of
problem solver are you?
—Continued from page 7
[ cover story ]
8 | Coffeyfiles | Issue 2 | 2008

3. Solving problems can seem like a time
for left-brain thinking. But creativity and
problem-solving skills are two sides of the
same coin. According to Dan Greenberger,
chief innovation officer of GPS Creative,
knowing your creative style can help you
and your team function at your best.
An ugly duckling
Consider the employee who seemed to
continually hold back her colleagues.
“Jane” always wanted more time to make
sure a project would work, and the others
believed she didn’t understand her job.
According to Greenberger, she was ready
to quit, when her group took a quiz that
assessed their problem-solving skills.
It turned out that, as the only devel-
oper in the group, Jane’s skills put her at
odds with her colleagues. Once everyone
understood her essential place in the pro-
cess, she became a treasured employee.
Find your energy source
When you look for your problem-solving
skills, don’t rely only on what you’re good
at. Instead, think about what you like to
do. “It’s about where your energy comes
from,” Greenberger says.
Everyone involved in solving the prob-
lem should be aware of their own skills
and those of their team members. You
may fit in one or more of these categories:
k Clarifiers ask the right questions and
gather the relevant facts. They point out
obstacles and use key data to pull the
issue into focus. Look to these people to
interpret the history of the issue and make
sure you’re solving the right problem.
Clarifiers may become stressed if
they feel forced to move forward without
enough information. They need time and
support to get answers.
k Ideators see the big picture. They are
visionaries who love to stretch their imagi-
nations to generate ideas. They can jump-
start a stalled process with their energy
and inspire others to stretch their thinking.
Ideators may be impatient and overlook
details. They thrive when others have fun
with the process.
k Developers are planners. They analyze
potential solutions to find their strengths
and weaknesses and transform rough
ideas into finely crafted solutions. If you
reach a dead end, they can find a way out.
These folks can be nitpickers and may
stress out over deadlines. They do best
when they have time to consider options.
k Implementers get things done. They can
adjust quickly to make a plan work and
drive a project to its conclusion. They love
seeing tangible outcomes.
Implementers need to move forward
and may get stressed by too many ques-
tions or possibilities. Support them
with reasonable deadlines and timely
responses to their ideas.
[ Got a problem? Get creative! ]
Developers
are planners. They trans-
form rough ideas into finely
crafted solutions. They do
best when given time to
consider options.
For example, Greenberger’s success stories
include a hospital that found a unique
path to health education—sponsoring a
walking path in a public park that featured
health tips along the way.
“Promotion often involves doctors
talking about the latest technology,” says
Greenberger. “But you need more than
that to stand out.”
Walk on the wild side
This kind of deliberate creativity is a
process that you can learn and teach to
your colleagues. It can involve a mind
shift that may make you uncomfortable.
But that shift can get you past perceptual,
emotional and cultural blocks that have
been funneling you into the same answers
to the same questions.
“When you learn to stay out of the way
of originality and imagination, that’s when
creativity happens,” Greenberger says. k
Dan Greenberger is
finishing his master
of science degree in
creativity and change
leadership from
Buffalo State Univer-
sity in New York. You can e-mail him at
dan@gpscreative.com.
2008 | Issue 2 | Coffeyfiles | 9
Implementers
get things done. They love see-
ing tangible outcomes. support
them with timely responses
to their ideas.