Leading Creativity

Elvis Ukpaka 29 November at 15:51 Reply • Report

Creativity is the ability to bring something new into existence. It is born out of creative ideas and ideas are by-product of thinking. To enhance your creativity, you need an idea to pursue, and ideas seldom materialize accidentally. Ideas usually evolve through a creative process whereby imaginative people, germinate ideas, nurture them, and develop them successfully.



As a leader, maximize your "area of excellence" by immersing yourself in creative thinking. You cannot succeed in life without thinking---not just ordinary thinking but creative thinking that produces creative ideas. Never forget that whatever you become is first created in your mind. Everything visible first existed as an idea in someone’s mind. Ideas are like seeds that a farmer plants and nurtures to bear fruits. Ideas are stronger than the brain which produces them because they outlast the brain. For example, Thomas Edison who invented the electric light bulb is dead and gone but we all are benefiting from his invented idea. A great philosopher once said, "Ideas rule the world". One powerful idea in your mind when executed can change your entire life. Therefore, you must unleash your creative mind if you desire to become a quick thinker who finds a way to resolve any problems that comes your way.



A creative mind does not have limitation. It cannot be caged by setbacks. It is a problem solver. Creative people think outside the box. They create their own world, not the one made by others. As Jean Piaget said, "The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done - men who are creative, inventive and discoverers."



Let me tell you the true life story of a man who turned his setback to a stepping stone for success by just unleashing his creative ingenuity.



Many years ago, a man bought a little ice cream stand at a state fair. The hot weather boosted sales until the man ran out of bowls. He approached other ice cream vendors, asking for bowls, but none were willing to part with theirs for fear of running out, too.



Dejected, he walked back to his little stand to close up for the day until he could purchase more bowls. Walking back, he spotted a man doing poorly with his waffle stand. After all, who wanted to eat messy waffles on a hot day?



He had an idea! The ice cream man asked the vendor to sell him the entire waffle stand. The man agreed.



He joined together his newly-acquired waffle stand and his ice cream stand. He immediately began to make waffles, shaping them into cones. He increased his price and started selling the world's first ice cream cone.



"Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them" said Albert Einstein, a German-born theoretical physicist. What appeared to be a setback turned out to be a profit for this ice-cream man by just thinking differently! Sometimes periods of crisis are simply opportunities in disguise. Don't miss those opportunities. God expects you to make the most of your opportunities. He has given you a mind to think and to be creative.



Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire. Like it is recorded in the book of Genesis 11:6, "…behold, the people are one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do". Your mind is a powerful weapon given to you by your creator to imagine and create whatever you desire. As Napoleon Hill said, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe the mind can achieve".



For any business to thrive in the 21st century, the leaders must surround itself with creative people. Creativity in the workplace is a necessity for any business that wants to stay ahead of the competition and achieve the bottom line needed to keep going. One of the most important tasks of leaders today is to harness the creative energy of all employees to spur innovation and further the interests of the organization.



Therefore, enhance your creativity through mental exercises such as reading, brainstorming, play games like chess, and create time for leisure. As John Cleese, Emmy award winning English Comedian and Actor said, "If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play". Creativity and freedom are two sides of the same coin. David Allen, an international author and lecturer put it this way: "I like the best of both worlds. Want freedom? Get organized. Want to get organized? Get creative". Aggressively seek new ideas and then become more creative in achieving your set goals in life.





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