Taking Risks to Break New Ground:
Travis Turner quoted "Creative leadership involves blowing up the status quo, and out of the chaos, building a new world." Zacko-Smith claimed "(creative) leaders make a conscious choice to search for new opportunities, invoking their own and others creative thinking in a deliberate manner." We can not be creative and innovative without taking risks and being okay with failure. A creative leader must plunge full force into status quo to make change.
Involve and Value All Members Input:
Zako-Smith states "…as leaders draw out and nurture others and the environments in which they work and live in so that creativity can flourish. Complex problems cannot, and should not, be solved by the leader alone. Thus, it becomes crucially important for leaders, both those in positions of authority and those who choose to make a difference through their influence, to deliberately engage in a process that draws on the creative thinking of others." Robinson seconds this stating that leaders must "consciously engage the whole staff in the creative life of an organization"and "Being a creative leader means ensuring that everyone in the organization is playing to their creative strengths and feels that their contribution is valued as a part of the overall performance of the organization." Each person in the organization has their own perspective and ideas on the organization, excluding any of those can lead to disgruntlement whereas including them gives the feeling of validity and worth plus invaluable insight.
Create an Environment that Fosters Creativity and Change:
Zako-Smith discusses the following Creativity Principles:
Use creative thinking to solve problems
Separate and balance divergence (generating many, diverse and original options) and convergence (selecting and developing most promising options)
Defer judgment
Use affirmative judgement
Allow incubation time (time to process ideas)
Create a climate for creativity and change (allowing for idea support, playfulness, freedom, trust and openness, debate, risk taking)
Robinson lists very similar environmental requirements for creativity to happen. Setting the physical and mental environment are key components to fostering creativity.
And I suppose the very first step to creative leadership would be stepping into action and leading. This quote posted on Jonathan Field's blog to inspire creativity, innovation and action says it succinctly.
"What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fields, J. (2010). 55 Quotes to Inspire Creativity, Innovation, and Action. Retrieved from http://www.jonathanfields.com/55-quotes-creativity-innovation-action/
Robinson, K. (2012). Our of Our Minds: Learning To Be Creative.
School of One. New York State Department of Education. Retrieved from http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9435AD08-90F3-42AA-838C-6372C3B5D2E6/0/SchoolofOneBrochure_FINAL.pdf
Turner, T. (March 29, 2013). Cherry Truffle. Creative Leadership Quotes. Retrieved from http://www.creativeleader.com/creative-leadership-quotes/
Zacko-Smith, J.D. (2012). Creative Leadership: Its Meaning and Value For Science, Technology and Innovation. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1958027/CREATIVE_LEADERSHIP_ITS_MEANING_AND_VALUE_FOR_SCIENCE_TECHNOLOGY_AND_INNOVATION
I really appreciate Zaki-Smith’s reference to “playfulness” when discussing the need for creative climates. This makes me think we never should have stopped playing when we all became grownups. I know many of us still play in some form but when we check into work, professionalism dictates we act in a certain way. I’m not saying we should say and do what we want but why is humor, games, and creating art in our workday discouraged? I was sitting in an in-service at the beginning of the school year and the topic was applying standards based lessons. I started to brain storm ideas on how to work these differently and I came up with a game show like design where teachers and administrators take part a game that matched “I can” statements and “essential questions” to the new Alaska State Standards. I would like to design this as a website for next year.
ReplyDeleteCommon Core Aligned Create Your Own Gameshow
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-Aligned-Create-Your-Own-Gameshow-497452
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." -George Bernard Shaw
DeleteI feel the same way about play. When I was teaching ESL to 2 - 8 year olds every lesson was a game. Then when I moved to high school math I tried to incorporate the same gaming idea. The students were curious to do something new but some were not totally sure about participating. So sad that playful freedom was already suppressed. Love the game show idea. Super cool!
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgebern120971.html
I really liked your Emerson quote. Doing is so much louder and it starts with that first real step with every fake step reveled soon after it is taken. I also agree with your assessment of risk. Risk must be built in to any plan. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteYes, I must remember that quote about action. I recently witnessed a father of 7 do just exactly that when dealing with his nagging daughters. They wanted something he told them once they couldn't have. They continued to pester him, so he just calmly said we're going and started to leave the store. The situation diffused instantly. It was brilliant and very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your outline of goals! It's a brave endeavor we are making-- allowing innovations and all-- but well worth the effort! I am glad that we are foraging ahead in creating an environment where minds can be creative and imaginative. I look forward to the progress!
ReplyDeleteIncubation time - how does someone convince leadership in times of budget crunch that spending time developing new ideas is crucial to survival? Thinking of that time as re-tooling?
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't have to be weeks, just let's wait till the end of the day instead of at the end of this meeting to decide. Or revisit it in a day or two. The idea behind Pixar and Apple's built in free time as I understand it. I know when I walk away from something for a few minutes or overnight I usually come up with some pretty decent ideas. Granted I don't expect it to be well received off the bat ;)
ReplyDelete