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Leadership & Life
Developing Your Creativity...
Mal Fletcher
Howard Hendricks, the noted leadership trainer has said, 'The life and work of too many Christians - including many in positions of leadership - is best expressed in the epitaph "Died, age 24. Buried, age 70." Their tombstones will read, "I came. I saw. I concurred."'
If Christians are really seeking to follow Jesus' lead, it is their duty to develop their creativity. After all, you will never find a greater example of innovative thinking and ground-breaking action than the life of Christ.
How do we release the power of creativity that lies within us - both as a natural inheritance, and as part of our infilling with the Holy Spirit?
1. Accept that you are creative.
Astronomers estimate that there are 100 billion galaxies, which are home to 100 billion trillion stars! You are created in the image of an incredibly creative God. Creativity is expressed in different ways and each of us needs, with God's help, to identify where our true genius lies. Psychologists have identified the following types of creativity: verbal-linguistic, numerical, spatial, physical, interpersonal, environmental and intrapersonal (ie. 'emotional intelligence' - how a person deals with the emotional aspects of his or her own personality). A little experience will show us where is our true edge.
2. Acknowledge that nothing you do is totally original.
When we create anything, we are building on God's creativity and on the innovation of other people who have gone before. Often, a great new idea is formed out of an improvement on an earlier one. Knowing this liberates us from feeling that everything we do must be totally 'original'. It also encourages us to work in alliance with other people, constantly seeking out that good idea we can help to make a great one.
3. Maintain a curiosity about your world.
The researcher Robert W. Olson says: 'The secret to creativity lies in making the familiar strange. Ultimately all creativity springs from curiosity.' Albert Szent Gyorgyi, Nobel Prize-winning physician puts it this way: 'Discovery consists of looking at the same things as everyone else and thinking something different.' If we refuse to allow ourselves to get bored with our world, if we keep opening ourselves to fresh perspectives and new methods, we can stay on the edge where ideas flow.
4. Practice having many ideas.
With creative ideas, quantity can lead to quality. Some writers on the thought process have said that only around six percent of our ideas are truly good ones, or ideas that we'll actually follow through. If that's the case, the more ideas you have, the more chance you have of coming up with something truly great. Sometimes, we can free our creative energy to address a need or situation by simply sitting in a chair and having ideas -- that is, having a personal brainstorming session.
5. Keep your mind active and fresh.
Just as we try to build physical strength and suppleness, we need to keep our minds flexible. Each of us needs to read more than we do, and from a wider selection of subjects. Try buying a magazine from a field of interest you haven't explored before. Practice your writing skills, too, by constructing letters, book summaries, articles and so on. Writing has a way of focussing the mind and crystalising thoughts. You can stay mentally agile by learning to be a good listener and by looking for interests outside of your work. Finally, expose yourself to people who have stood the test of time; proven leaders who can inspire you personally, or 'from a distance' through their books, tapes and so on.
Developing your creativity will really reflect the nature and character of Christ. Here are some more ideas to keep yourself sharp creatively:
6. Surround yourself with creative people.
Build a team where innovation is normal and expected.
Create a leadership environment where problem-solving is the end of the process, rather than problem-identification.
You need at least three types of people on a creative team. You must have mavens, people who can collect useful information.
You need a few connectors, too -- people who are able to bring in others with particular gifts for the task.
You'll also want to enlist the help of some salesmen and women. You know the type: they can't wait to tell everybody about the new idea; they're itching to sell the concept.
Having people like these around keeps you sharp and it allows you to push the boundaries into new dimensions.
7. Celebrate the successes along the way.
When you complete a project, celebrate it in creative ways.
Many potentially great leaders burn out simply because they have not been encouraged to celebrate their victories and enjoy their achievements.
Visionary leaders are not necessarily driven leaders. What the former sees as a worthwhile cause, the latter treats as an unhealthy obsession.
8. Treat problems as creative, faith-building opportunities.
There are five basic stages in the creative problem-solving process.
The first is the fact-finding phase, where information about the situation is gathered and analysed.
Then, the problem must be identified. Sometimes, we're fighting the wrong battles, because we haven't correctly identified the enemy!
The third phase involves finding ideas: brainstorming, processing and developing the possible plans that might bring about a solution.
These potential solutions then need to be evaluated, so that we can identify which will best suit the situation at hand.
Finally, there's the question of what activities need to be set in motion. We need to implement the right plan of action.
9. Build on the good ideas of others.
A kettle is quickly brought to the boil when subjected to the energy of a flame or electrical charge. However, it doesn't take long for the water to cool once the flame is extinguished or the plug removed.
The process of entropy affects the world of ideas as much as the natural world. Any good idea, without constant innovation, will naturally tend to wind down.
All great strategies and projects need to be exposed to constant outside energy in the form of creativity.
That's why the process of adapting ideas is just as important as the process of coming up with new ones.
Truly creative people are not only able to come up with good ideas of their own; they also know how to apply the flame of fresh innovation to the ideas of other people.
Innovation is certainly an exciting process. Alongside innovation, though, must come adaptation. The original idea or product must be re-tooled to better meet needs - without losing the special core values that made it unique in the first place.
10. Pursue change -- and take risks!
'What you tolerate,' said one preacher, 'you never change…'
That's true! True leadership is not about settling for what is -- it's about pursuing what could be.
True leadership is about challenging the status quo in order to point to something better. True leadership is about stretching people further than they thought they could go.
True leadership is about helping people to get to a destination they thought they'd never see.
We should not just accept change -- we should embrace it with open arms. That requires a willingness to make sacrifices and take chances.
If there is no risk involved in a project, there is no need of faith. If there is no faith, there is no pleasing God.
If there is no pleasing God, there is no favour! Where there is no favour, there's no lasting fruit!
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