A light dusting of creativity

As we are faced with ongoing uncertainty, change and complex situations, it helps to bring a little more creativity to the challenges at hand. 

Many of us think we’re not so creative but the thing with creativity is, you only need a little of it. 

Like condiments - salt, pepper, sauces - we may only need a sprinkle. 

We don’t need big foundations or heavy applications. A little makes a big difference. 

So, dust it on. 

Give a light dusting of creativity to that communication, presentation, program, product or service. 

We don’t need to be too clever... or so clever they don’t know what it is. That only adds to the confusion and uncertainty. 

A light dusting of creativity can finish off our work and make it more memorable, valuable and impactful. 

And it need not be costly. That makes creativity affordable too. 

- Memorable
- Valuable
- Impactful
- Affordable 

Sweeping and drinking coffee

There they were, doing both things at once. Sweeping. Drinking coffee. 

Neither was being done particularly well. 

They’d spilled some coffee down their shirt. They’d missed some of the dirt and leaves and kept resweeping the same area, again and again. (Or maybe they didn’t realize they’d already swept that area.)

Juggling tasks can lead us towards overwhelm. We keep taking on more and more things - sometimes juggling two or three or more things at once. 

- The cyclist who was checking their phone and eating a banana. And riding. 

- The leader who was on two zoom calls at once on two separate devices - one earplug for each meeting. 

- The workshop attendee who was also checking their email and tallying up some data all at once. 


In our rush, push and drive to get things done, we think the juggle is worth it, that we can do it, that we’re smarter than the brain research, that it doesn’t mess with OUR brain. 

Yet it does. 

The more we continue to try and do multiple things at once, the more overloaded we feel, the less we get done. 

Of all the habits to unlearn and re-engineer, the juggle is one that’s so worth fighting off when it calls. 

Do you know how you solve problems

It’s a curious question because we can often blaze ahead problem solving ... without being aware of our process for how we’re actually doing it. 

Perhaps we’re on auto pilot, not conscious of what we’re doing or too busy in the details of the problem solving task to think about it. 

We can’t get better at a critically important skill like problem solving if we’re not tuned in to it. 

The World Economic Forum suggests problem solving is right up there in the skills we need for today and even more frequently in the future. 

So how do you solve problems? 

▫️Do you get all the information you can? 
▫️Assess your options? 
▫️Generate some alternatives? 
▫️Try out some solutions? 
▫️Experiment a little?
▫️Consult with respected peers? 
▫️Try a Google search to see what others have done? 
▫️Or phone a friend? 

Each of these is part of a suite of problem solving tools and techniques. 

As you work through solving your next problem, challenge or tricky situation, make a mental (or physical or digital) note of what you do... and how you do it. 

There’s greater 
▫️possibility, 
▫️efficiency and 
▫️creativity 
on the other side of our awareness. 

Where do you need more creativity

- A tech team wants to be able to come up with more creative solutions. 
- A healthcare group wants more interesting and creative meetings. 
- A business owner needs to offer more clever and creative services. 
- A service business wants to stand out from the competition and work more creatively across the entire organization. 


These are some of the situations in business, work and life that can benefit from more creativity. 


Where would you like it?

🔲 YOU
“I need more creativity” 
We can make things more interesting and work more productively and effectively when we bring more creativity. 

🔲 IT
“The task or project needs more creativity”
To accelerate progress, attract interest and support, or run more effectively, greater creativity can boost project success.

🔲 THEM
“They need more creativity”
Participants, attendees, guests, customers and clients deserve more creative communications, interactions and experiences, particularly if what we’re doing is a little dry, detailed or repetitive. 


Where would you like more creativity? 

Try starting with one and let it spread throughout the others. 

Lured by the new

Are you a ‘bright shiny object’ kind of person? Do you chase after those fun and bright new things? 

Or are you more persistent and resourceful, making do and working with what you’ve got on hand? 

We can be so tempted to get the new, see it and try it, buy it and use it, that perhaps we may not really need it at all. 

We can have the old sitting here, still useful... but you know, it’s OLD. We may be bored with it, have heard it or used it before and feel like its time has passed. 

The new and the old. 

It’s why words come in and out of favour; how colours and styles have their time; and how hairstyles can give us a laugh decades later!

We can turn over a new leaf and teach old dogs new tricks. 

Consider what’s new and what’s old for you and what it means. 

We can always take a new perspective of something ... even if it’s, you know, old. 

Some of the old can be worth looking at anew.