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Leaders today live in a world of global competition, rapidly changing technology, increased customer power, and a highly diverse workforce. These factors call upon us to inspire and deliver disruptive innovation within our organizations. Our traditional analytical and linear leadership capabilities are no longer sufficient. To succeed we must expand our capabilities to include creative leadership.
There are classes on ideation, innovation, and implementation. There are classes on problem solving. But how can we develop a creative mindset and learn the appropriate behaviors?
One overlooked learning resource is all around us. We see the product of their work in the design of our new Smart Phones, the paintings on our walls, public art we pass daily, and the art gallery on the corner. We are literally surrounded by seasoned guides who practice creativity every day. Accomplished, successful artists!
The concept of business leaders learning from artists is not one that is heard very often. Yet successful artists live and breathe the creative process every day. They offer windows through which to see the world differently. Faced with a blank canvas and a deadline, artists apply a set of behaviors and a mental mindset known as the creative process. We can learn to Think Like An Artist. The creative process includes:
A few progressive organizations have brought artists inside to work directly with design and engineering groups. In addition, some organizations use arts-based leadership development. Leaders work directly with accomplished artists to understand and experience the creative process firsthand. Empirical studies link both these experiences with increased organizational innovation. Incorporating artists within business and leadership development is still an underdeveloped practice, though.
For many of us without these progressive experiences within our organizations, we can turn to observing, reading about, and connecting with artists. Using the above list delineating the creative process, we can focus on and practice various mindsets and behaviors.
Take, for example, using multiple perspectives. How can we seek to obtain multiple perspectives on our work this week? Can we make this a standard practice? Or, consider learning from mistakes. Can we practice "after-action-reviews" on a regular basis and capture the learning? Can we debrief failure with our teams using an emphasis on the "what" not the "who" of the failure?
This list can serve as fertile field for development of our creative leadership capabilities. It can become our roadmap for creative leadership. We literally need to step beyond our business environments and Think Like An Artist.
Dr. Rita Mehegan Smith received her MBA from Nova University in 1988 and is former Chief Learning Officer at Ingersoll Rand. She is currently a Professor at Queens University, a Senior Consultant for the Innovation Institute, and an Executive Coach.