How to Cultivate Creativity One Idea at a Time

Some people think you’re either creative or you’re not. For businesses, you need to know how to cultivate creativity, every single day, as a standard business practice.

It’s just that simple.

I say creativity resides in everyone but, shows itself in so many styles and forms and ways that sometimes it may be hard to recognize.

Maybe it exists or surfaces outside of the expected and so goes unnoticed, nearly unconsciously existing. It’s just there, no fanfare. The way your breathing takes place while you aren’t paying any attention to it, or its essential function, in your world.

As an example, consider this scenario:

Joe Machinist goes to work everyday 7 to 3. He packs lunch and takes one stop at his favorite coffee spot before manning his usual post. Then Joe begins doing his skilled but not particularly creative (to his thinking) daily routine.

With the new computerized CNC machines, he has become an operator and doesn’t feel he’s nearly the hand-crafting, highly-skilled, metalworker he once was on a day-to-day basis.

Productivity is higher along with nearly eliminating mistakes on orders, using the newer computerized system. The company has increased their margin and sales have increased with the shorter turnaround as well. Joe’s job is easier for Joe, he realizes.

When asked, Joe just doesn’t see it. If anything, he thinks his work is less creative than ever.

But Joe’s boss disagrees. He says Joe may be the most creative soul on his shift. He gushes a little about just how much Joe’s creativity has made him and his team look good for customers, and to the company.

Joe’s surprise is written all over his face as his boss goes on to explain.

See, it seems when Joe’s co-worker and friend, a nice young family man named Jim, was stressing over getting off work on time each day to meet the school bus, Joe came up with a plan to help. He suggested the company initiate a staggered start time policy so Jim can begin his day an hour earlier, giving him plenty of time to catch the bus after school.

Joe was sure to let the company know that his plan was a good one for them too. It would eliminate the downtime on production that happens when an entire crew shift changes all at once.

In the end, the new staggered start schedule helped several employees with schedule conflicts and kept productivity running smoother for the company at the same time.

Then Joe’s boss reminds Joe of another contribution to both the company and customers, made when Joe pointed out a glitch in a mechanism on the biggest machine the company uses.

By adopting a simple routine maintenance schedule (as Joe suggested) to “grease and oil” critical moving parts in a regular and documented fashion, service calls for outside repair work decreased dramatically, saving the company thousands of dollars within the first six months.

Additionally, machine downtimes decreased under the newly documented maintenance plan, and total production increased for each of the biggest machines. It was also making it easier to meet client deadlines and fill larger orders, directly correlating to increased sales and higher customer satisfaction. (Heck, this may even increase the equipment’s lifetime use, in the end.)

Since Joe’s ideas were such a big success for the company, employees, and customers alike, management decided to take it one step further.

Realizing that all workers, in all departments, on all levels, may have helpful ideas in relation to doing their work just like Joe, they decided to put together a “Thought Panel” to represent all areas of their business.

Because the “panel” meets regularly and gives everyone in the company a voice (for the first time) and all ideas are welcome, heard, and often implemented, employees are happier than ever.

The company starts finding that happier workers seem more inspired to work. And, they are working harder than ever, resulting in increased sales and higher customer satisfaction is happily growing.

Joe’s creative impact was felt by every single person at the company. And Joe didn’t even realize it, but now he’s smiling. Guess what? He just so happens to have another great idea!

See what I mean?

Creativity Everyday

Recently, I wrote about the importance of creativity as a central component for the best and most successful of businesses.

More importantly, I boldly stated that creativity is, in fact, an operational aspect to actively use and to cultivate as a usual business practice.

I was delighted to get a lot of comments saying how much many readers embraced, and understand the magnitude of, creativity in their business and business endeavors.

For others, it sparked ideas, reminding them to bring more creativity and creative thinking into their business model. And rightly so.

The more I think about it and work with businesses of all kinds, the more I believe this may be the most prominent of all content opportunities.

Particularly so in the digital marketing space, which exists on a vast, blank business canvas called the Internet. Let’s go paint it up!

The digital marketing space exists on a vast blank business canvas called the Internet. Let's go paint it up! Click To Tweet

Because the broad scope of possibilities only ends where brains and talent and imagination and okay, you guessed it, c r e a t i v i t y, ends.

From my human thinking mind, it looks like that leaves things in digital marketing pretty wide open. Open to your best creativity.

Make Cultivating Creativity a Mindset

Starting with a mindset and evolving to a full out culture, exercising creativity as an everyday business practice is achieved with directed purpose from an ongoing process.

There’s an opportunity out there to put on your thinking cap and bring something new, fresh and exciting to–well–whoever you want, in truth.

Sure, you have a website, maybe even a terrific product/service to offer. But if you aren’t connecting. Well, you need quality content.

On top of that, you need to stand out and get noticed by your ideal customer. You know the deal, right stuff, at the right time, to the right place, blah, blah, blah, marketing.

But what about creativity? I can’t help but think that some of you forgot that one little colorful twist.

Sure, we need to know and understand business from an educated, logistics, accounting, and marketing standpoint, but forget the colorful twist creativity adds to the mix, and you may end up with sameness, missed sales, and disaster, overall.

Creativity Grows…

And that’s the mindset you need to adopt and apply.

To make it simple for you, I have compacted ideas, information and yes, even workable approaches, from the original How and Why Creativity is an Everyday Job in Business resulting ina handy-dandy SlideShare, shown below. Check it out, use it and share it, if you please:)

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