STRATEGY SESSIONS  #20

 

CREATIVITY AND STRATEGY

 

by Dr. Steve Payne

 

 
I’ve stated previously that effective strategy depends on much more than pure analysis and highly rational thinking.  Without intuitive and creative energies and insights, very desirable decision options might not even be raised and seriously considered.

A big problem is that most people do not have much confidence in their own creative capabilities.  I’ve asked classes of college students to share anonymously their own perception of their powers of imagination and creativity.  The result was that only a fairly low percentage of these students expressed that they had this kind of self-confidence.   I believe that part of this perception of lack of confidence in their imagination and creativity is due to their defining creativity very narrowly.  Since they see themselves as having limited artistic or expressive talent in some fields or pursuits, they extend this to a general perception of their lack of creativity. 

Roger von Oech wrote a book back in 1983 called A Whack on the Side of the Head.   It describes how certain “mental locks” can rob individuals of their creative potentials for improved decision making and problem solving.  These mental locks to creativity often start in early childhood as parents send us implicit and explicit messages, and these locks become stronger by lessons learned in school and work settings.  Among these locks to our believing in and expressing our creativity are messages such as the ones below that we internalize over our lives:  There is one “right” answer; we must always be logical; we should always “follow the rules;” we need to be practical; play is frivolous and unimportant; some issue or concern is “not your area;” and mistakes/errors are not to occur.  These are just some of the mental locks that von Oech describes in this book.

Our parents, teachers, and mentors probably meant well in communicating these messages, and such lessons likely helped to some extent in our development and socialization. These messages definitely made it easier for authority figures to control what they might have viewed as excessive displays of our rebellion or independence.    According to von Oech, many of us learned and internalized these messages too much or too generally -- to the point that these stunted some of our creative potentials.

In dealing with current life challenges and facing very competitive employment markets, we need to understand, further develop, and apply as many of our personal resources and talents as we can.  If we believe that we do not possess imagination and creativity, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  We must break mental locks to our creativity for more strategic and effective personal decision making.  

There are books available at libraries and elsewhere that describe approaches and techniques to unlock submerged levels of creativity that people possess.  A tool such as a “creativity matrix” can occasionally help individuals to expand decision- making options beyond those that might be initially generated.   Imagination and creativity are gifts that some people possess more than others, but increased creativity in personal decision making can be studied and learned.  Such creativity then becomes an important strategic and personal resource.