Bees Know
4th of November ~
Recently a friend described a group activity she’d experienced at a conference. Using the metaphor of a working hive, the worker bees went all over the room to gather ‘honey” (group intelligence) and came back to their home hive. It reminded me of research from Alex Pentlands, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT.
(photo source)Creative teams need information. We can learn about environmental scanning from the world of biology and the hard-working bee gives us a nice model. When the hive needs a new home, a few Scout Bees head out to search for a potential site. These Scout Bees scan and discover. They specialize, thus efficiently using the overall resources of the group.
But simply finding the information isn’t enough. That information must also be integrated. When the intrepid Scout Bees find a promising location for the future hive they (our favorite image!) do a ‘vigorous dance’. Eventually, more bees get interested. A critical mass gets interested and then the hive can move.
“The bees’ process suggests that organizations that alternate as needed between the centralized structure and the richly connected network can shape information flow to optimize both discovery and integration.“, says Pentlands.
Once again we identify the challenge of balancing the need for centralized coordination and the freedom to explore and discover.
As whimsical as Dancing Bees are, there is good research to support the effectiveness of similar processes in helping teams work creatively and effectively. Read more about it here: How Social Networks Work Best.
American Creativity on the Decline
14th of July ~
Does it seem to you that Creativity comes in and out of style?
In 1950 J. P. Guilford, then President of the American Psychological Association, urged a greater emphasis on creativity. When I began my business in 1994 it seemed the pendulum had swung the other way. My practice focused on ‘creativity in business” and I was told that creativity was fairly discretionary. I often used the word ‘innovation’ because it sounded more corporate. My potential clients wanted performance management and leadership execution development more than leadership creativity.
Now, on the heels of the IBM CEO study citing Creativity as the top desired leadership skill we have new research suggesting that American creativity is on the decline.
Oh dear.
(Thanks to my dear buddy, Doug Brockbank, for alerting me to this article in Newsweek.)
The Most Important Leadership Quality? Creativity!
21st of May ~
Results of the 2010 IBM Global CEO Study have just been released.
The most exciting part of the study for me was this:
About 60% of CEOs polled cited creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared with 52% for integrity and 35% for global thinking. Creative leaders are also more prepared to break with the status quo of industry, enterprise and revenue models, and they are 81% more likely to rate innovation as a “crucial capability.” (source: Fast Company)
That’s right. Sixty percent of the CEOs surveyed felt CREATIVITY is a crucial skill. Leadership is not all about operational excellence and squeezing the budget. It’s more about creative problem-solving. Leadership is about challenging the status quo. It’s about doing the creative thinking to innovate.
The challenges of leadership today, and, especially, in the future REQUIRE creativity.
So what might that suggest? I can think of a few things:
- Assess the composition and creative strengths of your leaders and leaders-to-be.
- Invest in development that builds 1) capacity to do collaborative creating (versus competing and evaluating) and 2) skills to use tools and techniques beyond brainstorming
- Reward creativity (as uncomfortable as that might be when compared to compliance)
- Assess your culture for how well it supports creativity
Even if you’re not all convinced we can well imagine that CEOs are looking ahead. The fact that they recognize the value of creativity is good news for us all.
You can read a summary of the report in Fast Company. You can access the entire report here.
Foment the Revolution.
Did School Kill Your Creativity?
28th of April ~
Did school kill your creativity? Ken Robinson certainly thinks it may have. If you haven’t seen his TED talk here it is:
The good Sir Robinson has also written an excellent book called The Element. We are in our Element when our natural talent/aptitude meets our personal passion. This sounds a little like Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s notion of ‘Flow‘ but here’s how I see the difference: if you have a chance to pursue your talent and passion (your Element) then you will more often find themselves in a state of Flow.
Here is Sir Ken is concern: schools today are over-focused on a narrow definition of intelligence. Standardized tests determine everything from school funding to who gets into elite programs and colleges. Perhaps you’ve read A Whole New Mind or Five Minds for the Future. Perhaps you believe that employers are seeking creativity, the ability to solve complex problems and do more than simply provide the ‘right’ answer.
The world needs flexible, generative minds alongside the analytical, logical minds. And our curricula and assessments do not reflect that, sadly.
For many years my Element has been dance. For many years I studied ballet (and tap, and jazz and even baton twirling!). When I studied dance technique I was definitely not in Flow. It was painstaking learning. But eventually, I got better and became a trained dancer. I haven’t performed in years but I still seek opportunities to dance. I do lose track of time and enter ‘single-minded immersion’. What a gift to have found something for which I had some aptitude and loved so much. I also believe that my training in the arts prepared me to make a broader contribution professionally. I studied math and science. I took ballet lessons. Both improved my brain.
What is your Element? What have you pursued with passion and aptitude? If it’s been a long time since you’ve found yourself in Flow may I suggest that you find a way to get back to what you love? You and the world will be better for it.
Shift Happens
25th of January ~
Multiple versions of this video have been floating around on You Tube and elsewhere. If you haven’t seen it I’m sure you’ll find it a thought-provoking booster for thinking more globally.
And here’s the link for the wiki
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