the creativity conundrum: the seven myths of creativity training
DESCRIPTION
The slides from my recent presentation to the St. Louis Organizational Development Network conference on February 23, 2011.TRANSCRIPT
The Creativity Conundrumthe seven myths of “creativity” in training
Matthew Homann, COCAbiz
I haveshiny shiny syndrome.
Please don’t throw things.
C OC A biz
Dance freaks people out!
improvisation
yes, and...
yes, and...
Creativity is important to my business because...
Most people don’t learn best sitting on their...
What can the arts teach business about creativity?
and how can COCA profit from it?
Remaining true to our core values.
...and not just make turkeys
out of our hands.
We thought selling
creativity would be
After all, Creativity
is priority #
The link between creativity and business is easy to make.
Right?
People told us, “Creativity is
important,
but...
© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved
“I can’t afford to
buy it.”
“I don’t know
how to value it.”
After listening to them,
We learned that it’s not about creativity at all...
It’s (still) about business.
How do you sell creativity to unwilling buyers?
Myth #1People want to learn to be creative.
You a
re cre
ative
.
Myth #2 Time is the
primary barrier to creativity.
Myth #3 Creative individuals make
creative companies.
For many, creativity is
a solitary experience.
Myth # 4 Listening to someone talk about creativity makes us
more creative.
Myth #5Creativity can be learned in one dose.
A warm-up exercise doesn’t
make people creative.
Myth #6 We can be creative
upon demand.
Myth #7 We’re more tolerant of
novelty than our boss.
Often “they” are less chicken than we are.
What can we do?
Ignore precedents -- at
least for a while.
Ask what sacred cows can I slay?
Recognize that creativity is an
ingredient.
like bacon
Respect your audience’s willingness to gamble.
Don’t be afraid to be sneak up on people.
Don’t rely upon new measurements.
Instead, focus on familiar metrics.
Deliver creative tools people can
use everyday.
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
be morecreative
Don’t ignore the simple
ones...
... and the difficult ones, too.
Regulate their use.
Incentivize their
adoption.
yes, and...
Make it a game.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Deliver bite sized chunks...
... because your audience has less attention to pay than ever before.
Plan to miss occasionally.
Be prepared to miss
every once in awhile.
Don’t listen to everybody.
“If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
-- Henry Ford
Questions?
C OC A biz
COCAbiz merges arts-based instruction with business-focused facilitation to help people and organizations collaborate more, innovate better and creatively solve their biggest business challenges.
As part of St. Louis’ renowned Center of Creative Arts (COCA), we draw upon the talents of artists, designers, dancers and actors to deliver high-impact classes, seminars, conferences and retreats that build business skills and deliver true creative breakthroughs.
www.cocabiz.com
Matthew Homann is the director of COCAbiz.
Matt @ COCAbiz.com
@MattHomann & @COCAbiz.