Finding Your Inner MacGyver

8/13/2019 Finding Your Inner MacGyver

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Find Your InnerMacGyver, Think Beyond ,

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Think Beyond, Inc .

Think Beyond, Inc.3561 Bellington DriveOrlando, Fl 32835407.298.8700 or 407.382.9718 407.298.7000 Faxwww.thinkbeyondinc.com

Copyright 2001 Rev 2007 Revised 7.2006 Think Beyond , Inc.Neither this prog ram nor any part thereof may be reused, reproduced, orstored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means whatsoever, withoutprior permission of Think Beyond, Inc. Products pro duced by Think Beyond,Inc. are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship. Theexclusive remedy for any produ ct foun d to b e defective is replacement, andThink Beyond, Inc. shall not be liable for any consequential or in cidentaldamages. Final determin ation of defects shall be made by Think Beyond , Inc.No agent, employee, or representative of Think Beyond, Inc. has any authorityto bind Think Beyond, Inc. to any affirmation, representation or warrantyconcerning Think Beyond, Inc. products, except as stated herein.

Disclaimer

The above warranty is in lieu of any o ther warranty, expressed or implied,includin g any warranty of merchantability or f itness for a particular purpose.


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.Find Your InnerMacGyver, Think Beyond ,

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Agenda

What is creativity?

Im waiting for.

Your Greenhouse

Creativity blocks

10 strategies to enhance creativity

Personal creativity assessment

Personal creativity matrix

BIG IDEAS!


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What Is Creativity?

Is it . the ability to use the imagination todevelop new and original ideas or things?

Or , is it . new and useful combinations ofthoughts?

Or , is trying to define creativity a violation of itsvery spirit?

What about . Seeing things that everyonearound us sees while making connections that noone else has made.


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For Me to Be More Creative, Im WaitingFor . . . .

David Campbell, Ph.D., of the Center for CreativeLearning, provides the following list (some humorous)of reasons for waiting to be creative:

I am waiting for.

Inspiration

Permission

My youth to return

The two minute warning

More time

The coffee to be ready

My ego to improve

A sign from above

My ship to come in

Less risk

A less turbulent time

A better deodorant


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Blocks to CreativityIts easy to block creativity big time by making simpleerrors that stifle creativity or allow the fruits of creativethinking to spoil on the tree. Following is a list of 9 errorsthat block creativity in organizations and in individualsas well.

Failure to ask questionsCreativity requires an inquisitive mind. Yet it is easy togo through ones day without calling anything importantinto question. Unless you ask lots of why questions, youwont generate creative insights. Be sure to peek under all ofthe carpets, even your own!

Failure to record ideasThis can be a big one. In the world of creativity, theres nosuch thing as a bad idea. Ideas are like building blocks: themore and varied your blocks, the more you can make. Youalso dont toss out the blocks you havent used today-younever know what you might want or need to build tomorrow.

Failure to revisit ideasWe leave behind, in the course of our daily work, many good thoughts andideas. As the path is rarely straight over time, we tend to re-cross priorfootprints. Do we notice whats there or even learn from it? Now andthen, spend time rambling through the debris of past projects, etc. Giveold ideas a second chance and become more aware of old assumptions or

insights.


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Failure to express ideasIf you have an idea-any idea-you should express it right away. Tell it toyourself or tell it to others if you are in a group. We often dont give ideasenough time to see if they are worthwhile, nor do we share them enough withothers. Every mind has its share of weeds. If you want creativity, you musttend to those weeds and treat each one as a potentially valuable new crop!

Failure to think in new waysYou dont get out of the box by doing what youve always done. Try newapproaches in your thinking process. Almost any approach will produceincreased creativity-so long as its different . It is important to discuss not justwhat you think, but also how you think.

Failure to keep tryingThere is no guarantee that your first attempts at creative thought willproduce results. Dont give up. No one said it would be easy!

Failure to wish for moreIf you are content with the current state of things, you wont feelthat creative itch. Creativity is nurtured by optimistic speculation . Everhear the words wish there was some way to

do that.? The failure to wish for more-the currently unattainable-isa common way to ruin or block creativity.

Failure to try being creativeMany people feel they are not creative and therefore never try to be.Remember this: youre creative if you engage in creative thinking, and youarent if you dont. Failure to try is the surest and quickest way to derail yourcreativity.

Failure to tolerate creative behavior Do you think creative people are a bit weird? OK, maybe they are a bit thatway some times. The truth may be that when anyone is being creative, theirbehavior is perceived that way by those around them. So, tolerance ofcreative behaviors-yours and others-is a must if you want to benefit fromcreative thinking.


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Your Greenhouse

The picture you see is a greenhouse- one that has been deserted for some time.Little grows inside it, as it appears no one waters the parched soil of what, at onetime, was probably a thriving garden. But outside, and clamoring to get in, istangled mass of vines and weeds. The door is ajar and one can easily imagineentering it and doing the simple things that bring a garden back to life-plantingwatering, and tending it. Many seeds from the vines and weeds must have foundtheir way inside over the years and must be waiting dormant for conditions toimprove.

Might this greenhouse represent the imagination of many of us in the workplace?Unless you happen to work in a creative profession, you probably havent cultivated

this greenhouse for many years, and yet it is still there, and the door is ajar.

How would you cultivate the garden?

A neat planting of one species, everything in well-weeded rows?Would you encourage the eager vines and weeds toenter the door and take up residence?

Would you leave the garden as it is, thinking that youdont have the time or energy and that someone elsewill surely revitalize it?

A rich, diverse, tangled growth of ideas is just the thing for this greenhouse! If youcultivate it well , giving your ideas the nutrients they need, sheltering themfrom the harmful extremes of the environment outside, then your greenhousewill sustain a rich growth of ideas, ready for harvesting whenever you needthem.

How well does your garden of ideas grow right now ?

Is it a repetitive row of commonplace thoughts? A barren bed of dusty soil?Does your greenhouse provide enough protectionfrom the harsh extremes of your work environment toallow ideas to mature?Do you seed and water the garden with sufficientattention and care?


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10 Strategies toEnhance Creativity

1. Each month, read a magazine youve never read before, or a book on asubject youve never explored.

2. Take a different route to work. You might be surprised by the newperspective. If nothing else, youll break the rut.

3. This week, watch a TV show or see a movie you normally would not watchor see.4. Get out and go to gatherings, meetings, art exhibits, etc. that you would

normally never attend to meet new people.5. Forget the shower once a week and take a long, relaxing bath. Why do

you think Ben Franklin brought the bathtub to America?6. Have a discussion with a child under 12 and really listen.7. Catch a catnap here and there, go fly a kite, stare out the window, or take

some idea time.8. Start exercising, even a little bit. We all know it is good for your body, but

its also great for your mind .9. Discover which time of day you tend to feel the most relaxed or creative

and use it accordingly.10. Use what you have been exposed to in this program (whether from the

content or from a participant) and add several of your own ideas to the 10 list.

10 . In the name of persistence, review this list, and whatever else works foryou, every few months or when you find yourself in the proverbial rut.


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Let it grow!

Sow the seeds!

Think beyond!

Open the door!

Be your best!Enjoy!


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Personal Creativity AssessmentInstructions: Check all of the statements that apply to you,then refer to the interpretation guidelines that follow thechecklists. Later, you will be given a creativity matrix on whichto plot your assessment results.

PERSONAL ENABLERS:

__ Knowledge. I am aware of many practical techniques forgenerating ideas.

__ Locus of control. I am empowered to be creative by asense of control over my personal circumstances and fatewhen at work.

__ Confidence. I am confident in my ability to produce valuablenew ideas and solutions.

__ Open-mindedness. I am drawn to new perspectives, evenwhen they clash with my assumptions or values.

__ Experience. I have often benefited from my own or others creativity inpast work experiences.

__ Role models. There are a number of people in my workplace whohave succeeded in part because of their high level of creativity.

__ Leadership support. My leaders (including supervisors andmanagers) encourage creativity.

__ Leadership openness. My leaders are open to input and listen to myideas.


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MORE PERSONAL ENABLERS

__ Rewards. People who exhibit creativity in my workplace are rewardedfor their efforts.

__ Training. We receive plenty of good training to help us be morecreative.

__ Emotional resiliency. I feel secure enough in my workplace to handlethe risks of creativity.

__ Diverse inputs. My work and hobbies expose me to a wide variety of ideas and practices.

__ Independence. I am viewed as an independent thinker by my peers. __ Lack of attachment. I am not attached to specific ideas or theories; I

like exploring many alternatives. __ Playfulness. I like fooling around with ideas, and find creative

thinking and problem-solving activities fun. __ Persistence. Once I get thinking about a problem, I dont set it

completely aside until Ive solved it even if it takes quite a bit of time. __ Empathy. I am good at sensing what others think and feel, and this

skill helps me pick up or add to the good ideas of my associates. __ Self-perception. I see myself as a creative person. __ Inventiveness. I like to invent new ways of doing things or have

thought of creative new products or ideas. __ Boundary-breaking. I often come up with fresh ideas by making

connections between unrelated things or unrelated activities.

Interpretation Guide Personal Enablers

Add up the check marks to to see the number of personalenablers you have right now. The more you have, the more likely you are to besuccessfully creative at work. If you checked 11 or more statements, then you can

classify yourself as having a high level of enablers.


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PERSONAL BARRIERS:

__ Acceptance. I tend to take the dont rock the boat approach insteadof challenging the status quo.

__ Low self-evaluation of work. I dont think the work I do in my job isparticularly valuable or worthwhile in the big scheme of things.

__ Lack of skill diversity. My work requires a specific, narrow set ofskills.

__ Limi ted chances for ski ll development. My work does not give memany opportunities to develop new skills.

__ No challenges. My work does not challenge me. __ No sense of personal responsibil ity. I dont feel personally

responsible for the results of my work because its hard to see howmy own contributions affect overall performance.

__ Limited size of solutions sets. We are encouraged to solveproblems in certain ways, rather than to explore unconventionalapproaches.

__ No role models. Most of the time, my supervisor(s) do not act orthink like creative people.

__ Narrow-minded peer acceptance. My work associates do not seemto be open to new or different ideas. __ Sanctions. People who spend too much time on creative thinking

are labeled as trouble-makers or are thought of as not serious or lazy. __ Fears. I dont like to contribute too many ideas, because if people

think youre a trouble-maker, it can cause problems in the long run. __ Personal narrow-mindedness. I guess Im fairly set in my ways.

My feeling tends to be if it isnt broken, dont fix it. __ Bipolar thinking. I generally prefer to look at two alternatives; I tend

to look at either/or solutions.


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__ Overconfidence. I tend to think that my approach is the right one, soI may not always examine other alternatives as well as I could.

__ Time pressures. There is so much pressure to finish one thing andget to the next that I rarely have time to take a more thoroughapproach to a problem.

__ Procedure constraints. I have some ideas about how to do thingsbetter, but I dont bring them up because they would violate our policies and procedures.

__ Red tape. There isnt much point in contributing creative ideas,because they will just get lost in the bureaucracy. __ Closed-minded leaders. My leaders (supervisors/managers) are not

very open to new ideas. They tend to react defensively. __ Group-process constraints. Id like to do more creative thinking, but

there isnt much opportunity for it in the way we run our meetings andprojects.

__ Conformance pressure. If you dont look and act the right way, youcan have problems in my workplace.

Interpretation Guide Personal Barriers

Add up the check marks to see the number of personal barriers you have right now.Less is more for this scale, as the fewer barriers you have, the more likely you are tobe successfully creative at work. If you checked 11 or more statements, then you canclassify yourself as facing a high level of barriers to creativity in your job. Any barrieris a potential problem, though, so the best scores are in the 0-4 range. The key is tobuild on existing enablers (yours and others) and to create ways to overcomethe barriers.


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LATENT

A potential source

and stimulator ofcreative thought.

CLOSED

Actively avoidscreativity.

CREATIVE

Active creative thinker who applies creativity

successfully.

DEVELOPMENTAL PATHSDEVELOPMENTAL PATHS

OPEN

Open to creative thoughtsbut not ready to initiate or leadcreativity.

B ARRI

ERS

0123456789

101112

1314151617181920

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

L

H

ENABLERSL H

PERSONAL CREATIVITY MATRIX


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BIG IDEAS!!!!

Here is your chance to try out your dandy new creativitytools! Honestly, we know it isnt quite that easy at first.Try to think of 3 BIG IDEAS that would create a positiveimpact or provide a solution (or at least plant the seed for one) to a problem either at work or in your life.

BIG IDEA #1:_______________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________IMPACT:__________________________________________

__________________________________________________BIG IDEA #2:_______________________________________

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

IMPACT:__________________________________________ __________________________________________________BIG IDEA #3:_______________________________________

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________IMPACT:__________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Finding Your Inner MacGyver

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