Imagine a creative space.
What is in it? Maybe it’s a studio or shed full of tools. Maybe a library. Who would you like to share it with?
Now consider your workspace. How might it change to enable creativity?
"Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation”. - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity: Flow and The Psychology of Discovery and Invention
We can create the right conditions for creativity to flourish. This can be in everyday work (‘living creatively’) or on a project with a specific goal.
Some key requirements for creativity to be productive (to achieve an intended goal) are:
- A problem worth solving.
- The right people addressing the problem, supported by a creative and intellectual community.
- Process design that is fit-for-purpose.
- A commitment from stakeholders to the process and the outcome. A ‘licence to experiment’.
- Sufficient resources.
- The space to create (dedicated time for incubation of ideas and a physical and/or virtual environment)
So, we need to establish the people, space and process to be creative and productive, while fostering trust and support.
That is, establish the Creative Conditions, our second Creativity PlaySpace. Follow these steps.
1. Purpose and business case.
- Ask ‘Why are we doing this?’ Map the challenges, opportunities.
- Define purpose related to company purpose and brand, and alignment to strategy.
- Develop a vision for project success with key internal and external stakeholders.
- Define the blockers and risks, and how you will mitigate them.
- Establish a clear business case aligned to the organisation's financial, social and/or environmental goals.
- Establish an agile philosophy and framework: you will meet obstacles, so define a process for addressing them as they arise.
2. Problem finding and definition.
- Undertake a multidimensional context scan to determine the social, physical and psychological settings for your work.
- Begin problem finding: Within the context, define information sources, discovery limits, challenge points.
- Define the problem: Go deep on the problem, establishing a hierarchy of aligned or linked problems to solve, and establish a logic for solving them.
3. Project design.
- Define resource and time constraints.
- Define project requirements.
- Establish output (evidencing) milestones.
- Scope the initiative based on a foundational creative process.
- Set a budget that relates to ambition (include a contingency).
- Define the evaluation metrics and milestones, making them relevant and timely so stakeholders go the distance with you.
4. People.
- Select the 'right’ people. Go beyond obvious disciplinary expertise and 'talent'. Consider lived experience, sector knowledge, and political savvy.
- Embed the practice of Creative Mindset into the culture, rhythm and protocols of the team.
- Consider the creative and intellectual community that exists and can be formalised around the project team. For example, and expert or lived experience community of practice.
5. Space to create.
- Physical. Consider the project goals and prepare a space (or spaces) conducive to experimentation, quiet thinking and/or engagement with others. This includes your personal spaces as well as those in a workplace.
- Virtual. Nowadays a lot of collaboration happens online. Invest in acquiring enabling technology, building virtual environments, adapting proven tools, and facilitation techniques. Think about the nature and efficiency of outputs and artefacts from the outset.
- Social. Relationships are fundamental to all human endeavour. Consider the identity and culture of your project team, establish productive communication channels, and nurture relationships through and outside the work.
- Temporal. It is impossible to predict exactly how much time is required to run a creative process to achieve a desired ouitcome. But time is a vital resource. Time as a focus for process design, and time for different project cadences - from reflection to sprint.
Visit the first Creativity PlaySpace, Creative Mindset.
Visit the third Creativity PlaySpace, Creative Design.
