You come up with good ideas at work and take them to the boss. Do you here any of these phrases in reply? Even worse, do you use these phrases when talking to your colleagues? They tend to kill ideas and have a nasty effect on organisational culture too. yes but… we have no time for that can’t be done let’s be realistic that’s not logical we need more research not my responsibility that is a MAJOR change the market is not ready yet we will consider the option that’s in our future plans since when are you the expert
Entropreneurship – Leadership for Today
Entropreneurship is a term that I have invented to describe the qualities and behaviours required for the type of leader that all organisations need NOW. This is why I strongly believe that in calling it Leadership for TODAY not tomorrow. Who wants to wait for something that is going to improve the fortunes of their organisation? So what are we talking about? Borrowing Entropy from the second law of thermodynamics we have the concept of chaos or randomness which always increases. I am not suggesting that we make our organisations become ever more chaotic. I would like to give you
Luck Or Serendipity – What Is The Difference?
In a nutshell, serendipity is Luck Plus. Some people say that you can make your own luck, you can’t. What you can do is increase the potential of Serendipity. Here is a good example which I frequently use. A simple but powerful example of the power of the serendipity comes from Japan Railways. During the construction of a tunnel through Mt. Tanigawa, engineers encountered many problems with water. Just as they began to design a traditional draining solution enter an enterprising railway worker. He thought that the water tasted so good it ought to be bottled and sold as a
Learning To Manage Creativity
Embracing Creativity or running a creative thinking session is not unlike running a theatrical performance – it needs both stage management and direction. Such activities can of course vary widely in scale. You may be working on your own; you may be chatting informally with one or two others; you may be running a classic small-group brainstorming session or even working with large groups. In all cases you must pay attention to the following components. People – the ‘cast’ of the drama If you have the luxury of choosing people to work with then this may present a dilemma. On
New Year’s Resolution – Set Out To Break Mindsets
Most, if not all of us have either a fixed way of doing things or a fixed way of thinking about things. These fixed patterns are known as mindsets and they can severely limit our actions in both business and private life. Imagine that you take the same route each day when you walk to your place of work. Each day you buy the same newspaper and the same sandwich for lunch. Over time you begin to get a little fed up with your choice of sandwich and the newspaper does not seem to engage you as it once did. If
Creativity and ADHD – is there a link?
Is it possible that the impulsiveness and quick-thinking that accompanies ADHD may also enhance creativity? Given that many people who are diagnosed with this condition, what role could medication have in the creative process? Does stimulant medication hamper creativity, or boost it? The ADHD brain may not be held back as much by constraints on thinking. In a study conducted in 2006 (Abraham et al.), adolescents with varying disorders (including ADHD) along with a control group, were individually assessed. The ADHD group was found to have a higher rate of being able to overcome constraining examples, what we call “thinking outside the box”, but had difficulty
TIP: Working With Others
When working with others it is useful to work with as wide a variety of individuals as possible. You may not value the knowledge held by these people but it is not their knowledge that we wish to tap into – it is their thinking. Think of this exercise as harnessing the computing power of a number of networked laptops rather than simply examining the contents of their hard drives. Remember, the views of non-experts should be as welcome as those of experts.
Don’t Take Things Literally
As I wander around on a daily basis I find myself taking note of signs and posters and interpreting them in ways that the original author had never intended. For me it is a humorous exercise but try it on your own scribblings and see if your communications are up to scratch. Seen outside a pub – Good Food Served Here. Well would you actually deliberately sell bad food? Why not use the space for a meaningful marketing message? Seen near a school – Slow Children Crossing. Am I to drive slowly because I am near children or am I being warned
