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International expert in Innovation, Business Creativity and Creative Leadership
Derek Cheshire is an international expert in the application of Creativity and Innovation to business and the management of continuous Innovation at local, regional and
national levels. He actively encourages and promotes the use of creative techniques in everyday business processes. His ideas are welcomed from Latin America and Africa to the
Far East. His work encompasses consultancy, idea generation and facilitating continuous innovation as well as facilitating and chairing conference events and on stage
interviewing. Derek is an expert who speaks, not a speaker who tries to become an expert.
If you are contemplating embracing creativity and innovation, want to know more about it, are wondering what its impact may be or are just plain curious then Derek is the speaker for you. Derek spent a number of years working in the Software and Telecommunications industries, asking awkward questions and being told ‘that’s the way we have always done things around here’. Not satisfied with the answers, he set about ‘changing the way things are done around here’ and freeing others from similar situations.
Derek is a member of the mastermind group for the Design Interaction course at the Royal College of Art and Design in The Hague. Find out what others have said about Derek or take a look at possible speaking topics for your event.
What others say
"We have had a terrific response from our delegates. You are clearly an expert in your field and surprised everyone with your revelations on the night. We look forward to working with you again" Director, events company
"Thank you for running your Team Awareness workshop for our SEN Section. The feedback we have received has been fantastic. You clearly are an expert in your field and we would not hesitate to recommend this approach to others within the public sector. It really made us think" Local Education Authority
"Thank you for your fascinating presentation to the Swindon ecademy last week. The feedback we have received has been fantastic. Here is some of it……
Special thanks to Derek Cheshire for what was a really interesting talk. He really made me think
It was a good night had by all, I particularly enjoyed the presentation by Derek, Creating the difference – putting the bomb under British Business
I don’t think I have ever seen our members ask so many questions in a Q & A’s session. You obviously got them thinking and made me want to run my business like a well known terrorist organisation. Well done….I think! " Networking events organiser
Derek on GuruView.tv
Speaking topics
Creativity and Innovation are two linked and potentially huge topics. All the titles listed below act as windows onto this vast subject area. In fact any of the subjects listed on my blog or in my newsletters can be adapted for keynote, seminar or workshops.
Innovation – wrestling with Jelly For those people who have yet to get to grips with using Creativity and Innovation to gain greater success in business here are a few things worth thinking about. For those of you that have, then you should look at these issues and feel proud that you have overcome them!
"Few great men would have got past personnel." Paul Goodman
How true! Whether you think about one off characters such as Richard Branson and James Dyson or gangs of people that work for Google or Apple it is highly unlikely that your recruitment procedures would result in you recruiting these people.
"Since we live in age of innovation, a practical education must prepare a man for work that does not yet exist and cannot yet be clearly defined." Peter Drucker
Yet another issue to grapple with. We can have a stab at what the future holds (futures is a brilliant use for alternative thinking) but even without this, we do know the sorts of skills that our workers must have and the types of behaviours that they should exhibit.
"The leaders say: "Let's be more innovative." The staff says: "Bravo. When do we start?" The mid-level managers say: "Wait a minute, let's think about that. What about... and ...? Have you REALLY thought it through? Does this mean I have to change?"" Claude Legrand
This is where you will find either the greatest resistance or the greatest assistance. Sometimes layers of middle management are inserted for no good reason. They are dead wood and must be removed, but they can occupy a very important position too.
"People buy more diet books than all other books, yet people are fatter than ever. Why? Most diets do not address the psychological reasons (mindset) for eating. The same holds true for innovation." Stephen Shapiro
True again. Why do you or your business actually wish to innovate? Is it because it is the latest craze down at the Chamber of Commerce or are there good reasons for it such as flexibility sustainability, improved motivation etc. Are your aspirations as a management team aligned with those of your employees (and perhaps middle managers)?
Futures – predicting what is coming your way Creating a plan for the future based on the present or the past is clearly inaccurate and risky. To create a strategy for the future we need a view of what the future actually looks like. Many people profess to do this already but what is it exactly that they are doing? From existing management information you might be able to predict the amount of resources required as well as some of the features of your competitive environment. How far in the future can you do this without resorting to sticking a wetted finger into the air? The answer is probably less than 12 months in the current economic climate.
As a Business Leader or Influencer you will not be atisfied with this. What if you really could predict what lay ahead up to 25 or even 30 years ahead? What if you could base your plans on this vision of the future and not on an extrapolation of the present? Traditional scenario planning often uses a selection of ‘What If?’ statements and incremental factors but it has one major flaw – it assumes that the future is broadly similar to the present. With major financial crises, wars and terrorist acts, any business using such forecasting methods even 10 years ago will have experienced difficulties recently. Learn how to prepare for these disaster scenarios in the future and gain a head start on the competition.
The Creativity detox diet Derek's view of an organisation that exhibits creative or innovative behaviour is organic and focuses on people. It therefore seems a good idea to use metaphors that relate to the wellbeing and performance of people themselves. So what does make us feel good or energised and what is not so good? How about a detox by way of a change in diet (as opposed to some of the unpleasant practices that exist at health spas)?
As human beings we tend to feel sluggish when we have drunk too much alcohol or coffee or not enough water. We are told to eat foods high in fibre and cut out refined sugars and saturated fats. Lastly we can all eat less. How does this relate to our organisations? Audiences can take this metaphor as far as they like, as with most things it is simply another way of looking at our organisations to find new and different solutions to our problems.
Only we can … I notice that a number of people play this game in their workshops but here is Derek's version. It can be used in a number of different ways and can also be used solo or in groups. If you are having issues with a current product or service then you might try to produce statements such as "Only we can deliver product xx within 24 hours". This should not be too difficult, especially if you are already having some success but if you cannot find statements of the above type that describe why your products and/or services are unique then you are probably flogging a dead horse and should consider cutting your losses. It is then time to use this technique in a different way. You might have already created some new ideas which are still in your head or are just scribbles on a piece of paper. Try the same exercise but using knowledge of your capabilities and resources create statements of the form 'Only we could ...'. This might require some knowledge of your competitors as well so some digging will be required. Once again, if your product or service ideas fail this simple test then perhaps they are not worth pursuing. All is not lost though. One final exercise is 'If only .... then we could ...' so you might generate statements of the form "If only we had a new machine we could produce xx at a cost of less than £5".
So you can work out your unique advantage assuming that you can meet the conditions of your 'If only ...' statement. This is a little easier and can usually be carried out with the aid of a calculator. If you are a larger business then you might wish to involve employees from all areas and at all levels in this exercise. Be realistic though, 'If only we had infinite resources, we could do anything' is not an option.
Entering the Age of Unreason If you have not read Charles Handy's book 'The Age of Unreason' then I heavily recommend it. In a nutshell it turns things upside down and tries to change our perspective on situations. One situation that Handy writes about is the issue of Consultants in our National Health Service. As most people realise, these are the most skilled and highly paid professionals. They often like to have time away from work, sometimes on holiday, sometimes playing golf and sometimes in lucrative private practice. Problems arise with their ever rising salaries. Handy's solution is to keep paying them the same salary but allow them to work less time for the NHS. Their hourly or daily rate thus rises but the cost to the taxpayer does not. This leaves our consultants free to play golf (not earning any further money) or work in private practice and earn even more money.
Now this solution may not be ideal but it is a possible solution and it comes about by turning the situation upside down i.e. by not sticking to reason, hence the idea of Unreason. In the current world economic situation many rules have been discarded and hence reason has gone or been suspended. There is a new world order (possibly devoid of bankers) where new rules apply, or possibly where no rules apply. The situation is ripe for people with a fertile imagination and brimming with confidence to make an impact. This course of action builds upon our banana observations and tries to examine the boundaries of a problem. Next time you get stuck, try asking 'why do we have to do it this way?' or 'can we try doing it this way?' and see what happens. Derek will leave you with a number of ways to apply 'Unreason' to your own situation. You'll be surprised at what can be achieved.
Creative Leadership for Tough Times Surely we just need good strong Leadership in tough times not 'airy fairy' Creative Leadership? If you share this view then I think we have our wires crossed already. Let me explain. In the current economic climate we do need strong (or should I say bold) Leaders but traditional Leaders (and I include those who are up to date with such concepts as transformational and situational leadership here) often have a Leadership toolbox that is comprehensive but perhaps identical to those carried around by other Leaders.
So if we all have the same tools and we all operate in the same marketplace then we still have a stalemate. And now for the Creativity bit. I am not suggesting that our bold Leaders walk around with an armful of creative techniques and nothing else, just that they should supplement their Leadership toolbox with a selection of techniques that provide alternative ways of analysing and solving problems, decision making, planning and communicating. Leaders then have a larger repertoire of business tools at their disposal from which they can select the most appropriate and most effective. But why are Creative techniques particularly good for the tough economic climate that we are now faced with? Derek will enlighten audiences and show how Leaders can simply add Creativity to their repertoire of management tools and become more effective as a result.
... and there's more ...
- Managing The Innnovation Equation
- Challenging Assumptions
- Enhancing Creativity – 10 phrases to avoid
- Can Creativity flourish in your working environment?
- Outcome Driven Innovation – problem or not?
- Removing blocks to Creativity
- Building vs Implementing
- The Need for Soft Infrastructure
- Transferring Innovation Know How
- Why does my organisation need Creativity?