by John Brooker | Mar 23, 2012 | Facilitate meetings, Innovate
YES! AND… Creative Gorilla # 83 Creative Tension is something you must use if you are to be more creative … “I believe that working together is about institutionalizing tension so we can make breakthroughs” Jim Farley, Chief Marketing Officer at Ford Motor Company Do you have creative tensions? When you think of Venice, do you imagine riding in a gondola, cruising the sun dappled canals, an operatic gondolier at the helm? Wake up. The gondolas are still there (for the tourists), but if you go, you’ll notice the locals use water buses and taxis, vaporetti and motoscafi, in the local parlance. Riding a vaporetto on holiday last year, I noticed how fast they sped along the canal and the wash they caused. This wash erodes the very buildings the Venetians are striving to preserve, leading to tension between the preservationists and the boat owners. I reflected that this is a good example of what I call “Creative Tension”. You may be aware that Dr Peter Senge, Senior Lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, describes Creative Tension in this way: “Creative Tension comes from seeing clearly where we want to be, our “vision,” and telling the truth about where we are, our “current reality.” The gap between the two generates a natural tension.” Personally I consider this to be Strategic Tension. Creative Tension to me is: “Differing views on how something should be achieved lead to creative tension between the different parties, resulting in a better outcome”. This last point is important. Without the better outcome, we simply have tension that leads to stalemate or one party imposing their...
