43 Become a Creative Leader …

 YES! AND… Creative Gorilla # 43 Creative people tend to have certain traits or characteristics. You can seek to emulate these… “This led me to reflect on the pictures (from a Camera Obscura). It was during these thoughts that the idea occurred to me…how charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably and remain fixed upon the paper! And why should it not be possible I asked myself?”  William Henry Fox Talbot (inventor of modern photography) Please click here for link. Can you develop the characteristics of a creative person?  This week we had a few days on a farm in Wiltshire and visited Lacock Abbey. My children were keen to see the cloisters where several Harry Potter scenes were filmed and I spent some time looking at the Fox-Talbot Museum of Photography. Fox-Talbot invented the positive / negative photographic system in 1840 at Lacock Abbey, his family home.  Here we have a wealthy Member of Parliament, an eminent mathematician, a translator of ancient texts with a keen interest in physics and other sciences. He had so many abilities but could not draw. Thus he found himself on honeymoon in 1835, on Lake Como in Italy, experimenting, as you do on honeymoon, using tracing paper with a portable Camera Obscura to draw pictures. [Please click here to understand the Camera Obscura]. This led to him recording the quotation above in his journal. His invention arose due to developments in two areas of science in which Fox Talbot was interested: Optics, which led to the portable Camera Obscura and Photochemistry, in which...

31 Commit for Synchronicity

YES! AND… Facilitate. Innovate. Transform – Creative Gorilla # 31   There are some forces in this world that we tap in to but do not fully understand.  One of these is “synchronicity”.  If we follow our calling, if we commit to something completely then synchronicity will occur, in unexpected ways, to help us succeed… “Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans. The moment one definitely commits oneself then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.” W.N. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition [Source: “Synchronicity” by Joseph Jaworski] Are you totally committed to something in your professional life? “I wish my flight were two hours later,” I mumbled to my wife when the alarm sounded at 5.30am last Sunday morning. That afternoon, PRECISELY 120 minutes later than scheduled, the tyres of my 747 amicably divorced the runway and I wondered if there is a mysterious force in the universe, yet to reveal its corporate brand. You might consider this force has nodding acquaintance with one that C.J. Jung called “synchronicity”. He defined it as “a meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.” In his quotation, Murray alludes to this force but calls it “providence”, a force unleashed by commitment. So So why...

26 Creative Gorilla Meditate to Innovate

YES! AND… Facilitate, Innovate, Transform By meditating you can make yourself more creative and innovative.   “I am very busy today; I must meditate for two hours instead of one.” Mahatma Gandhi Do you ever get days when you are frayed at the edges? Imagine the dodgem cars at a fairground. Cars are flying around in different directions; some hit each other head on, some sideways, some from the rear. They all bounce as they collide, narrowly missed by the crafty “bravehearts” cruising round the outside. I’m not sure the above descriptions make much sense in some countries but imagine the cars are the neurons in your brain on a hectic day. There is so much information assaulting your senses you can barely think, let alone be creative. Have you ever considered meditation? Lying in yet another hotel bed at four a.m. local time, my brain is a kaleidoscope of information, images running through my mind…if this were a TV script I’d probably say something like “cue dream sequence”… I see the embarrassment of going for a quick rest break and leaving my lapel microphone on for the delegates to hear…walking in to the ladies changing room in the swimming pool because I didn’t understand the Russian sign (making apologetic sign language as I backed out!)…the dull thud in my head of the two beers I had before bed… At times like this I find it helpful to meditate. I sat up, meditated for thirty minutes and slowly the dodgem cars began to form an orderly queue around the rink with “careful driver” awards for all. So It is...

18 Be Brave to Innovate

YES! AND… Facilitate. Innovate. Transform – Creative Gorilla # 18 You have to be a bit brave to innovate, but it is worth the risk…  “It’s a different kind of scary.”  Michael Neill World Class Coach Do you ever fail to put forward an idea because of the risk of rejection?  Next week (by the time you read this it will be over), I am piloting a new course, “Teeming with Llamas”, using llamas to help people understand team working. I have planned it, rehearsed it and invited along a group of friends that I know will provide honest and contructive feedback. Even so, I am nervous that it may go wrong. What has that to do with creative leadership? Simply, for innovation to happen it requires a number of factors, one of which is to be able to face risks. In the book, “How to Start a Creative Revolution at Work“, by Dave Allen et al, the authors call this “Bravery”. I hesitate to use that term in my case but, using the llamas for context, let’s take a look at what they call: “The five steps to creative bravery”. (I have adapted a few points for brevity). Step 1: Face your fear ~ go your own way and discuss your fears. One of my fears was that people would think using llamas to develop learning would be a ridiculous idea. Indeed, I did get a few wry grins from people I discussed it with. But I got sufficient positive feedback to give it a try. Step 2: Know your comfort zone. I knew that I would put...

9 Be Lucky, Be Creative

YES! AND… Facilitate, Innovate, Transform – Creative Gorilla# 9 How can you be lucky and creative? “If an unlucky man sold umbrellas, it would stop raining. If he sold candles, the sun would never set; and if he made coffins, people would stop dying.” Yiddish saying quoted in “The Luck Factor by Professor Richard Wiseman This week I am running a course in Togo. It’s a hot, humid place; livid with mosquitoes eating Brooker Thermidor and my hotel is listed by the Foreign Office as being in a dangerous area. So am I unlucky to be here? Well, I swim in an Olympic sized pool every morning, the food is good, my co – instructor left me a good bottle of wine and the trainees are warm and welcoming. I figure I’m pretty lucky to be here and with that attitude, Professor Wiseman in his book (click the link in the quotation above) says that I am likely to be a lucky person. Great, but what has that to do with creativity? The book outlines how you can make yourself lucky in a few simple steps. As I read the book I can’t help notice the similarities between the characteristics of creative people and the lucky people described in the book. Take his Principle One (and sub principles): “Maximise your chance opportunities…lucky people create notice and act upon the chance opportunities in their life. They network well, have a relaxed attitude and are open to new experiences”. Substitute “creative” for “lucky” and you could read that in any book on creativity. Likewise Principle Two: “Listen to your lucky hunches… lucky...