A new approach to creativity training
A 2010 IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the #1 leadership competency of the future. But most CEOs have no idea how to actually help their employees become more creative.
Over the last twenty years, corporations spent billions of dollars looking for ways to give their employees a creative boost. Yet, for all the money spent, most admit (and studies prove) that the training, books and speeches have done little to move the dial. Sadly, most employees accept that they are as creative as they will ever be. Many have given up.
The prevailing beliefs about creativity range from the optimistic (your creativity is there just waiting to be unleashed) to the pessimistic (some people have it and some people don’t). Neither are very useful, nor are those claiming to turn you into an idea-generating machine overnight.
Instead, we need to accept that creativity is a skill built like any other—by learning, then steadily applying, the right disciplines. While the romantic “unleashing” notion makes for fun presentations, nothing changes once you return to the office. Employees who’ve endured these are now hardened skeptics—tired of the wackiness and wanting for the truth.
Clearly, a new approach is needed.
How IDEA-LINKS is different
IDEA-LINKS challenges creativity’s conventional wisdom, replacing it with a new way of thinking that’s surprising and simple. In the process, it will reveal a hidden aspect of the creative process that will forever change how you think about creativity.
We’ve always known that highly creative people are curious. That’s not surprising. What IS surprising is what these creative thinkers do with their curiosity. They analyze. Yes, believe it or not, creative people are highly analytical, a process powered by their insatiable curiosity. And once you learn how they analyze and what they do with the results of their analysis, you will suddenly see creativity in a new way. At once, the mysterious world of creativity will make perfect sense.
You will learn how creative people employ their curiosity-fueled analytical abilities to create a mental storehouse of idea-links, the raw material of idea creation. Think of idea-links like you would sub-atomic idea particles that before now were invisible to all of us, yet have always been there, responsible for the seemingly random aha! moments once attributed to serendipity. Once you see creative moments at the idea-link level, they no longer seem so random. And once you understand how to create and apply idea-links yourself, you’ll finally see how anyone can become more creative.
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 
