There is always the need for creative thinking..

As a CEO it is essential that the innovative ideas and creative ability of the talent within your business is harnessed. Much like the disappointment when one goes to a favourite café or restaurant and the coffee, the service, whatever you like the place for, is no longer as it was. Or is it? Is it perhaps just that you’ve been to the same place for so long, doing the same things and it’s time for a change. To move on.

Of ten I think the same can be said for meetings, essential to business, essential to the forward propulsion of a company, and essential for new ideas. Meetings are wonderful tools for generating ideas, expanding on thoughts and managing group activity. But this face-to-face contact with team members and colleagues can easily fail without adequate preparation and leadership.

Business challenges require lateral and creative thought to make sense of, or impact on a situation and therefore really facilitate a change. Sadly, many meetings all to often are ‘flat’ and a bit ‘same old, same old’? Or worse, there is a danger that there are so many meetings and therefore no time for actions.

So, to ensure that you get the most out your meetings;

Do you regularly ask the following questions;

X Is the agenda always formatted in the same way?
X Do people invariably take the same seat?
X Who chairs the meeting?
X Is it relevant ? Is it currently relevant?

X Are the right people attending? Stop for a minute to consider the hourly cost to your company of the people attending your meeting. You'll realise that calling a meeting is expensive, so it's important to ensure that every person attending and every minute of your meeting adds value.
X Are you inviting people who won't participate but will simply report back to you or their team (sending a copy of the minutes will be a more effective way of achieving this).
X Are you using meetings to tell people things that could be communicated just as effectively by email or memo.
X Is anything different going to happen? i.e. 10 minutes for ideas, start by asking a question?
X Are there one or two people there with different responsibilities that will challenge and ask questions?

X Finally, embracing creative thinking, allowing ourselves to think of many, many different possible solutions to a situation and therefore not
impoverish our ability to find a solution or idea is the way forward.


And remember;

X Challenge is never a criticism……..
X Set out to be provocative to encourage creative thought……….
X Treat all possibilities seriously ……..

Companies such as Gore, Apple and Saatchi are well-known for embracing creative thinking and it is in these companies where brilliance and success happens……….often.

As the great creative thinker himself said;

‘There is always the need for creative thinking – it is essential and not a luxury’ ,
Edward de Bono


Until next week..


Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at X fusion; www.the-x-fusion.co.uk