I am continually amazed at how shortsighted some leaders are. Let me tell you what I mean.
Last week, the CEO of an organization hired me to be the keynote address at their annual conference in October. The theme of the keynote is Producing under pressure. After agreeing on the details of the conference program, I asked, “What do you have on the agenda to help your team think more creatively?” (I have a great hands-on session on this topic that I thought might be a good fit.)
“Oh, we don’t need any of that creativity,” he said. “We’re not really in a creative business. Also, I don’t want my clown-nosed people to work and sit in armchairs.”
Wow.
This CEO, a very successful man, equates “creative thinking” with “using clown noses to work.” That’s sad. But what is even sadder is that this is not an uncommon reaction. Many leaders view “creative thinking” as another throwaway “soft skill.”
This, despite the fact that:
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The Tesla Model S was the result of “creative thinking”
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The Hershey Almond Bar was the result of “creative thinking”
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Double entry bookkeeping was the result of “creative thinking”
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The iPhone was the result of “creative thinking”
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Agriculture (and its by-product, civilization) was the result of “creative thinking.”
I’m pretty sure that neither Elon Musk, Milton Hershey, Amatino Manucci, Steve Jobs, or Thog Thogson wore clown noses (although Musk and Jobs may have sat on bean bag chairs). (Also, while I can’t prove that the guy who invented agriculture was named Thog Thogson, you can’t prove that he, or she, wasn’t.)
The simple fact is that everything that has made a profit for any company in history has been the result of creative thinking.
Soft skill? I think creative thinking is the main skill!
And when there is pressure, when there are serious consequences at stake, you want people around you who can think creatively. Why?
Because things don’t always go well. You’ve heard the adage about “best laid plans”, right?
When things are not going well, especially when the outcome is important, you want, no, you need options. And, like the iPhone and the Hershey bar, options are the result of “creative thinking.”
But listen, don’t take my word for it. Rent a copy of Apollo 13 and watch the scene where Houston engineers had to improvise a carbon dioxide scrubber interface to keep stranded astronauts alive. The success of that mission (sorry, spoiler alert!) Is what happens when pressure and creativity intersect.
There is no industry, organization, or team on earth (or in space) that cannot benefit from creativity.
And there is no leader on earth (or in space) who shouldn’t care about creativity.