Release the creative genius: finding smarter solutions in troubled times

What also makes the scheme a success is that it takes the risk out of suggesting new ideas. “When it comes to creativity, fear can be an inhibitor,” says Clinton Lucy, principal consultant at Bath Consultancy Group, which advises companies on leadership and transformation. “Fear is also an inhibitor to high performance and, paradoxically, it’s some of the higher performers who are most anxious.”

Wishful Thinking’s McGuinness adds, “Fear of getting things wrong and being criticised for getting them wrong is one of the blocks on creativity.” He suggests not just looking for the ‘right answer’ to a problem, but also trying to find a second, third and fourth ‘right answer’. It encourages FDs to look at alternatives, he argues.

Away from the numbers
Even the most uptight FD could have a spark of creativity, argues Derek Cheshire, owner of Creative Business Solutions and a specialist in creativity and innovation. One problem is that FDs too often look at problems in numbers only. At his workshops, Cheshire gets managers to model their organisations in Play-Doh or Lego. “It gets them thinking more about how their organisations work and the different connections between people and resources,” he says.

Yet there is no one way to come up with creative ideas. At Motivcom, an Aim-listed marketing services group, employees will often brainstorm ideas, says FD Sue Hocken.

“Somebody’s idea might seem a bit kooky, but by discussing it, you can sometimes get a good solution,” she says.

This year, Hocken has been doing some creative thinking on keeping the company’s salary bill under control during the downturn. She’s starting a scheme, originally suggested by the sales department, which allows staff to ‘buy’ extra holiday in return for a reduction on their salary spread over the year. It’s early days, but it looks as though more than one in 10 staff may take up the offer.

There are many ways for FDs to get more creative, but Lucy notes that crea tivity often flows from people who question existing patterns and widen their view.

“You need to ask why something is done this way and whether there are other ways of doing it. Asking questions is a way of challenging things that have been done for a long time,” he says.

Create to innovate
1. Lateral thinking
A good starting point if you feel you need to open up your mind and think the unthinkable. Invented by psychologist Edward de Bono, who says it’s a way “to generate new ideas and escape from old ones,” it works by ‘discontinuous leaps’ and free associations in thinking to produce new ideas. Check out de Bono’s book, Lateral Thinking for Management.

2. Mind gym
Perhaps part of your problem is that you don’t recognise when and where you have your best ideas. Research by Roffey Park Management College found that inspiration comes from the interplay of three factors:
• An urgent business problem
• Personal experiences and insights
• A creative environment
Your good ideas could come when you’re playing golf or lounging in the bath. If so, get out the clubs or the loofah.

3. Brainstorming
Now you’ve loosened up your mind, you need to use it. Brainstorming is a way of generating new ideas. But it’s best done in short bursts when the mind is fresh. Read James Webb Young’s classic A Technique for Producing Ideas for Inspiration.

4. Reverse brainstorming
Can’t think of any good ideas? Then think of some bad ones instead. Psychologists say it’s easier to be negative than to be positive. Once you’ve got all the bad ideas, you can see if the opposite works as a positive idea.

5. Hot groups
Time to get your colleagues thinking creatively. Try a hot group – in which you assemble some hand-picked talent and ask them to come up with answers to a press ing problem against a tight deadline. Have a mix of personalities – a visionary one, a practical one, a technologist, a people-person – and let members spark off one another. Read Hot Groups by Jean Lipman-Blumen and Harold J Leavitt for more.

6. Deep diving
If the hot group finds the temperature rising, tell it to try some ‘deep diving’ – a combination of observing, brainstorming and prototyping. Tom Kelley tells you how to do it in The Art of Innovation.

7. The 15% solution
This was manufacturing giant 3M’s way of discovering new ideas – giving staff the opportunity to spend 15% of their time working on their own projects. The Post-it Note was one of the success stories.

8. People watching
“Innovation begins with the eye,” according to IDEO, the Californian design company that has become a master of using ‘people watching’. Looking at how people do things can provide plenty of ideas about how to improve products or services – or even internal processes. Those people you’re watching, after all, can be your own employees.

9. Scenario planning
Time to get heavy. A big commitment is needed to do this properly, but the spin-offs can be enormous. Scenario planning is a structured way of looking at how the future might pan out. Then you can make plans on the basis of the most likely scenario. Oil company Shell is the past master and Peter Schwartz explains why in The Art of the Long View.

10. Value innovation
A concept from business school Insead’s W Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. The idea is that companies should be looking for new ‘market space’ where competition doesn’t yet exist. The method: seek out ways to give customers quantum leaps in value. Their book Blue Ocean Strategy explains.