What kills creativity more than anything else is non-creative people being responsible for the development of a creative individual. Creativity more than anything else is in the mind. We need to ask ourselves: are we creative enough to recognize and reward creativity. A cute story…

Once a child was taking the Minnesota Test for Creative Thinking developed by Dr. E. Paul Torrance. The child was working on the Circles and Squares Task. She had 42 circles to fill in with sketches of things and was making slow progress. When the teacher announced that there was only one minute left the child quickly drew a man at the bottom of her page of circles and added lines from his hand to each of the circles to show a balloon man.

How would you evaluate this imaginative solution compared to the solutions of other kids who sketched 42 different things? What she may have lacked in fluency (numbers of ideas) she made up in originality (unusual and unexpected solutions). Creativity can manifest in more than one way.

Creativity by definition is unconventional. We need to accept that and we need to ask ourselves…often the creative solution that is presented to us does not come out the way we envisaged but do we have the courage to reward “creativity” in any case. Read on….

This is a true story. Once a student took “Psychology of Personality” at Boston University. She had read all but two chapters among the required books. The final exam consisted of just one essay question: Apply the principles of analysis to a specified character in a chapter I had not read!

Realizing she might flunk this class, the student tried to salvage what she could. She wrote a note to Professor Smith (his real name) at the top of her answer sheet, admitting the truth and asking for some credit for whatever knowledge she could demonstrate. And expressed hope that he might enjoy her writings— regardless of my grade.

Since she knew the principles of analysis she applied them to someone familiar to all of us: Benjamin Franklin. With little to lose and an hour to kill, she wrote a humorous essay using Ben Franklin’s proverbs to prove her points. While her classmates struggled and sweated, she giggled her way through the final. “A penny saved is a penny earned” shows an anal retentive personality and “Fish and visitors stink after three days” describes an OCD personality with a possible fish phobia. She explained how it all works.

A few days later she was astounded to see an A+ on my exam, along with a note from the professor: “The highest goal of psychology studies is to help people cope with life. You deserve an A+.”

It’s hard to accurately define creativity. It has so many shapes, sizes and forms. The story given below is a great example of quickness and agility of mind. This is a manifestation of creativity.

There is the story of William Pitt, 1759-1806, British statesman and Prime Minister from 1783-1801, who once sought to expedite a crucial agreement in Parliament for the movement of the British fleet to defend against the French. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Newcastle, had certain objections, but when Pitt called on the Chancellor endeavouring to resolve the differences, he found the Chancellor distinctly unhappy in bed suffering with gout.

The bedroom was freezing, and when Pitt remarked on this, Lord Newcastle replied that the cold weather would hinder the fleet movement, but more particularly that the combination of the cold conditions and the gout would prevent any further discussion of the issue at that time, which Pitt quickly judged to be at the root of the problem.

Begging the Chancellor’s pardon, Pitt calmly removed his boots, climbed into bed and drew up the covers (apparently there was another bed in the room), whereupon the two were able to discuss the matter and soon agreed a united way forward.

For all those of us who manage teams: creative or otherwise, it’s extremely important to ALWAYS remember that criticism encourages the “creative” portion of the brain to shut down and go into a “defensive” mode. If you are criticizing anyone, beware of the consequences.

Years ago there was a group of brilliant young men at the University of Wisconsin, who seemed to have amazing creative literary talent. They were would-be poets, novelists, and essayists. They were extraordinary in their ability to put the English language to its best use. These promising young men met regularly to read and critique each other’s work. And critique it they did!

These men were merciless with one another. They dissected the most minute literary expression into a hundred pieces. They were heartless, tough, even mean in their criticism. The sessions became such arenas of literary criticism that the members of this exclusive club called themselves the “Stranglers.”

Not to be outdone, the women of literary talent in the university were determined to start a club of their own, one comparable to the Stranglers. They called themselves the “Wranglers.” They, too, read their works to one another. But there was one great difference. The criticism was much softer, more positive, more encouraging. Sometimes, there was almost no criticism at all. Every effort, even the most feeble one, was encouraged.

Twenty years later an alumnus of the university was doing an exhaustive study of his classmates’ careers when he noticed a vast difference in the literary accomplishments of the Stranglers as opposed to the Wranglers. Of all the bright young men in the Stranglers, not one had made a significant literary accomplishment of any kind. From the Wranglers had come six or more successful writers, some of national renown such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who wrote The Yearling.

Talent between the two? Probably the same. Level of education? Not much difference. But the Stranglers strangled, while the Wranglers were determined to give each other a lift. The Stranglers promoted an atmosphere of contention and self doubt. The Wranglers highlighted the best, not the worst.

If you look at the history of most brilliant inventions or inventors, there is a common thread…there is an obsession about the work that is being done. You can only create if you are “driven” by the desire to create and not by the kudos those inventions will bring.

The Brooklyn Bridge that spans the river tying Manhattan Island to Brooklyn is truly a miracle bridge. In 1863, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea for this spectacular bridge. However, bridge-building experts throughout the world told him to forget it; it could not be done.

Roebling convinced his son, Washington, who was a young upand coming engineer, that the bridge could be built. The two of them developed the concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With unharnessed excitement and inspiration, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project was only a few months under construction when a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling and severely injured his son, Washington. Washington was left with permanent brain damage and was unable to talk or walk. Everyone felt that the project would have to be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built.

Even though Washington was unable to move or talk, his mind was as sharp as ever, and he still had a burning desire to complete the bridge. An idea hit him as he lay in his hospital bed, and he developed a code for communication. All he could move was one finger, so he touched the arm of his wife with that finger, tapping out the code to communicate to her what to tell the engineers who were building the bridge. For thirteen years, Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger until the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge was finally completed.

Often the people who do well in life are not those who graduated at the top of their class at school. It’s often those people that spot an opportunity in adversity and capitalize on it where other people only see the adversity.

My friend’s neighbor, Carla, found herself stranded one day without a car and without enough money for a taxi home. But she did have an idea, thanks to “flexible thinking.” Carla noticed a nearby pizza place, walked in, and ordered a pizza for delivery to her home. She waited for the delivery guy to get into his car with her pizza and hitched a ride. She was home in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed, while the pizza was still hot.

Creativity isn’t always about producing things. Sometimes people use their creativity to respond to unexpected challenges in everyday life.

Everyone likes a creative team member, whether it is the research team or the operations team. The question we need to ask ourselves is what are we doing to encourage this creative streak in team members. Unstructured time to pursue an idea is a risk…but the surest way to encourage a creative mind set.

The 3M Company encourages creativity from its employees. The company allows its researchers to spend 15 percent of their time on any project that interests them. This attitude has brought fantastic benefits not only to the employees but to the 3M Company itself. Many a times, a spark of an idea turned into a successful product has boosted 3M’s profits tremendously.

Some years ago, a scientist in 3M’s commercial office took advantage of this 15 percent creative time. This scientist, Art Fry, came up with an idea for one of 3M’s best-selling products. It seems that Art Fry dealt with a small irritation every Sunday as he sang in the church choir. After marking his pages in the hymnal with small bits of paper, the small pieces would invariably fall out all over the floor.

Suddenly, an idea struck Fry. He remembered an adhesive developed by a colleague that everyone thought was a failure because it did not stick very well. “I coated the adhesive on a paper sample,” Fry recalls, “and I found that it was not only a good bookmark, but it was great for writing notes. It will stay in place as long as you want it to, and then you can remove it without damage.”

Yes, Art Fry hit the jackpot. The resulting product was called Post-it and has become one of 3M’s most successful office products.

To my mind the single most important quality that inspires creativity is an open mind. Serendipity comes everyone’s way, but how many of us are able to harness the good fortune that has come our way? Are we able to see the potential in the event or do we just look at it as another event and let it pass by?

In 1879, Procter and Gamble’s best seller was candles. But the company was in trouble. Thomas Edison had invented the light bulb, and it looked as if candles would become obsolete. Their fears became reality when the market for candles plummeted since they were now sold only for-special occasions.

The outlook appeared to be bleak for Procter and Gamble. However, at this time, it seemed that destiny played a dramatic part in pulling the struggling company from the clutches of bankruptcy. A forgetful employee at a small factory in Cincinnati forgot to turn off his machine when he went to lunch. The result? A frothing mass of lather filled with air bubbles. He almost threw the stuff away but instead decided to make it into soap. The soap floated. Thus, Ivory soap was born and became the mainstay of the Procter and Gamble Company.

Why was soap that floats such a hot item at that time? In Cincinnati, during that period, some people bathed in the Ohio River. Floating soap would never sink and consequently never got lost. So, Ivory soap became a best seller in Ohio and eventually across the country also.

Like Procter and Gamble, never give up when things go wrong or when seemingly insurmountable problems arise. Creativity put to work can change a problem and turn it into a gold mine.

Often we turn to the most brilliant minds and expensive tools to find solutions for problems at our workplace. Are we too focused in finding complex answers, when the solution might really be more commonplace? This story highlights how an ordinary worker found the simplest and the most inexpensive solution to a big problem being faced by his organization. Read on.

A Japanese soap factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the soap inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Customers who come all the way to the supermarket would end up buying someone else’s product.

Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the soap factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.

The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using some high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a soap box weighing less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done.

A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” – he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report. It turns out the number of defects picked up by the new high precision scales was “zero” after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the high precision scales were installed. A few feet before it, there was a $ 20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes out of the belt and into a bin.

“Oh, that — one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang”, says one of the workers.

Moral of the Story: Everyone has a “solution” sometimes requiring an expenditure of “8 million bucks”. It requires an engineer with a high spirit of innovation and ingenuity to come up with a ”$20 – simple cost-effective solution”!

This story expands on a similar theme making us think if it’s really one of the toughest things to do…but if we can do it, it would make everyone’s life easier…starting with our own.

A carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farm house has just finished a rough day on the job. A flat tyre made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit and now his ancient truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family.

As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me so I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

‘Oh, that’s my trouble tree,’ he replied. ‘I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don’t belong at home with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.’

‘Funny thing is,’ he smiled, ‘when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.’

Negativity is the biggest burden. Just by virtue of the fact that we are on this planet, we will go through our share of trials and tribulations. The question to ask is not, “How can I change my circumstances” but how can I change my attitude towards those circumstances. If your attitude is positive, circumstances WILL change accordingly.

Our uncle was a geologist and loved to go on long walks to find stones to his collection at the university. More often than not we followed him. He had a housekeeper who could cook like an angel and always gave uncle a big basket full of good food for those trips. We didn´t mind sharing the goodies so we eagerly waited for those excursions.

One day we left early and this time uncle had bought us backpacks.”You can help me carry the samples,” he explained. Sure, why not. The whole day we then walked around the countryside and every now and again uncle put stones in our bags. We were a bit surprised he also took some stones out from our bags at times, but figured he had just found better samples than the ones we already had.

Still, when we reached the house in late afternoon, we were beat. The backpacks were so heavy we gave a big sigh of relief when we thumped them on the porch. Yet uncle´s backpack was half empty.”Why did you give us so many stones?” we asked. “I didn´t. You did,” he said cryptically.

He waited for a while before continuing:”You did not know it, but I made you go through a little attitude test today.” “What do you mean with attitude test? We wanted to know. “It is something someone once did to me – and I shall always remember it. You see I listened to every word you said. And whenever you were complaining about anyone or anything, I added a stone to your bags. And whenever you talked about something in an attitude of gratitude and positive thinking, I took off a stone. And now look at your backpacks.”

We did. They were almost bursting at their seams.”I hope you remember this little attitude test. You see your negative thoughts are like stones. You carry them on in your mind just like those stones in a backpack. The more negative thoughts, the heavier your mind is. A positive thought, however, cancels a negative one. So look at those bags and start paying attention to what you say and how you say it.”

This little lesson was one of the most important I ever had and I remember uncle with great love for teaching us one of the most important lessons in life – the power of attitude.

What are you surrounded by? Take a look around you and observe the kind of people you are surrounded by. It is a reflection of your personality. If you don’t like what you see…you know where to look first to start making a change. A wise person once told me… “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you what kind of a person you are”.

There is a story about a father and his young son who were walking through the mountains. Suddenly, the son fell, hurting his leg on a rock. He screamed, ‘AAhhhh!’

To his surprise, he heard a voice repeating, ‘AAhhhh!’

This made him even more curious. So, he yelled, ‘Who are you?’ Back came the same answer, ‘Who are you?’

Feeling a bit perturbed by this response, he yelled out, ‘Coward!’ Back came the same reply, ‘Coward!’

He looked at his father and asked: ‘What’s going on?’

His father smiled and said: ‘Son, pay attention.’

Looking across the valley, his father yelled to the mountain, ‘I admire you!’ The voice answered: ‘I admire you!’

Again the man cried out: ‘You are a champion!’ The voice replied, ‘You are a champion!’

The boy was amazed, but he was very confused. So, his father explained…

‘You are only hearing an echo, the sound of our voices bouncing back from the mountains. However, this really is how life works. It returns to you what you think, say, and do!

Our lives are a reflection of our thoughts and actions. If you want more love in your world, create more love in your heart. If you want to be treated with kindness, treat others with kindness. If you want more competence on your team, become more competent.

This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life. Life will give to you, everything you give to it, only it will give you even more in return. Your life is not ever a coincidence. Each moment is a reflection of you!’

The son listened and grew in understanding, and through the following years, he witnessed the truth of these words in his life!

It’s not just animals that can be conditioned to behave in accordance with what human’s desire. Conditioning starts from infancy. Parents at home and mentors at the workplace (especially for team members that are new to the work place), your role is critical. You can condition and mould in whichever direction you choose.

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime can break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them.

As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Take some time off…time to reflect periodically. Who and what is responsible for the drag on your potential? The sad part is that most of us are too busy working towards succeeding to really take the time out to analyze who is responsible for stopping us from reaching success.

One day all the employees of a very unusual company reached their office and all saw a big sign on the main door which said this . . .

‘Yesterday, the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym.’

In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that person who hindered the growth of their colleagues and the company itself?

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up.

Everyone thought – ‘Who is this person who was hindering my progress?’

One by one the intrigued employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it, they suddenly became speechless.

They all got to stand near the coffin, and all ended up shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see themselves! There was also a sign next to the mirror that said. . .

‘There is only one person who is capable of setting limits to your growth and IT IS YOU!’

Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your husband or wife changes, when your company changes, when your church changes, when your location changes, when your money changes, when your status changes . . .

No, your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs.

Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don’t be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses. Be a winner, build yourself and your reality. It’s the way you face life itself that makes the difference.

Do we really regard our work as our own? Or is it for the company or the manager or sometimes even our family. If the work is really yours…you can’t help but do your best….A story about working with the right attitude.

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer/contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.”

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.”

Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

It’s a good idea to surround yourself with people and ideas that look at the brighter side. If you look around you, it’s easy to identify the people that “lift you up” and those that are “doomsdayers”…

I woke up early today, excited over all I get to do before the clock strikes midnight. I have responsibilities to fulfill today and I am important. My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don’t have more money or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn’t give me when I was growing up or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework or I can appreciate that I have a place to call home.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped. And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me. I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Even though we talk endlessly about the importance of “attitude”, we hire based on skills and not attitude. The effects of this range from difficult circumstances for team members to disastrous consequences for the company. Looking at the contours of the CV as well as using tools to “discover” what’s beneath the surface is an investment, well worth the effort. A story that underlines this point.

The company had invited a consultant to review its workers because the work atmosphere had deteriorated to a degree where the customers were already beginning to notice it. After all – if the sales personnel did not want to stay in the company and the customer got a new salesperson visiting every time, the word started to spread all was not all right with the company.

After observing how people worked and having talked to many salespersons the consultant invited them all into the conference room. He looked at the people in front of him and said:

You remind me of a bedtime story my own mother used to tell me.

It was a story of a father and his sons who kept quarrelling with each other no matter what the father did. So he decided that because they were not listening to his words, he would show them in a practical way how they were hurting themselves with their negative attitude.

He asked the sons to bring him a bundle of sticks. This they did and waited to hear what their father had to say. The father put the big bundle in their hands and asked them to break it. Each had their own turn.

No matter how hard they tried, the bundle did not break.

Then the father opened the bundle and gave each of his sons a separate stick and asked them to try again. This time the sticks broke easily.

The father then said; “Think that you are like these sticks. If you stick together and assist one another, you are like a thick bundle of sticks that others cannot break. But if you are divided and separated from each other, you can be broken as easily as these sticks.”

The consultant looked at his audience.

– You may think negative attitude isn’t hurting you, but it causes your co-workers to leave their jobs. And this is not a case of out of sight, out of mind. Those people go work elsewhere and they spread the word of how they were treated. Your own names may pop up in those conversations and that may be enough to ruin a future deal or stop you from getting a job in the future.

It is in your best interest to start working together. Or if you cannot stop stealing the fruits of someone else´s labor or stop talking bad things about people behind their backs, just be certain you shall meet your own deeds in the future. You see: if you talk bad things about someone behind their back, everyone will realize you will probably do the same about them. No surprise then that they do not wish to work with you in the future. And so your own negative attitude is stealing the good things from your life.

In this day and age you would be wise to try to search for positive things about your co-workers and together decide you shall work honestly from now on. To remind you of the importance of this, I have brought you something. My daughter made them for you yesterday.

The consultant gave each of them a small bundle of sticks that was tied with pretty ribbons.

Most of us at the workplace have gone through an appraisal and have also wondered why it didn’t go so well….the story given below is truly inspiring. It explains the “ideal attitude” for feedback or an appraisal.

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits (phone numbers). The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation.

Boy: ‘Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

Woman: (at the other end of the phone line): ‘I already have someone to cut my lawn.’

Boy: ‘Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now.’

Woman: I’m very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy: (with more perseverance) : ‘Lady, I’ll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of Palm beach , Florida.’

Woman: No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy.

Store Owner: ‘Son… I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.’

Boy: ‘No thanks.’

Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.

Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the Job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!’