Media

Series on Leadership: BEING CREATIVE

Creativity is best described as thinking out-of-the-box. A creative leader develops a product that is unique and is a viable solution.

The Strida is an innovative design of folding bicycle intended for short distance use and to link with other modes of transport. Mark Sanders designed the Strida while he was a postgraduate student on the joint Royal College of Art/Imperial College Industrial Design Engineering course. The idea arose from personal need, when he was travelling from Windsor to London.

A creative leader, like Sanders:

• Immerses himself in the problem at each stage, in order to see if ideas from other areas or from nature (biological analogies) might offer a solution.

• Gathers information from any likely source.

• Brainstorms to clarify any vague ideas in the head.

• Drafts its USP, Strida for example, is lightweight and low cost. Sanders also worked on its ease of handling.

Mark Sanders thus gave his community an innovative product that solves their problem while making an organization that has a definite objective.