Thinking Outside the Box

How to Generate Creative Solutions to Your Toughest Challenges

Never before has the need for innovative thinking been more acute. Through, the COVID-19 pandemic, as a leader you faced challenges that most have never experienced. The need to be flexible and creative in solving problems and seizing on opportunities couldn’t be more applicable than it is today.

The renowned physicist Albert Einstein had this to say about solving complex problems: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So how do we tap into creative thinking and come up with new ways of looking at problems? First let’s look at the topic of creativity.

Creativity - The ability to look at the same thing as everybody else and see something different.

Left Brain vs. Right Brain

If you are a “left brain” person to whom logic and linear thinking come naturally don’t despair. Creativity is not a personality trait; it is a process and an attitude. The right brain folks will more naturally adopt an “outside the box” approach to problem solving but to be truly effective they too must view this as a process, particularly since most of us work on teams and collaborate with left brain people.

We should recognize and reward people who “think outside the box” and actively support people who challenge the status quo when rules prevent them from doing their job more effectively. If you are a manager, find creative ways to reward creativity.

“Many great ideas have been lost because those who had them were afraid to be laughed at.” -Fritz Periz

How Culture & Environment Affect Creativity

Creating and maintaining a climate that encourages creative thinking is vital. This type of environment is blame-free and idea friendly to challenges of the status quo for which there is significant energy expended to maintain. Unfortunately, many leaders shoot the messengers who identify problems or ridicule people with “crazy” ideas. That is a sure-fire way to stifle improvement and creativity. In that environment it’s much safer to do and say nothing; as a result, that organization continues to get what’s always gotten no matter how much lip service management gives to the need for change. Creative solutions usually represent change and people resist change because of fear.

Teams that effectively solve difficult problems expect failures and view them as part of the process. The prolific inventor Thomas Edison when questioned about his many failed attempts to find the right filament for the incandescent light bulb said: “I have not failed; I have simply found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Taking Inventory – Answer these questions honestly:

1. Does your organization’s culture encourage those who want to change things or penalize them?

2. Does it reward those who take risks?

3. Do you celebrate or punish failure?

4. Are the rules unrelated to safety and ethics flexible in your organization?

5. Are your people encouraged to test and expand the boundaries?

6. Do you tend to shoot the messenger if the news is bad?

7. Does your organization reward the “play it safe” people? If so, it is encouraging that behavior.

8. Do you chastise people who make mistakes? This encourages your people to not take risks.

Idea: Free your team from outdated rules and pointless boundaries. Ask them to point out rules that needlessly bind them.

Paradigm Shifting

Have you ever heard the phrase “people want things to get better but stay the same”? It is a contradictory statement because we realize that improvement requires change of some sort. Yet most people fear change. As a result, there is often tremendous inertia to maintain the status quo and it me passive or aggressive resistance.

In tough times what is often required is a paradigm shift in how our organization or team operates. Definitions of paradigm include a dramatic change in methodology or practice. It often refers to a major change in thinking and planning a radical change in somebody’s basic assumptions about or approach to something. If you are responsible for leading a change movement or paradigm shift, be aware that not everyone will embrace the change. There are five types of people:

1. Paradigm Shifters –They see things in a completely new way.

2. Paradigm Pioneers –They embrace change with enthusiasm.

3. Early Adapters – They won’t resist but have little enthusiasm. About 50% of population

4. Late Adapters – They’ll tell you why it is wrong and will eventually change but it takes lots of work.

5. Laggards – They ill fight change intensely. Get them off the team if at all possible.

Most people want you to protect their paradigm. We take what someone says and we and shape it to fit our paradigm. As a leader, ask yourself: “Is my paradigm getting in the way?”

In closing, start with honest self-reflection then bring your team together for an open, no shame/no blame discussion about how the problems you face can be solved together through creative thinking and experimentation. Remember, ideas we generate today will sow the seeds of success for tomorrow.

About the Author: Frank Manfre is Principal at Breakthrough Consulting Associates (www.frankmanfre.com) in Atlanta, Georgia. He has worked as an executive in both for-profit, and non-profit organizations in several industries including dental and medical manufacturing and as a business consultant and coach focused on leadership development, building high-performance teams, and improving organizational health. He has led leadership and team problem solving CQI LearnShops for the US Army, University of Georgia System, Cobb County, Clayton County and for corporations in several industries.