6 Things Leaders Must Do To Be More Creative

June 3, 2013 0 Comments

Often we are in situations where solutions are needed and we called upon to become more creative.  We are asked to stretch our minds, brainstorm, and think outside the box.  Many times this becomes a daunting task.  Nate Silver does not think it needs to be that difficult.
Silver should know.  He was just named the world’s most creative person by Fast Company magazine. Silver, who operates the popular website FiveThirtyEight.com, became well-renowned for accurately predicting 49 of 50 states in the 2008 presidential election and all 50 states in 2012.  By analyzing large amounts of data, Silver also accurately predicted all 35 of the 2008 U.S. Senate races and 31 of 33 in 2012.  Not just limited to politics, his data has also predicted sports, entertainment, and weather results.
Silver feels creativity exists in all of us.  I agree.  And as I read the article, I gleaned six practices all leaders must do to become more creative.

1. You Must Endure Questioning - If you are facing resistance of your ideas take comfort.  Silver’s methods and models for predictions are always questioned, doubted, and ridiculed.  Defend your beliefs.
2. You Must Ask Great Questions – The key to good data is good questions.  Humans are limited.  It is great questions that open up new ideas and allow creativity to take place.
3. You Must Focus On Things That Are True – Silver strives for what he refers to as “more signal and less noise.”  Noise refers to the constant bombardment of useless information.  Signal refers to truth.
4. You Must Solve Problems – Silver feels creatives fall into two categories – Pure Expression or Problem Solving.  Pure expression is what we often think of regarding creativity – musicians, actors, programmers, writers, painters and those in the fashion industry.  Silvers says, “The other kind is finding different ways to approach and solve a problem.”  Many of us do not think we are creative but are actually very creative problem solvers.
5. You Must Avoid Being Counterintuitive – This is counter-intuitive to traditional thinking.  We think creatives are supposed to be counter-cultural.  While this is sometimes the case, often the most creative people are answering the questions people are already asking.  The are dealing with the elephants in the room.
6. You Must Wait For Recognition – Creativity is often only recognized when looking backwards.  Silver says, “The revolutions we recognize in retrospect aren’t usually the ones we recognize in advance.”