“Creativity” is one of those things (like its close cousin “risk-taking”) that nearly all leaders love to hail, praise, and rhapsodize over. So why is actual creativity in the workplace so rare?
It’s because hailing, praising, and rhapsodizing are free and have no consequences. (Although, actually, they do; more on that later.) It’s kind of like hailing, ...
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David Bowie existed before Ziggy Stardust, but it was Ziggy Stardust that put him on the map. The striking, glam costume; the red hair; the over-the-top Spiders from Mars tour—all these elements, plus, of course, the music, shot David Bowie into stardom. But the glam rock era eventually faded. And if David Bowie had stayed there, he would have been solely of that time, and faded along with it.
One of the greatest benefits a long-term leader can bring to his or her organization is their experience. The experienced leader has seen it all before. The experienced leader isn’t likely to get fazed by the bump in the road. The experienced leader is the face of calm in the midst of the storm.
But the experienced leader can also be missing the boat—and with it, opportunities.
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“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom” – Gen. George S. Patton.
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” – Abraham Lincoln.
“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people” – Eleanor Roosevelt.
Great leaders have said some great things. But not everything that comes out of a leader’s mouth is pure gold. Sometimes leaders say things that are—let’s be honest here—pretty dumb. Unfortunately, ...
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Elite athletes will tell you that much of their physical performance is driven by what they put in their bodies. Elite leaders will tell you that much of their mental performance is driven by what they put in their brains — both through their eyes and their ears. So what do you think they listen to?
I once had dinner ...
Steve Jobs! Mark Zuckerberg! Elon Musk! All of them have produced (and, in some cases, are continuing to produce—although Steve has lowered his output a bit) breakthrough results! What must it be like to live in their world, to breathe their rarefied air! Well, here’s the thing. Breakthrough results are not limited to the elite few. You can produce breakthrough results just as well as anyone else. But first, you may need to let go of some of the habits ...
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You all know Bill Nye the Science Guy. If you’re of a certain age, you grew up watching him on TV. If you’re beyond a certain age, your kids grew up watching him on TV. But did you know that Bill Nye the Science Guy was invented out of desperation on January 10, 1987? And it all happened because a low-paid comedy writer asked a different question.
How often have you gotten stuck while looking for a new idea, or seeking the solution to a problem? Want to know a cool way to get unstuck?
When I was writing television sketch comedy, I used to have a lot of trouble coming up with endings to my sketches (endings are notoriously difficult). I’d work out a nice premise, ...
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There’s a lot to be said for creative ideas that push the needle forward, even incrementally. But where do you go when you need a truly breakthrough idea? The kind of idea that will revolutionize your business—maybe even your entire industry—and cause your competition to wonder if they’d be better off just closing up shop? If that’s the kind of breakthrough you’re looking for—you need a wacky neighbor.
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In his wonderful book, A Whack on the Side of the Head (still one of the seminal books about creativity), Roger Von Oech talks about the concept of looking for the Second Right Answer. The idea is that most people (and you can substitute “people” with “leaders,” “teams,” and even “organizations”), when looking for a solution to a problem or challenge, stop after coming up with a solution. A solution. One, single solution. But just because it’s the first solution ...
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