Chapter 70. Be Creative

The good manager keeps a virtual closet full of creative techniques so that when she gets stuck, when the team gets stuck—and you and the team will from time to time—you have something to fall back on.

Being creative is about finding new and different ways to solve problems. You get stuck and start worrying and then you go off and tend your garden, do some washing up, fly a kite or whatever, and you get immersed in what you are doing and answers bubble up to the surface.

Most creative techniques get you to switch off your conscious, thinking brain and start to use a deeper, more intuitive part of your mind. And that part has a whole load of answers that we can’t normally access. This is the part we can access during sleep or meditation or by using creative thinking techniques.

Watch what other managers do—the ones you admire and respect. They probably have a virtual closet of creative tricks. Borrow a few. Read up on creative thinking techniques. Find out what the bright managers are doing, thinking, trying out. Ask somebody not in your field what they would do. Don’t be afraid to be wacky or off the wall—after all some of the best ideas have come from dreams.