3 Exercises to Boost Your Team’s Creativity

Creativity is the main engine of innovation and entrepreneurship, and a major driver of resilience. The current foundation of creativity training is the technique known as divergent thinking.

But there’s a problem: Research has shown it to be at best inadequate and at worst counterproductive. The training doesn’t work.

Have everyone anonymously write down something they like but are afraid to admit to the group.

Then share the answers, maintaining anonymity.

When each answer is shared, ask everyone to take two minutes to imagine that they like the same thing

Silently plan a way to incorporate it into the workspace.

Benefits:

1. Removes subjectivity
2. stimulates teams to actively appreciate nonconformity
3. it primes the brain to value anomalies: the most potent biological source of creative inspiration

Think of a new competitor in your market — an existing startup, maybe, or an established company that might enter your lane, or some kind of organization that you anticipate might emerge in the future.

Identify one highly anomalous feature of the competitor — and now imagine that you are that competitor.

What does your anomalous feature enable you to do in the market?

Stretch your horizon as long-term as you can.

1. For step one, take each of your team’s newly imagined options and rank it on the scale of 1 - 10. Options ranked at the bottom (0–2) are low in creativity and low in innovation potential. Options at the top (8–10) are moderate-to-low in creativity but high in innovation potential. Options in the middle (3–7) are low-to-moderate in innovation potential but moderate-to-high in creativity
2. 
   

For step two, assess your current operational environment in the scale of 1-10.

Is it stable? Or volatile? Certain? Or uncertain?

If it’s high in stability and certainty, go with an option ranked 9 or 10.

If it’s moderate, go with a 7 or 8.

If it’s low, go with a 6 or 4. (That’s not a typo. Go with a 4, an option you think might not work.)

If it has no stability or certainty, go with a 5.