The Creativity Conundrumthe seven myths of “creativity” in training

Matthew Homann, COCAbiz

I haveshiny shiny syndrome.

Please don’t throw things.

C OC A biz

Dance freaks people out!

improvisation

yes, and...

yes, and...

Creativity is important to my business because...

Most people don’t learn best sitting on their...

What can the arts teach business about creativity?

and how can COCA profit from it?

Remaining true to our core values.

...and not just make turkeys

out of our hands.

We thought selling

creativity would be

After all, Creativity

is priority #

The link between creativity and business is easy to make.

Right?

People told us, “Creativity is

important,

but...

© Matthew Homann 2010 All Rights Reserved

“I can’t afford to

buy it.”

“I don’t know

how to value it.”

After listening to them,

We learned that it’s not about creativity at all...

It’s (still) about business.

How do you sell creativity to unwilling buyers?

Myth #1People want to learn to be creative.

You a

re cre

ative

.

Myth #2 Time is the

primary barrier to creativity.

Myth #3 Creative individuals make

creative companies.

For many, creativity is

a solitary experience.

Myth # 4 Listening to someone talk about creativity makes us

more creative.

Myth #5Creativity can be learned in one dose.

A warm-up exercise doesn’t

make people creative.

Myth #6 We can be creative

upon demand.

Myth #7 We’re more tolerant of

novelty than our boss.

Often “they” are less chicken than we are.

What can we do?

Ignore precedents -- at

least for a while.

Ask what sacred cows can I slay?

Recognize that creativity is an

ingredient.

like bacon

Respect your audience’s willingness to gamble.

Don’t be afraid to be sneak up on people.

Don’t rely upon new measurements.

Instead, focus on familiar metrics.

Deliver creative tools people can

use everyday.

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

be morecreative

Don’t ignore the simple

ones...

... and the difficult ones, too.

Regulate their use.

Incentivize their

adoption.

yes, and...

Make it a game.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Deliver bite sized chunks...

... because your audience has less attention to pay than ever before.

Plan to miss occasionally.

Be prepared to miss

every once in awhile.

Don’t listen to everybody.

“If I’d asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

-- Henry Ford

Questions?

C OC A biz

COCAbiz merges arts-based instruction with business-focused facilitation to help people and organizations collaborate more, innovate better and creatively solve their biggest business challenges.

As part of St. Louis’ renowned Center of Creative Arts (COCA), we draw upon the talents of artists, designers, dancers and actors to deliver high-impact classes, seminars, conferences and retreats that build business skills and deliver true creative breakthroughs.

www.cocabiz.com

Matthew Homann is the director of COCAbiz.

Matt @ COCAbiz.com

@MattHomann & @COCAbiz.