Creative and Visual Methods

Creatively Connecting to Drive Guest Loyalty I The Art of Visualization I Habits of Creative Organizations

Creative and Visual Methodswww.watercoolernewsletter.com

volume 6 issue 5 september/october 2012

Barbara Armstrong Principal, Workplace Experience StrategistKahler Slater

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Outside Expert

PrKa

OO

Walk into someone’s home and you can probably get a good feel for what they are like. They have made conscious choices in every room – from furniture, to paint colors to décor. Is it unorganized? Immaculate? Is the furniture of traditional or contemporary taste? Is the environment cold and sterile or warm and cozy? How we utilize the space we occupy is very telling. The same can be said of our workspaces. Your workspace conveys an image – to your clients and customers, and to anyone else who sets foot in the space –

especially your employees. If you want to engage people and create an emotional connection, you have to make sure your workspace is conveying your unique story.

As architects, interior designers and graphic communications experts with a 104-year history of serving clients across the United States and the world, Kahler Slater leverages its broad perspective on the built environment to help organizations create ideal experiences for their employees, visitors, and

Leveraging the Workplace

to Tell Your Story

Get Your

Walls Talking:

Creative and Visual Methods2

Continued from page 1

customers. As an eight-time Best Company to Work for in America winner, designated by the Great Place to Work Institute, we understand the value of culture and the impact that engaging employees and building pride can have on both morale and the bottom line. Our team of workplace strategists and graphic designers work collaboratively with clients to identify the key stories that make an organization stand out – its culture, its history, and the vision and values that are unique to its DNA. Then we thoughtfully design these messages into the physical environment. This is often referred to as environmental branding.

Does Your Space Truly Refl ect Your Company Culture?If you walk into many offi ces, hotels, and conference centers, what do you often see? Stock art hanging on the walls. Predictable furniture. An attempt at comfort and warmth that falls short somehow.

Why? Why, in all of these places when we are trying to do business, make connections and engage people, are we not making specifi c and purposeful choices regarding the visuals of the space? If you want to engage people, fully engage them on a deep emotional level, they must be inspired. And what better

way to start than with the space itself? It’s like a canvas begging to be adorned with color and line.

So how do you transform your workspace to tell your story?

Ask yourself: What is your company culture? What makes your people proud? What story and image do you want to convey throughout your space that sets you apart from your competition? What will inspire you and the people who share your space?

Think about the Sistine Chapel. From the moment you step inside, you can look up at the ceiling and know that every brush stroke had a purpose. Each wall helps set the tone and tell a story, chapter by chapter. Each one conveys a sense of history, a sense of value. While the Sistine Chapel may seem a grand example, it’s entirely possible for you to do the same in your workplace – putting your own company culture on display using the walls to tell your unique story.

Advantages of Artful DisplayThere are fi ve distinct opportunities companies can take advantage of by telling their stories through the design of their workplace.

1. You have the opportunity to authentically differentiate your organization. Any company can buy attractive artwork for decorating your space, but that doesn’t differentiate you from the next organization. Your people are unique, so why isn’t your space? Choosing the right visuals helps you to tell the unique stories of your clients and employees. They extend the fi ngerprint of your organization and provide a palpable feeling of what makes you different. There is a clear place for art in the work-place, but it should complement the story you want to tell.

(Photos by Peter McCullough Photography)

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2. You have the opportunity to set expectations about your culture. Your visual storytelling enables you to express aspects about your organizational culture without saying a word. The right visual refl ects your values. It shows people how you can help them and where they may fi t into your organization. People are able to look at your space and get a feel for what happens there. You are literally putting your culture on display – so make sure it’s sending the message you want.

3. You have the opportunity to reinforce your brand alignment.Your visuals announce that your brand in the marketplace aligns with your brand in your offi ce space. It shows cohesiveness and purpose. People can understand this brand alignment and feel the connection between who you say you are and what they see in the environment.

4. You have the opportunity to set the stage for how you tell your story to visitors. You can use your environmental graphics to set the proper guidelines in place so the right story is consistently told. The cues and touchpoints you set up to tell the story are like signs in the woods, allowing you to express the particular points about your organization that you want people to know.

5. You have the opportunity to help build pride among employees. Your space plays a crucial role in engaging people. Visuals offer a special form of communication that helps employees feel proud of the accomplishments, the values, the products or services and the goals of the company. It all becomes part of a bigger story regarding who “my” company is and the pride “I” take in it. It focuses on building emotional connections and leveraging them to better the workplace.

A Wall of ValuesMany companies put visual representations of their company values on the walls of their offi ce space. You might see words like, “Integrity,” “Commitment,” or “Teamwork.” One of the greatest advantages of displaying your values this way is that they become an integral part of your surroundings

and a measure of accountability. They are constantly present, infi ltrating every part of your day. You are essentially showing your cards to anyone who walks in the door – clients, prospects, employees, and prospective employees. You are saying, “this is what we’re about and we expect the same of anyone who walks through our doors.” Companies who put their values out in the open for all to see are describing expected behaviors in their space and must be living them day to day in order to remain authentic and credible.

We have had the privilege to study many other Best Company organizations and saw various ways they use graphics to reinforce values. For example, SnagAJob, America’s largest hourly employment network for job seekers and employers, displayed the following: “Collaboration means leaving your ego at the door.” It sends a clear and concise message. If you walk into an interview and see those words, you already understand what the company stands for and you have been given direction regarding your expected behavior. And, it has worked well for them − they were the #1 Best Small Company in America in 2011!

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4 Creative and Visual Methods

Case StudyCCCC

Lynn Smith, Director, Brand Culture and Internal Communications

Adrian Kurre, Global Head, HGI Brand

Hilton Garden Inn

However, the industry started to change, and we realized we needed to change with it. In 2011, there was a noticeable decline in our guest loyalty, and competition was on the rise. What used to be our niche market was becoming populated by additional brands going after the same target customer in similar ways. This was the wake-up call that drove our executive team to refocus our energies and our business strategy.

At the Starting LineTo determine where change needed to occur, we took an intro-spective look at our company, our practices, and our employees. We had to be willing to see the issues and barriers in our way and commit to resolving them and getting back ahead of the competition. We found that two of our biggest opportunities were Problem Resolution and Problem Avoidance.

Our company reputation revolves around people, so it made sense that our efforts needed to focus on our leaders, managers and team members, at both hotels and at the corporate offi ce. In particular, the front line staff was the key to turning things around and getting our brand back on top. We needed to know they were connecting with our guests and providing them the best service experience possible, including resolving problems as soon as they happened. And we needed to send a strong message to our guests that we were serious about this promise.

Rev Your EnginesHGI partnered with Root Inc. to help bring our strategy and culture to life through several tailored, targeted solutions designed to get and keep our teams’ attention. We developed the Hilton Garden Inn Satisfaction Promise to serve as the foundation of our new strategy, acting as the hallmark of our commitment to our guests.

On your mark: We set out to create alignment on the intent and language of the Hilton Garden Inn Satisfaction Promise. The new Guarantee reads: “We promise to do whatever it takes to ensure you’re satisfi ed, or you don’t pay. You can count on

Hilton Worldwide redefi ned the

mid-priced lodging category with the

introduction of the Hilton Garden

Inn® brand in the mid-90s, offering

quality services and amenities for smart,

value-conscious business and savvy

leisure travelers. Our brand was at

the forefront of the industry and had

tangible success to prove it, ranking

“Highest in Guest Satisfaction Among

Upscale Hotel Chains in a Tie” by

J.D. Power and Associates.

Creatively Connecting with Team Members to Drive Guest Loyalty


us. Guaranteed.™” It’s not an empty statement. It’s a promise to our guests that relies on leader, manager, and team member engagement. Our goal was total guest satisfaction, empowering every team member, regardless of role, to make it happen. The HGI Brand Leaders completed an alignment process, driving clarity around the intent, the wording, and the operational processes to fully realize the Satisfaction Promise in our daily operations.

Get Set: In August 2011, we rolled out the Satisfaction Promise pilot program at 20 hotels globally. As we collected feedback, we updated and tweaked the program accordingly.

Go: We launched in the United States in January 2012, and globally in February 2012. HGI brand executives, hotel owners, hotel management companies, and hotel teams completed a 120-minute training session. Each team then participated in fi ve “sustain sessions” to ensure the spirit and operational execution were achieving our desired outcomes, held monthly then quarterly after the launch.

Every aspect of our program was designed to engage both the hearts and the minds of employees. The Hilton Garden Inn Satisfaction Promise was realized through a fun, interactive program that utilized paper and video components, experienced in a group setting. All team members experienced the training, from Front Desk personnel, to Food & Beverage employees, to Housekeeping and Maintenance staffs. The manager’s role was to connect everyone to the strategy, to provide coaching on problem avoidance and resolution, and to keep the team updated on the key metrics that measure our success in these areas.

The entire program included:

Video – overview from Adrian Kurre, Global Head of the brand, containing a message on the impor-tance of the Satisfaction Promise, how it ties to the brand pillars and values, and the role each person nplays in executing the new vision and strategy.

Flip Book – using Socratic dialogue, we explored the why, the what, and the how of executing the Satisfaction Promise, including a problem resolution process called HEART (Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Resolve, Thank) and problem avoidance.

Video – we watched real team members and managers work with guests to execute the Promise using HEART.

Board Game – we practiced the how of executing the Satisfaction Promise in a fun and competitive way, including paper and video guest scenarios.

Team Huddles – managers led “Sustaining the Promise” huddles on a regular basis to continue the team conversation about the most common problems, problem avoidance, and resolution best practices, as well as celebration of great team member/guest connections.

The common theme for each piece was empowerment – each team member, regardless of role or department, is empowered to keep the Satisfaction Promise and resolve guest issues, including offering a free night’s stay if needed. We wanted to give team members the authority and autonomy to take care of guests, meet or exceed their expectations, and resolve problems without needing to involve a manager. We knew this would give guests immediate satisfaction when dealing with a frustrating issue, and help grow our employees’ critical thinking and guest service skills. This is how they really became part of the business process and began to feel they could make an impact on the bottom line.

The sessions bubbled with team spirit and it was obvious that our staff grasped the importance and impact of their role in achieving our end goal of increased loyalty. Every hotel completed the training so they could stand behind and embrace the Satisfaction Promise, and engage guests to drive brand loyalty scores.

Crossing the Finish LineWe knew that by empowering and creatively engaging our employees we would reach our goal for the HGI Satisfaction Promise to drive brand loyalty. Team members became involved in regular discussions led by managers on how the hotel is performing in problem resolution and loyalty. Teams work together to determine the best ways to improve performance and also celebrate great results.




In addition to the engagement program with our employees, we were transparent with our guests regarding our new Satisfaction Promise. The transparency was refl ected in collateral, conversations, and other materials geared toward our guests. We wanted them to know that their satisfaction was our top priority and that we were dedicated to delivering the best experience possible.

The Satisfaction And Loyalty Tracking (SALT) survey already shows an increase in loyalty on average across the hotel system. Results from respondents who were aware of the HGI Satisfaction Promise showed, on average, a double-digit positive difference on all key measures, including loyalty scores, which were up 16.6 points (on a 100-point scale). Overall experience scores were up more than 13 points and value of the experience for the price paid was up more than 17 points.

In the nine months the program has been in place, we are seeing an uptick in loyalty numbers and are confi dent it will continue. While the guest satisfaction piece is shaping up just as we hoped, we also see our employees invested and enjoying being part of the Satisfaction Promise. With the changes we’ve made, everybody is winning – our leadership, our employees, and most of all, our customers.

Lynn ensures that all components of the Hilton Garden Inn brand’s hotel-level training and communications effectively deliver and instill the brand’s key philosophies, values and the Hilton Garden Inn culture through the strategic development and implementation of brand-specifi c training, communications, follow-up and tracking systems all brand constituents, including hotel-level management, owners, management companies and internal and external brand partners.

Adrian’s primary focus is unit growth, revenue growth and increasing loyalty while reducing the carbon footprint within the Hilton Garden Inn brand. He has been with the brand since its re-launch in 1996. During his tenure, the HGI brand has grown from only four hotels to over 500 hotels operating in 11 countries worldwide.

In 2012 Hilton Garden was ranked by

J.D. Power and Associates “Tied for

Highest in Guest Satisfaction among

Upscale Hotel Chains”* and received

a silver Brandon Hall award for Best

Employee Engage-ment Model for

Satisfaction Promise (brandonhall.com).

* Hilton Garden Inn received the highest

numerical score among upscale hotels

in a tie in the proprietary J.D. Power and

Associates 2012 North America Hotel

Guest Satisfaction Index StudySM. Study

based on responses from 61,716 guests

measuring 11 upscale hotels and measures

opinions of guests who stayed in a hotel

June 2011-May 2012. Proprietary study

results are based on experiences and

perceptions of consumers surveyed August

2011-May 2012. Your experiences may

vary. Visit jdpower.com.

65.171.5

60.163.169.8

59

Loyalty

Pilot

OverallExperience

Value forPrice Paid

Control

Pilot Hotels vs. Control HotelsAll Key SALT Indicators are Up

70.976.5

54.362.9

68.1

50.9

Loyalty

Aware

OverallExperience

Value forPrice Paid

+16.6 +13.6 +17.2

Not Aware

Awareness is Key to SuccessDouble Digit Positive Difference in SALT Scores


Visual Storytelling in PracticeA great example of this theory in practice is Mesirow Financial. This diversifi ed fi nancial services fi rm wanted to tell its stories in its new Chicago headquarters. After many sessions with their executives, we understood Mesirow’s story, their people, culture and desire to present their brand in a certain way. Together, we developed an environmental storytelling program utilizing several locations and a variety of mediums.

· The main reception area – an accordion wall showing a panoramic view of the Chicago skyline in one direction and a dramatic map of the world in the other direction. The story: Mesirow Financial is a Chicago-based organization with a global reach.

· The primary corridors – special tributes to employees and clients by executives created in dimensional stainless-steel typography. The story: Mesirow Financial deeply values its employees and clients.

· The conference rooms – honoring world-class thinkers with deep Chicago roots – architect Mies van der Rohe, physicist Enrico Fermi, and social philosopher and activist Jane Addams. The story: Mesirow Financial prizes leader-ship and innovation and a signifi cant Chicago heritage.

· The conference center lounge – a large history mosaic created with movable, multicolored glass tiles symbolizing the company’s milestones. The story: Mesirow Financial celebrates its rich history and accomplishments.

Authentically Differentiating Visually While it’s not an easy task, authentically differentiating your company in the marketplace is synonymous with building pride within your organization. It gives employees, clients, vendors, and everyone else who comes into contact with your space a true feeling of who you are and what you believe in. It conveys your value proposition in a tangible and universally understandable way.

Consider visual storytelling and its ability to enhance your connection with both your employees and your visitors: What does your space say about you and your organization? Are you the author or have you left the message to chance? Paying attention to this important layer in your visual environ-ment can reap rewards. By enhancing your workspace with environmental branding, you can tell your story, instill pride, stimulate engaged and innovative employees, and leverage your environment to play a stronger supporting role in achieving your business goals.


Barbara has nearly three decades of experience in strategic facility planning and design of the built environment. She serves as the leader of Kahler Slater’s Culture Communications and Strategy team, where she leverages her passion for integrating workplace design and culture into a competitive talent strategy for clients across the nation. Barbara is a regular contributing writer on Forbes.com’s Leadership Forum, focusing on how design impacts business. To reach Barbara directly, email her at: [email protected].

For eight years running, Kahler Slater has been named one of the “25 Best Small Companies to Work for in America” by the Great Place to Work Institute. More information is available at www.kahlerslater.com.


Victor ZhangCreative DirectorRoot

Imagine for a moment that you are

in a room and the lights go out.

You are in total darkness. But you

know the direction to the door.

You have navigated it many times.

You know where other objects

are placed. Yet, you bend your

knees and reach out your hands

tentatively, fumbling toward where

you think you will fi nd the door.

Using the Right Brainto Connect Your

People to Strategy

The Art ofVisualization

I really need to go!! But which one is for me?

I need a picture here!

The numbers give us an accurate view of our past

performances. And we can guess about the future with an NPV calculation of those

numbers from the past...

Changing Mark

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Global Outs

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What if I fall?! I don’t want to get hurt or make a fool of myself.

Why don’t you let me see?

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What is this?? I’m just going to do what I always do.

How do you not get this?!

Numbers are so easy to understand!

I already communicated our NPV, EBITA, ROE,

RINOI and RNOA target to our employees. I hope they deliver the needed results.

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New Tec

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stomer Demands

hy are you moving so slow? Don’t you trust me?

You know where everything is!

doc, exeldoc, exeland pptand ppt

00:06:39

Future


2

3

4

5 6


Why are you moving so slowly? Why are you hesitating? Where is your confi dence? This is a metaphor we can apply to almost every example of employee engagement in terms of executing strategy or organizational change. A room with the lights off is like navigating a new strategy without understanding what it looks like. It’s simply not enough to present your new corporate strategy on paper and expect your employees to be immediately engaged – you need to help your employees understand it, feel it, visualize it. They need to literally be able to picture themselves in their roles, how their roles connect to the company’s overall goals, and how each individual contributes to future success. How do you accomplish this? Do you take a traditional route? Do you employ an “out of the box” method?

It’s not all about tradition. There’s a time and place for traditional tactics in any corporation. There are time-tested processes that have worked for years, and then there are situations where it may take something new, something that will breathe life into your strategy instead of just proclaiming it exists. We are so used to cookie-cutter presentation tools and tactics to reveal corporate news or direction. After nine or 10 pages of bar graphs, SWOT analyses and a laundry list of strategic goals, what are your people really retaining? Probably not as much as you would like or need. Without retention, none of it means anything. So why is visualization key to engaging employees in your strategy?

· It helps people understand how to reference the material when necessary

· It helps people to connect dots and understand the relationship between the different pieces of business

· It fosters better retention levels throughout your workforce

· It facilitates an emotional connection to the strategy

Let’s Get Visual. Marker in Your Hand.How do you start? What do you do? How do you get people involved?

1. Use a pen and a napkin for visual thinking exercises. You can use a variety of shapes and visuals – draw circles, boxes, arrows and stick fi gures. Lay out your ideas, information and issues in a two-dimensional way.

2. Observe those objects you put down on the paper. Think about them and try to connect them with lines.

3. Use the picture to start a conversation. What needs tweaking? What needs to be added? What needs to be taken out?

4. Highlight the connections that are important to you. Record any additional ideas on the same paper perhaps using a different color pen.

5. Don’t worry about neatness. You have the option to redraw the picture or you can continue to the next step.

6. Invite someone you trust to observe the picture with you. Have real conversations about it.

7. Revise. Use the two-way dialogue to build greater clarity into your visual. Make it better.

8. Get succinct on the key driving chapters of your visual. Picture it as a compelling story. What needs to really stand out? If it is not crisp enough to draw, it is not clear enough to execute.



9. Make your drawing more clear and easier to use as an illustrative backdrop to the strategy story. If you are ready to actually build a visual language that gives way to a shared meaning for your strategy, you may even want to enlist the help of an artist.

These steps create a cycle that will help fully form your visual from strategy to reality. Real-time changes will occur throughout the exercise and create a fl uid and effective

process. Think about the metaphor I started with involving the dark room. Wouldn’t a visual of that scenario have a stronger effect on an audience than lecturing about it? (See sketch 2)

Stimulating the Brain Unleashes Its Power.Strategy helps you look forward and creates something for you and your organization to move toward. Visualization enables people to see the path and destination.

Some people think they are strictly left-brain thinkers and argue that they are not good at the visual process. Yet we were all infants at one time. We understood pictures way before the words and numbers. It is in your DNA. You may be excellent at writing or great at crunching numbers. But don’t deny your imaginative talents.

There is an image in every imagination. There is imagination in every creative act. There is creativity in every innovation. It all starts with tapping your capability to think in images. Everyone uses their right brain and taps into their creative side at some level. We all have the ability to react to information if it’s presented in the right language. Visualization is that language. It’s a universal one that everyone can relate to. It transcends culture and beliefs. It touches souls and hearts. If you were in a foreign country and looking for a bathroom, the silhouette of a man or woman on the

door would need no explanation. You would understand immediately which door to enter. Imagine instead if there were words in another language you were not familiar with. It

wouldn’t be as easy to fi gure out which door was the right one, would it? (See sketch 1)

The same idea could be applied to navigating an instruction manual. You buy a piece of furniture that needs to be assembled. You take out all of the components, get your toolbox,

and open the direction manual. But there is just text and no images. You have no idea what the different parts are. There’s no visual of the fi nished product. Wouldn’t it be easier and add more functionality to the manual if there were pictures to accompany the directions? (See sketch 5)

Data by itself is just data – not enough to create change within an organization. Relying on numbers and pie charts alone creates a cold and unemotional tone. A number can accurately

tell the past, but it can’t predict the future. (See sketch 3) It doesn’t provide meaning. A number can measure the goals, but it can’t make sense of the meaning behind the goals. It is the common mental image you embed in people’s mind that inspires them to bring it to life. Remember that while numbers are important and speak to the left brain, you are working with people – humans who possess innate emotion and therefore have the ability to connect to things on a very visceral level. Using visualization to engage their right brain helps employees see the big picture and how they fi t in.

I know, I know, you are a more traditional left-brain businessperson, in the game to create shareholder value. You understand income statements, know how to read balance sheet,

and master the cash fl ow statement. (See sketch 6) You are probably even good at fi nding and telling a story strictly from

Please turn to page 15


Outside ExpertOO

Kelsey RugerVice President Design and InnovationChaiOne

Think you or your employees need to be artistic geniuses to be creative? Think

again. While no one can deny the fact that some people are blessed with a talent

for it, creativity doesn’t come from a mysterious source. Anyone can increase their

creative output with the right focus and environment. Unfortunately, most people

don’t understand how creativity works well enough to harness it effectively in business.

Habits of Highly

Creative Organizations

At its core, creativity is the ability to come up with ideas that are novel, relevant, and focused on the problem at hand. When companies understand it, creative intelligence represents a huge opportunity for growth. In today’s business world, however, this critical ability to approach problems in new and novel ways is both undervalued and underdeveloped. When I ask managers about this “creative opportunity” the most common response I get is, “Hmm, I’m just not creative. How can I take advantage of this?” or “My role doesn’t require me to be artistic.” Most people believe that you fi nd out early in life whether you are creative or not, and that creativity is a fi xed characteristic. The truth is, we’re all inherently creative, but to varying degrees we allow that natural skill to be blocked.

In order to build a more creative workforce you should not focus on making people more creative; that doesn’t work. You should instead focus on creating an environment that encourages and fosters creative behavior. To help you frame this for your organization, here are 7 habits and behaviors that top creative organizations have in common.

Balance their focus between problems and solutionsHow many times have you heard someone say “Don’t come to me with problems, come with

solutions”? Many managers think this way. When they have problems, they immediately look for solutions, without giving the problem a lot of thought. Organizations that understand


the habit of creativity know that creativity emerges from problems not creations.

Instead of focusing purely on solution-oriented activities like brainstorming and idea generation, they also focus on activities intended to continuously uncover and explore problems. They know that great creativity, much like a great story, comes from the relationships between people, organizations, things and the unique problems they have. Like a story, if there is never tension, other people, or a “problem,” the narrative never moves forward.

Balance creative thinking, creative risk and creative actionSometimes, it’s possible that traditional ideas about creativity actually get in the way of being

creative. Let’s take brainstorming for example. Whenever the topic of creativity comes up, brainstorming is the solution that most people fall back on. Aside from the fact that most brainstorming sessions have rules that actually lead to fewer creative ideas, I have also been to a lot of brainstorming sessions that end up being well – just brainstorming. Lots of talk, a ton of ideas, but not many actionable steps or an environment that supports work on ideas that aren’t 100% predictable. When you couple that with the fact that many companies don’t have an effective way to try ideas without extensive planning, it’s easy to see why their creative progress is slow.

Organizations that have the creative habit believe that while coming up with lots of ideas is critical, getting started on ideas is more valuable than trying to perfect them. The next time you have an idea, try building a quick prototype, without worrying about perfection. Even if you are way off base, prototypes will help motivate your team and get them thinking differently.

Embrace periods of playtimeI grew up with people telling me to stop playing around. I still have colleagues and friends who say, “You guys sure do have fun at work.” My response is usually, “What’s wrong with that?”

American businesses are suffering from an epidemic of terminal seriousness, with a common belief among American managers that work and play are separate activities. The truth is, play may be more important to creativity in the workforce than ever before.

Companies that have the creative habit purposefully break away from the traditional ideas of “being serious at work.” This allows employees to get better at dealing with ambiguity, complexity and improvisation. These are the very things that drive play and creativity. As children we spend a lot of time playing games. We also learn to use pictures and storytelling to communicate our message and explain ourselves. As we grow older we are taught that this type of activity is frivolous and something that adults shouldn’t do. Re-learning to play as we did when we were children helps us communicate, create, and improvise more easily. By turning creative time into play-time, you will spark more frequent and impactful creative ideas.

Differentiate betweenexecution and explorationWhen I was younger, I had a supervisor whose mantra was “work hard and be creative.” It would

be years before I realized that the effi ciency of execution and the exploration of creativity don’t go hand in hand. In fact, when it comes to creativity, hard work and execution are overrated. In order for your brain to see and connect the patterns that lead to creativity, it needs downtime. I’m not saying that managers shouldn’t demand execution. That’s silly. What is true, however, is that the mechanisms that put you in fl ow for execution are very different from the mechanisms that put you in an optimal state for creativity. Just as you can’t repair a car or machine while it’s operating, creativity happens when your brain isn’t operating at full speed. By requiring employees to operate at 100% all the time, you may actually be reducing their creative output.

Creative companies know that if you want to optimize creative talents you have to allow people time to work on innovation when they aren’t worried about projects, deadlines




or other work-related concerns. This is one of the reasons that play is so important. It allows you to relax and shift into a mode where ideas can be explored, merged, and reordered to fi nd interesting new combinations. Whether it’s a few minutes a day, or a few hours a week, take time to let your mind relax and be creative.

Encourage curiosityCuriosity is the root of creativity. Creative companies know that people who are inherently curious tend to experience life much differently.

They tend to learn in ways that people who depend only on their expertise can’t. As a rule they want their employees to consistently ask questions of others around them (and themselves), especially in situations where they may already be an expert.

If you want to learn how to do this just take a look at how children explore the world. They are naturally inquisitive and ask why a lot! They don’t have to be taught to be creative, it just sort of happens that way. It takes a lifetime of experiences and organized education to kill that natural talent. Kids take chances where adults won’t because they intuitively understand that if you aren’t prepared to admit the things you don’t know, you won’t be your most creative.

Externalize creativity with diverse groupsCreative solutions are rarely the result of an epiphany. Most creative solutions are the result of

combining elements that existed before. Think about Apple’s creation of the iPod. Apple didn’t invent the touch screen phone or the MP3 player. The technology existed and in fact there was potentially better technology in both categories. All Apple did was understand that everything they build is about empathy, connection, engagement, and interaction, and put together the best team of people to design and market the device. In a time when skills are becoming more and

more specialized, creativity has increasingly become a group process, requiring many skills and disciplines to work optimally. To take advantage of this, creative companies encourage prototyping and sharing often. When a creative idea occurs they want it to be externalized so that they will be rewarded when people do make connections. Those connections are the fi nal pieces that ultimately create moments of insight.

Know that being creative isn’t about art or being smartMany times employees work in environments that thrive on showing how smart they are. When faced with a challenge the default answer is to

show “case studies” of how they have solved the problem a dozen times before. People are comfortable reapplying a formula that has worked in the past. Whether this is an aversion to risk, or a dependency on an educational process that is heavy on case studies, they just try to use a template from an existing success, which is the reason we see so many copycat products and copycat strategies.

Creative companies know that if you are afraid of being wrong or “not smart” it’s going to be diffi cult to lead the creative process. Creativity often starts by adopting a child’s mindset or looking at things for which there is no existing comparison. If you are only talking about things that can be proven or don’t feel alien, you will miss out on a lot of creative opportunities. If you want to be original, then you have to get past this fi rst layer of predictability.

Kelsey Ruger helps companies discover and cultivate inspiring ways to create experiences people love. As Vice President of Design & Innovation for Houston based ChaiONE (chaione.com), Kelsey designs and develops new forward-looking products for ChaiONE and its customers. He is particularly interested in the impact emerging technology can have on business and personal productivity.



the numbers. But can you share it with others in an inspiring way? Can you have the troops rally behind you, fully engaged as if your eyes are on the same target, moving with speed and confi dence? (See sketch 4)

Don’t just lay out a strategic initiative and give people their numbers-based marching orders. Show it to them. Help them tangibly feel the role they will play and encourage ownership and accountability. Help them see how valuable they are to the accomplishment of your desired outcomes. If they connect to the strategy on a personal level, they are more likely to deliver on a personal level.

While I made my point in the bathroom and furniture anecdotes, I also demonstrated the visual power of a metaphor. Metaphors make sense to us because they help us connect a new idea to something we already know. Art, as metaphors portrayed visually, provides context, bridging the gap between what we say and what we mean. Business revolves around the people in it, so it’s crucial to establish an emotional connection between your people and your organization. Business vision helps ignite the business passion. A powerful visual tool can trigger emotions and inspire creativity and connectivity. So how do you get people to use their creative side, their right side?

Inspire them. Include them. Help them fi nd their voice.

Magic Markers. Passion to Play.Sometimes all the magic you need to unleash creativity from your workforce lies in a seemingly insignifi cant item. In this

case, it could be a marker. Sitting idle on a table, it’s merely a writing device. But in the hands of someone who has been inspired, it’s a magical instrument stimulating the right side of their brain with every stroke. Think about how much power that magic marker yields if you ask someone to draw what the situation looks and feels like from their perspective. You will literally get a front row seat to what is going on in their mind. How are they feeling about the situation? What barriers do they see? How do they think they fi t in?

A new strategy, or any change for that matter, can elicit feelings of trepidation and intimidation. However, if you approach a situation with curiosity, truly engaging employees along the way, they feel invested and part of the solution, instead of feeling like they are taking orders.

Using a visual tool to kick off conversations about strategic direction will produce the qualitative feedback necessary to get everyone moving in the same direction. It will complement the hard data and the numbers. It will make your people more vocal and allow them to see your business issues in a new way. They can look at it, add to it, remove from it – make it theirs. In the end, you don’t just have a picture; you have a common mental business model and people engaged and invested in your future.

Metaphors make sense to us because they help us connect a new idea to something

we already know.

The next issue of the Watercooler newsletter is November/December.

Events & InformationWatch a video about Engaging Your People Using the Power of Visualization, http://ow.ly/du5Lc.

Free Webinar on October 10: “Best Practices for Getting Clear & Aligned on Strategies,” with Jeff Lindeman, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, and Gary Magenta, Root. Details coming soon: www.rootinc.com.

The Creativity Workshop in New York, October 19–22. To register, go to creativityworkshop.com.

Visit Root at The Human Capital Leadership Forum in New York, October 23. Go to argyleforum.com for more details.

Hear Eric Rosenstiel, Hampton Hotels, and Brian Donovan, Root, present “How to Build an Internal Social Network that Drives Collaboration,” at DevLearn on October 31. To register, go to: http://www.elearningguild.com

Root will host a forum to explore its manager development program, Root Compass, on December 4 and 5. Contact Alison Lazenby at [email protected] for more information.

Florida Creativity Weekend, March 1–3, 2013. Go to fl creativity.com for details.

Creative Problem Solving Institute, June 2013. To sign up for updates, go to cpsi.creativeeducationfoundation.org.

Mindcamp, August 22–25, 2013, Toronto, Canada. Go to mindcamp.org for more information.

Watercooler SketchesNeed an insightful, interactive experience for your team, department meeting, or annual conference? Check out our Watercooler Kits! We use the Watercooler™

sketches from previous newsletters to create a kit that includes a large version of the sketch, dialogue for conversation, and a guide to help you facilitate the experience. www.watercoolernewsletter.com

Documents

Creative and Visual Methods