Live from FEI 2013: Creativity Under Pressure

In Todd Henry's opening keynote, we dove into the "People" side of innovation. Henry's challenge was for all of us in the audience to think about whether we were getting the best out of ourselves, our teams, and our organizations in our day to day interactions. The surprising answer was...probably not. The problem is, we are stuck in the middle - in mediocrity.

But, there is a solution. We can be prolific, brilliant, and healthy! The key is to make sure you have all three ingredients. If you take away healthy, you get "Fried." If you take away prolific, you get "Unreliable." Lastly, if you take away brilliant, you get "Fired!"

There are lots of studies on creativity. In one piece of research, Adobe found 75% of people do not feel they are living up to their creative potential.

Why?

There are two reasons. First, the creative process seems mystical. Occasionally we have an insight, but it is hard to figure out where it came from or how to do it again. This makes it difficult to create value. Second, we live in a create-on-demand world where we need to be creative, but we are not equipped with the tools to do so.

Perhaps what we need to do is reframe creativity. To Henry, creativity boils down to solving problems. The key is to push into uncomfortable places to get to those brilliant insights. The five steps Henry suggests include:

1. Define the Problem
2. Explore Options
3. Choose the Best Option
4. Execute
5. Rinse and Repeat