The simple fact is some people are creative and others unfortunately are not or have barely any discernible levels of creativity. Not everyone can be Van Gogh but with enough practice and motivation it is possible to be creative.
The environment you create as the owner of a startup will go a long way in determining if your employees will come up with ideas, solutions and innovations because you allow them to be creative and think not only outside the box but with no parameters what so ever.
Value Of Creativity
The reason creativity is encouraged and highly sought after is a creative person is motivated to come up with solutions to problems by any means necessary no matter how absurd the solution. While the solution may not be accepted by your company the fact a solution has been found can inspire and motivate the rest of your employees to find another answer. A creative person is a source of inspiration for a company with many intangible assets.
Rules
When you are establishing your startup and writing the rules and policies for behavior, appearance and work ask yourself if any of the rules smother creativity. Some rules and regulations are necessary but if you have so many rules it is all your employees think about you can throw creativity out the window. Rules will place limits on how a person thinks. If your startup is going to be a maverick and a risk taker you have to eliminate rules that eliminate original and creative thinking no matter how small they are.
Eliminate Fear
Don’t have a culture of fear in your startup. Creating an authoritarian environment with consequences for meaningless infractions will create a level of fear. Once it is perceived it will affect how your employees interact with management and each other. If you have an open environment without the threat of recrimination you will eliminate fear. This opens the work place to open dialogue where information and ideas can flow freely.
Attitude And Risk
The attitude you instill in your employees goes a long way in getting creative solutions when ever they have a problem. A positive attitude is one of the best ways to stimulate creativity and like rules a negative attitude places restriction on how a person thinks. When the right attitude is used you can take suitable levels of risk to come up with creative solutions. Asking what is the worst that could happen opens up many different possibilities for you and your employees.
Appreciation
Your business needs employees and the employees need you. It is a symbiotic relationship that thrives when both parties are doing well. Showing how much you appreciate your staff makes them feel more positive, secure and creative. When your employees are satisfied in their working environment they will be inspired to perform their task the best possible way and this usually ends up being the most creative way.
Understanding Creativity
One thing about creativity is it can not be harnessed and just like a well it seems to run dry at some point which is why you have to infuse new blood into your startup. Adding new staff periodically will motivate and inspire your current employees to remind them there are alternative ways of thinking out there.
Inspiration for creativity comes from many different sources but when your startup becomes sluggish don’t hesitate to wake everyone up by removing any and all limitations you have in place. While this will not guarantee a flood of creativity they will know their ideas will not be shot down without being looked at.
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