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Creativity
Seven Strategies for Changing the World
Or, how to prepare yourself for creative contribution to society.
Posted December 18, 2014
What do you talk about when you talk at Korea’s TECH+ Forum, described as a series of “TED talks on steroids?” Why, the fundamental elements of creativity, of course!
We were recently honored by the Korean government with an invitation to provide the keynote address at the 2014 TECH+ conference, TECH+ standing for Technology, Economy, Culture and Humanity. The goal of the conference was to highlight how these four fields can be integrated to foster open innovation, design, green growth, and the arts through innovation and entrepreneurial business practices. Organized like a series of TED talks on steroids, the forum was hosted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), and the JoongAng Ilbo (part of JoongAng Media Network, a leading media group in Korea).
Bob represented us, providing a summary of many of our fundamental ideas about creativity in a talk entitled “Seven Strategies for Changing the World”. These strategies have been culled from Bob’s thirty years of personal experience as a management consultant for major biotech, pharmaceutical, and chemical companies as well as our ongoing study of successful innovators from every imaginable discipline. Here, in summary, is the essence of Bob’s talk.
The seven strategies can each be summarized with a single verb: 1) Imagine; 2) Question; 3) Doubt; 4) Constrain; 5) Train; 6) Match; 7) Act. We believe that each strategy Bob presented can be learned and practiced separately, with benefits for everyday problem solving, so they are well worth keeping in mind whenever you undertake any new project. Together, they are far more powerful, representing a roadmap for transformational change.
Imagine: Every act begins in the imagination. Every change begins with an unmet desire. Every innovation begins with a dream. You must first imagine the world as you want it to be before you can remake it according to your vision. Compare your imagined world with the real one and the differences represent the challenges you face in changing the world. Among these challenges, find one that excites you enough to commit your time and energy to it. In short, begin by building imaginary worlds.
Question: Challenges are full of diverse problems. Problem finding and the ability to formulate penetrating questions are far more important skills than problem solving. Einstein said that if he were given one hour to solve a problem upon which his life depended, he would spend fifty-five minutes making sure that he really understood the problem. Few people and fewer companies follow Einstein’s advice, which simply inhibits their creativity. The fact is that information and expertise are easy to find; good questions that can make use of them are rare. So cultivate informed ignorance. Frame great questions.
Doubt: If a problem persists, it is because the experts don’t have the answer. They may even be asking the wrong question (see above!). More importantly, there are no experts in the unknown and every new challenge is an unknown. Doubt the experts; trust yourself. If you really understand your challenge, then you know more about the questions you need to answer, and the kinds of answers that are possible, than anyone else.
Constrain: Creativity is often confused with breaking rules and free association, but the specific questions and problems constituting any given challenge define the specific set of knowledge, skills, methods and materials needed to address it. Instead of trying to “think outside the box” or “brainstorm” a thousand possibilities, embrace the constraints that your challenge imposes upon you. Build your own box; then think freely inside it. That way you can be sure that any solutions you arrive at will certainly be useful.
Train: Every challenge also defines the kind of person who can meet it. That’s the point in asking well-formulated questions and carefully studying the constraints that are intrinsic to their formulations. A good problem-statement tells you what you need to know and do to solve it. Add to that the fact that experts don’t have the answers to these outstanding problems and you are led inexorably to the conclusion that new problems require new types of knowledge and skills to resolve them. And, in fact, successful innovators are always unusually trained. Their unusual training is critically important not only for recognizing challenges that other people do not, but also for bringing to bear the unusual combinations of skills and knowledge that are required to solve them. So the broader and deeper your training, the better equipped you will be to discover new challenges that you uniquely have the ability to solve. Specialize in breadth: become a polymath.
Match: We have noticed that one of the most common reasons that people fail to become successful innovators is that they are not properly trained to create the world they imagine. Part of this failure is due to our tendency to educate everyone in the same way in the same schools with the same curricula. But every challenge, and every question that is raised within a challenge, is unique and requires unique training to be addressed. So find challenges that match your skills, knowledge and desires. Build on your strengths: do well what you can do.
Act: The other common reason people fail to innovate is that they wait for permission to act. Every innovator has been faced with seemingly insuperable obstacles. Experts have said that the challenge is impossible or worthless. Administrators have refused to provide resources, people, budgets, and equipment. Granting agencies have turned down applications without even giving them a full evaluation. All this is par for the course. If you wait for approval, you’ll never begin. So don’t wait. Begin with what you have. Work within your constraints. Create your own opportunities by proving, one step at a time, that you can make progress. In short, act, and act now.
If you can practice all of these strategies—imagine, question, doubt, constrain, train, match, and act – then you have the ability to create a challenge that can change the world. Good luck!
