The question arose, “Do creative people always seek out new experiences, or do people become more creative as they experience new things?”.  Seems like the classic “chicken or the egg” question, but is it really?  Is this really about the need many people have to be in complete control (or at least to have the illusion of being in complete control) of their lives?  Fundamentally speaking, can you be both a control-freak and a highly creative person, or are these in conflict with one another?

I fall into the camp of “these things are opposites”.  I can’t possibly get to a new place if I’m only going to consider going down a tried and true path.  Creativity demands that I be flexible and allow the outcome to evolve as I learn.  I must be open to new stimuli and willing to incorporate it into my life on a continuous basis.  While I can (and should) set goals and objectives for myself, these need to be directional in nature and not constraining.

I think everyone knows this at some level, but many are in denial.  There are a lot of pseudo-creatives out there that try to do different things to show how open they are to new experiences.  But look closely and you’ll see the truth.  One of the families that I referred to earlier orders fish and chips when they go out to eat.  They will order these from one of three different local restaurants when they dine out.  Upon returning from a recent vacation, they were talking about a great new place they ate, how local it felt and how well it represented the area they were visiting.  But when asked what they’d ordered… you guessed it; fish and chips!

So in answer to my chicken and egg question…  Do creative people seek out new experiences?  YES.  Are people more creative because they are exposed to new experiences? ALSO YES.  The lesson here is that we can all become more creative by the choices we make. While control and routine may provide us with comfort, they may hold us back if we are trying to grow and expand our ways of thinking.

There’s a psychological term called Confirmation Bias.   Simply stated “there  is a tendency of people to favor information that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses”.  In the case of the above meetings, I (naturally looking to change things up) focus on the information that demonstrates dissatisfaction or problems.  The people in the meeting that are fine with the status quo focus on the comments that are more positive and  dismiss the negative comments as irrelevant.

I know there is a world of Brain Science research out there that explains this in great detail.  In a nutshell, our brains save countless time by looking for patterns and putting new found information into existing “buckets”.  Therefore, it is physically easier to apply new learning to an existing belief than to open up new storage areas for unique thoughts.  (I apologize to all of my neuro-science friends for this gross oversimplification). 

So what can we do about it?  Awareness is the key.  Don’t limit your understanding to the first glance of new findings.  Knowing your brain is filtering this information can allow you to look a second time and attempt to see the information as it truly is.  Listening (with an open mind) to others’ opinions on the same data can also benefit you.  

This is no different than physical exercise.  It’s hard at first and it makes you very fatigued.  But before long it becomes a habit and your body comes to appreciate it.

Watch for this in your next meeting.  Once you are aware of it, you’ll see it everywhere.  If you can learn to see past your own natural bias, you will be able to add value that is appreciated by everyone in your organization.

It seems to me that this is how many organizations view innovation.  They love to talk about it and plan for it in the future.  But just like me, the inertia of not doing it is very tough to overcome.  Insufficient resources, lack of time, too many “pains” in the present to focus on the future.  Yep.  That’s all true.  But if you want to be around for the long haul, it’s time to lace up your shoes and start innovating.  Once you start, it may even become a habit!

While this logic seems obviously flawed, I began thinking further about this.  What business actually buys anything?  Companies don’t buy things, people do.  Granted, they may work for companies, but ultimately it’s a person that is making the decision whether or not to purchase a product or a service.  Isn’t that person ultimately a consumer?  They make their choice based upon their personal experiences, opinions and biases.  It may not be in a retail setting, but just like Average Joe, they are considering their budget, their options, and their personal preferences as they make their decision.

So my question remains… Is there really such a thing as a business to business sale?  Or aren’t we all actually selling to consumers at some level?

Unexpected delays?  Really???  It turns out my flights had already been cancelled (24 hours in advance – I’ve never had that happen before).  The Eastern Seaboard has shut down almost all public transportation.  Baltimore alone had 7 Severe Weather Warnings as of this morning, predicting massive power outages, severe flooding, devastating winds, etc.  But it’s good to know that my contact there was welcoming us in and letting us know they’d help us if we ran into any inconveniences.

Optimism is one thing.  But burying your head in the sand is quite another.  I’ve never personally met the guy that sent me the email, I’m sure he’s a great person.  But how can anyone be so oblivious?  Yet having said that… I see this in business all the time.  People are warned about incoming storms, they see it on the horizon, but they remain convinced that it won’t impact them  Be it economic, or personnel related most corporate crises were obvious in coming, when looking backward.

Running a business is really not that much different than planning for a storm.  We need to be constantly watching the horizon, listening to the news and being aware of our surroundings.  When we hear of an impending storm, we need not panic, but we should put contingency plans into place.  We need to set aside ample reserves in the good times to get us through rough stretches.  And we need to invest in the future to make us more resilient for future storms.

I pray that our contacts in Baltimore all weather this storm safely.  But my guess is it won’t be business as usual, and they’ll probably have to deal with some unexpected delays.  As for me and my business, I’m going to take this as a good reminder and lesson.

My company, Insight2, was a major sponsor of the first annual Day of Innovation (#dayofinnovation).  The event was put on by Centric, a local Indy-based innovation organization.   It was an incredible day featuring keynote speakers, breakout sessions, experiential activities and networking.  Capping off the evening was the second annual Indiana Innovation Awards which recognized nine companies from around the state for their successful and unique new product offerings.

The beauty of this event was in its diversity.  There are several other innovation groups around Indianapolis, but they are all very focused on their segment (e.g. tech-sector, medical products, start-ups, non-profit).  This was the first event that really reached out to all segments and provided value from a variety of sources.  One panel discussion alone included a consumer products company, an alternative energy solution and a B2B branding company.  The topic was Effective Innovation.  It was fantastic to see both the similarities and the differences between these three groups in terms of what is effective and what drives effectiveness.

Each of us should continually expose ourselves to ideas and philosophies that fall outside of our normal circles.  We learned about a non-profit that went from losing money to triple-digit growth based upon ethnographic research.  We heard about the value of conflict in the innovation process and we heard 9 key steps to successful innovation form our keynote speaker Deborah C. Stephens.  No typical conference would have each of these types of speakers or presenters.  This was truly a great day.  And I for one, and extremely proud to have been a part of it.

This morning after my run I jumped in the shower (typically a cool shower to help me cool down).  But one shower was turned on hot and the other turned on cold.  My first reaction was to adjust them to be the same temperature, but then I decided not to.  I adjusted the angle of the heads so that the hot shower was running on my legs (relaxing my tired muscles) and the cold shower was running on my head and shoulders (helping me to stop sweating).  It was a very different feeling from my typical experience.  The showers didn’t blend together at all.  I was continually aware of each and the unique value that it provided.  It was if each stream of water was fighting with the other to get my attention.

The analogy that came to my mind was the teams that we surround ourselves with at work.  Our natural inclination is to hire a bunch of like-minded (warm water) people that fit our existing culture.  Just like the shower, it is often hard to see where one individual’s contribution starts and another person’s ends.  That is wonderful if quick unity is the primary goal.  But effective innovation is born from conflict and difference.  It is at the intersection of where the hot and cold water meet.

How diverse is your team?  Do you have different temperatures coming together in one setting?  Are you aware of the strengths and opinions that each person brings or have you settled for a comfortable environment where every situation and conversation feels the same?  If you want to be an innovative company, surround yourself with diversity, and value the unique opinions and perspectives that surface.  Avoid the temptation to achieve homogenization and the “simplicity” that brings.  Just like the shower, it will feel strange at first, but you can come to appreciate the value that each player brings.

I’ve seen this same scenario play out in multiple companies.  ”If we just take our manufacturing off-shore, then we’ll have a tremendous price advantage…”  ”Let’s outsource our design to the Chinese manufacturer, that will further lower our cost…”  Fast forward eighteen months, and the big-box retailers that they were working so hard to please suddenly realize that the company no longer adds any value to the equation.  So, they decide to source directly from the overseas manufacturer to avoid the US mark-up and the original company finds itself without manufacturing, without engineering, without distribution and ultimately without a need to exist at all.

It’s not just a recent thing.  Back in my Whirlpool days, I helped create a very innovative product road map for one of their business units.  Internal management was quite excited about the possibility of how this product could change the market and bring unforeseen benefits to their customers.  About that time a large consulting group out of Boston was brought in.  They looked at the same business unit and suggested that Whirlpool invest no money in it, and should follow a cost-reduction strategy to become profitable.  You guessed it… within two years, the product became a complete commodity and sold off at a fraction of its former worth.

You can’t cost reduce your business to profitability.  You just can’t.  Whatever numbers you calculate that show you will have an advantage will quickly be copied by your competition forcing you into further, deeper cuts.  It’s a death spiral from which there is no recovery.  Innovation is not a buzz word, it is a critical business strategy.  Companies need to focus on adding value to their offerings, not cost reducing them.  Separate from the pack, don’t try to dive beneath it.  At what point will the number junkies look up from their spreadsheets and see what is really going on in the world?

First let’s look at the corporate culture.  Private and publicly held companies are both under extreme pressure to deliver financial returns for the short run.  It’s hard to convince shareholders (or banks, or holding companies) to wait two years for something great to occur.  Expectations are set on a quarterly basis.  With such intense pressure to deliver in the short term, it’s much easier pursue incremental change than to embark on a longer term innovation strategy.  Companies will begin innovation efforts with the big picture in mind, but often succumb to the pressure and pursue only those ideas that can be knocked out quickly.

From an individual employee standpoint, the pressure is very similar.  Who in corporate America expects to be in their current job two years from now?  Even if an individual doesn’t change jobs, the reality is the organization will most likely change around them shifting all priorities and efforts accordingly.  What motivates a person to embark on an effort that lasts a long time?  The person that delivers a project seems to get the credit, not the one that does the hard work on the front end.  Over the course of a typical, strategic innovation project it’s not uncommon to see multiple people at the helm, each adding their own opinion and wanting to put their mark on the effort in case it happens to be successful.

It’s not lack of interest, its lack of vision beyond the immediate future.  Companies spend considerable time and effort creating one, three and five year plans.  But the initiatives that get pursued are those that can be delivered quickly to show an immediate impact on the bottom line.  Can anything be done to shift this mindset?  Or are we doomed to a culture of incrementalism?