You Don’t Have to Be a “Creative” to Be Creative

Fast Company
Reid Carr

What does a person deemed “creative” look like? You might picture a man with horn-rimmed glasses in a long-sleeved black mock turtleneck or a young woman, powered by caffeine, donning the latest fashions. They are certain to come up with the next big idea, the white knight, at each and every brainstorming session, or maybe not.

There is no question that some people are more inventive than others, but is that “right brain” a product of nature or nurture? I like to err on the side of nurture. Sure we have a creative team at Red Door Interactive, but we don’t believe in segregating them from the rest of the company. We truly believe that ingenuity can be learned by anyone, it’s just a matter of structuring an environment that fosters it. Here are a few ways we go about unlocking the unexpected.

Don’t babysit employees. We feel it’s important for managers to let each staff member identify their own path of least resistance, much like water. It’s not about a CEO setting the goals for the company. Rather, it’s about empowering teams and individuals to map out their own plans and objectives to help unleash what’s possible. That places an emphasis on creative problem solving right out of the gate. While this requires a great deal of trust and mutual respect, the end result can be a more motivated and inspired workforce.

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