Encouraging a culture of creativity

There has been a lot written over the years about “releasing your creativity” and “thinking outside the box”.

I suspect, though, most of us already have ideas about changes we would like to see implemented in our programs. And we keep getting shut down. There is more to having a culture of creativity than coming up with new ideas. It’s about supporting those ideas.

Years ago, I was an area director in Toastmasters International. One of my tasks was to organize our semi-annual area speaking contests. One of the main challenges in doing so was finding enough qualified judges to attend.

There were five areas in my division, and we were all competing for the same few judges. As the contests all needed to be held within a very small time window, a judge was rarely able to attend more than two.

I approached the other area directors with the idea that we hold all the contests on the same date, in the same location, one after the other. That way, most of the judges would be able to serve at most, if not all, of the contests. As a bonus, we could share the work and expense of organizing the event. They were thrilled with the idea. Our division director, however, was not.

“It’s never been done before.” “This isn’t how we do things.” “Sharing the work means you won’t develop the leadership skills from putting on your own events” (Collaboration isn’t a leadership skill?) And so on. The idea was squashed.

Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever done it to someone else? Has a volunteer ever come to you with an idea for the program and you thought first about why it wouldn’t work? If you want to build an innovative volunteer program, there are three things you need to do:

Remove barriers.

Building a culture of creativity is about more than coming up with new ideas. It’s about removing the barriers to implementing those ideas. When you immediately think of the reasons why an idea won’t work, take some time to brainstorm ways of getting around those reasons. Can a small tweak be made in the idea? Can a policy be changed just enough to allow it to work? If a certain resource could be freed up, would that set the idea up for success? It’s important to come up with all the reasons that something won’t work. Not to use them as excuses for keeping with the status quo, but to use them as building blocks to strengthen the concept and prevent it from failing.

Strengthen the idea.

This is the whole “yes, and…” strategy. In addition to removing barriers, how can we add to the idea to make it even better? Not just change things to make it workable, but find ways of stretching the idea so it can solve multiple problems, or have even greater reach? Again, brainstorm. Work with the person who brought you the idea and see what you can come up with. It may be that they had an even bigger plan for the concept, but thought that it was too far-fetched. Or thought that you would think it too far-fetched. Once people know that you welcome even extravagant ideas, you are well on your way to having an innovative volunteer program.

Celebrate all the idea people

Removing barriers and building on ideas are a key steps to developing the creativity in your program, but it’s not they aren’t only ones. Make sure that the people who come up with those ideas, whether they be staff, volunteers, clients or whomever, are celebrated and acknowledged. Even if their idea turns out to be unfeasible.

Don’t just celebrate the idea generator, celebrate those who come up with ways to remove barriers or who add to the idea. In ice hockey (hey, I am Canadian after all), points are awarded not only to those players who score goals but also to those who assist in the goal—the same number of points—because the goal couldn’t be achieved without both. It’s the same with ideas. The idea can’t be fully realized without someone to come up with the idea and someone to find ways to remove the barriers to executing or to add to the concept.

We all want our volunteer programs to be strong, adaptable and innovative. Don’t just focus on coming up with new ideas, though. Support those ideas.

A few years after my term as area director for Toastmasters, I took on the role of division director. I dropped a hint to the area directors who reported to me about the idea I had. They ran with it. I supported them in every way I could, including having repeated discussions with my executive.

Permission finally came through and the combined event was a huge success, not just that year, but for several years following.

Having a culture of creativity is about more than developing innovative ideas. It’s doing what it takes to get those ideas implemented. Good luck, and happy implementing.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.