” I don't see where we're going... ” said a participant in one of the workshops I led a few weeks ago after an innovation conference for one of my customers, abroad.
” I understand the exercise, the instructions, but I don't see where we are going, what is the ultimate goal ”.
The classic objection that reveals one of the major challenges of the creative exercise when dealing with employees of large groups.
Between exploration and structure: the creative dilemma in business
” I don't see where we're going ” means I need a light at the end of the tunnel to move forward. I need direction, a guide. It's not even a path: you can take a path without knowing where you're going to explore. And precisely the exploration seemed to worry, disturb or
minima to perplex one of the participants. This is really the destination of the path that this participant asked me to better understand.
Taking a moment to perform an exercise whose purpose seems unclear at first glance is real nonsense for some.
Normal. In a large company we are so used to operating according to KIPs, deadlines. We are limited in time, because resources are limited, that's logical. We give an objective to be reached, and we then wait for a methodology, a roadmap, and we will judge as much on the results as on the means implemented.
Teams are used to being driven by a goal, a reason, an ultimate goal. Which, by the way, often comes from above.
Therefore, taking a moment to perform an exercise whose purpose seems obscure at first glance is a real nonsense for some. They feel lost.
Moving forward without maps or plans: the essence of creative exploration
And yet. The aim of this exercise, which I often use as an innovation speaker — “the random word exercise”, but there is no need to detail the mechanics of this exercise here to illustrate the point — is precisely to force employees to leave this comfort zone, out of this all-too-well known box that consists in waiting for someone to give you direction, to then move forward at full speed.
The goal IS the path when it comes to creativity.
As long as you are sensitive to encounters and what you discover on the road. As long as you are open to these discoveries, without being 100% “focused” on the famous objective. But that's another subject...
Ps: once all this was explained to the participant, it was his group that won the competition hands down! 😉
Alexis Botaya, creativity and innovation speaker
- My creativity podcast upon Majelan
- My Challenge Create to Innovate on WelcomeOriginals
