The usual suspects
Every organisation has them - people who are happy to take part in extra-curricular projects. It’s great to have enthusiasm and commitment, but logic dictates that working with the same people all the time is going to give you similar results every time. Try and think beyond the people who always have their hand up and consider the ones who never volunteer. The quiet ones. The shy ones. Or even the grumpy, ‘I don’t do this kind of stuff’ ones. They’ll almost certainly surprise you.
Adaptors vs innovators
As we discussed in an earlier post, everyone can be creative, but we all have different styles of thought. Adaptors are better at incremental change, while innovators tend to be better at creating something from nothing. You need a few of each in every team.
Different levels, perspectives and experiences
To a man with a hammer, every problem looks like a nail – it’s trite but true. People approach problems from their perspective and experience, and their creativity will be, in part, dictated by who they are. Mix it up with gender, ethnicity, background, seniority and any other factor you can throw in there. Experiment. See what happens!
Focus on the interactions, not the people
Margaret Heffernan’s fantastic TED talk about super chickens makes it very clear – creativity is what happens between people, not in them. Bringing people together in new and interesting ways is how you get the ideas flowing, so don’t be afraid to play around with different combinations.
X and Y
And finally, think about your gender mix. Studies have shown that in groups where over half of the members are women, they are interrupted less, talked over less, they contribute more, and the groups make better decisions. And not only that, but an MIT study found that the most creative teams were those with more women in them.
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