Engagement is emotional before it is rational

Sports people practise. Musicians practise. Scientists experiment. But we seem to think that organisational change and development projects will reach new heights if we simply have a rational discussion.

To get better at basketball or surfing you don’t just talk about it, you practise it. Doing feeds thinking and thinking feeds doing. Teams learn to work together through practising together. They become engaged. They build a relationship based around their senses.

Creativity exercises the senses. It also encourages openness, fun, teamwork and humour, which help to break down barriers. When we experience the power of taking action together, particularly around an agreed project or plan, of sensing our way forward, of experimenting, we can become true collaborators. And, almost incidentally, we become more engaged. Because engagement is emotional before it is rational.

Getting results

Getting results is essential. Creativity often gets a bad rap because it’s ‘warm and fuzzy’ but doesn’t lead to outcomes. Getting results requires both divergent and convergent thinking and knowing when to use each to full effect.

It is critical to know when to reintroduce our critical faculties, to make choices and decisions. If we commit only a token amount of time to creative activity it will lead to little but it will probably be fun. Too much creativity avoids the requirement to make choices and get outcomes.