Essential

Boost
group creativity

Working as a team is not always easy. To be creative collectively is even

harder. Certain good practices can help, such as encouraging an instinctive
connection between people through play, putting the team in a stimulating
environment and creating rituals that in time result in creative opportunities.

A strong link

An instinctive connection The ABC game

Letting new ideas emerge means creating a close
relationship between people, creating a flow of
thoughts and associations, and a continuous cross-
fertilization of ideas. A positive, non-judgmental
attitude is required. The ideal approach would
be to develop an almost instinctive connection
between people, so that ideas flow from one
person to another, and each time are improved,
developed and strengthened. To achieve this,
certain practices borrowed from non-professional
backgrounds can help.
The ABC game is one of them. Taken from theater
training, this game consists of reciting the alphabet
in order, without making a mistake and without
anyone starting to say a letter at the same time as
anyone else. If anyone makes a mistake or speaks
at the same time as someone else, the team must
start over. What makes things more complicated is
that the various players have to stand with their eyes
closed without knowing who is going to speak and
when.

A stimulating environment

The impact of the environment
The working environment directly influences how
each individual feels every day and affects the
creativity of the team. An austere environment
that is too functional risks stifling imagination and
inspiration, suppressing the outpouring of new ideas
in the team, unconsciously encouraging it to fall back
on proven productive formulas. An environment in
which people feel both at ease and stimulated, on
the other hand, can help them to think outside the
box and express new ideas.

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Boost
group creativity
A creative environment
This means providing a workspace that encourages
people to be in touch with their feelings and
emotions, that stimulates their creativity and offers
them a new playing field to develop new ideas. It
could take the form of exhibiting works of art in
the company's offices to put staff in touch with
their creative side or, more radically, like Google, to
create creative break areas, such as bubble chairs
in quiet rooms, subdued lighting in break areas,
a games room or creative area equipped with new
tools for expressing themselves (drawing, model
making, collage, etc.). For example, if a team has
been asked to think about a supply problem, they
might find that sitting on a carpet with a building
game encourages a fun and intuitive approach to
the problem which is likely to generate radically
new solutions.
Inspiring rituals
Creating long-term
A team will be creative over the long term if time
for reflection, searching for ideas, consultation and
discussion is made available on a regular basis,
and not just during isolated events. This is what a
well-known advertising agency clearly understood
because it makes every new client plan an occasion
for communication and internal celebration, to mark
the start of a new collaboration and the need to
mobilize all its forces internally.
In a similar way, it may be beneficial to celebrate the
arrival of each new customer or the launch of each
new project by holding a celebration or some other
event that brings people together and encourages
them to come up with new ideas.
Example: A staff member makes a large-scale visit
to every new customer, before debriefing the team
responsible for maintaining the account in question
and making some value proposals to it during a
dedicated celebration.
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Any representation or reproduction for any use other than private use is explicitly forbidden.
Essential
The role of symbols
Modifying the workspace means making it creative
and creating symbols that affect staff deeply,
positively influencing how they feel. Leaving the
work environment and holding workshops in
inspiring places such as creative venues and art
spaces can also be highly creative. In addition to
strategy and discussing concepts, the priority given
to innovation is physically lived in an environment
that puts each individual in touch with the others
and their feelings.
Creating rituals
The team will be even more creative over the long
term, since it will benefit from rituals that in time
will assist it in coming up with new ideas. Rituals
mobilize people by virtue of their repetition, the
rhythm they give to work and the way they are
staged. They create the stability that enables people
to think outside the box, to explore new approaches
and ways of doing things. It is important to avoid
inertia, however, and to accept disruption to the
ritual in order to retain its vitality.
Example: An annual team-building event to think
creatively about next year, but changing the
environment and activity every year.
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