How many times have you wondered why you are unable to
"think-out-of-the-box" more often?
We are all products of our environment and our backgrounds
usually prevent us from viewing situations with the unique
eyes of our personal experience.
However, the leaders who think "out-of-the-proverbial-box"
do so by incorporating what I like to see as a,
Strategically Wise Synergistic Process of Creation.
These creative thinkers apply their own kinds of
action-oriented logic to problems to help them find new
wisdom, discover opportunities or see the facts in
different ways.
In a word, truly creative types act differently, in ways
that we'll call "Logical Action-Steps".
Logical Action-Step One: Achieve Understanding not Mere
Reasoning
You want to find the basic or underlying meanings of the
problems facing your group.
You could reason-out what is happening, by using your linear
thinking skills to negotiate, analyze or plan your response.
For instance, you could notice that it is more chilly, by 15
degrees, this evening than it was yesterday at this same
time which is certainly a reasonable observation.
Your could use your reasoning prowess to remember the
cooling trend of last month's temperatures and conclude that
it was windier and the skies much clearer [of clouds] for
most of last night and today - therefore you would assume
that it was those factors which contributed to a colder
night tonight than it was last night.
Creative thinkers would aggressively investigate the weather
by:
- intensely searching for answers,
- through disillusioning or transforming their
pre-conceptions,
- looking within, around and beneath the conditions,
- recognizing and deeply understanding their core
assumptions about the weather
Logical Action-Step Two: Seek The Strategist's Viewpoint
If you're like most knowledge-workers, you probably have a
fairly extensive network of friends, colleagues, and
associates. Your social network has been built over time
through your individual experiences, efforts and encounters.
Strategists release the latent energies of their social
networks through collaborative inquiries into finding new
solutions, handling challenges and exploiting opportunities
for transformation.
Thus by being the strategist you actively look for ways to
create, leverage and extend synergy throughout your group.
You would want to set-up an environment or atmosphere of
synergism where your team interacts and has processes or
policies which encourage interactions in such a way so that
the total impact of the group's efforts adds up to be more
than the mere sum of their individual contributions.
Logical Action-Step Three: Engage in First-Person Research
Creative leaders make it a point to evaluate the progress of
their own personal development - such as, the stages of
growth and the legitimacy of each stage, they also assess
their behavior and preferences.
Do you regularly or completely write down or record your
thoughts, feelings and ideas? How much effort do you devote
to keeping a journal, a diary or notes on your inner self?
Are you the type of person who looks for and analyzes the
contradictory desires inside yourself or do you tend to
notice a distinction between your desires and intentions?
What do you use to practice consciousness development or
strengthening activities? In what ways do you structure your
time to engage in meditation, martial arts, crafts or
improvisational theater kinds of activities?
Logical Action-Step Four: Empower Their Shifts To Change
You can add power to your group through practicing
techniques which enable people to discover the ideas,
approaches and solutions hidden within them.
Effective leaders transform interpersonal activities into
creative exercises. They orient their followers to focus on
reflecting, learning, thinking, questioning, resolving,
creating,
discussing, debriefing, playing and interacting.
You would involve and join your stakeholders - partners,
associates, peers, suppliers, constituents and others who
might a part or vested interest in your venture - to build a
shared vision with as broad a group of your stakeholders as
possible.
Logical Action-Step Five: Capitalize on Wise Synergism
Perhaps you have heard of the principle of master-mind - it's
where two or more people harmonize their thinking around
a specific project or problem for the express purpose of
forming a mind that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Great inventors and leaders like Thomas Edison, George
Washington, Alfred Nobel and many others used their
master-mind groups to generate fantastic innovations,
policies and achievements for all humankind.
You can leverage the collaborative activities of your team
through the strategist's approach to leadership. You can
expand the time horizon of your strategies to encompass a
range from 3 to 21 years.
The benefits that strategic leaders provide is that their
groups enjoy opportunities to:
- Share their reflections on your mission and vision
- Openly disclosure, support and confront any differences
between the organization's and their personal values
- Conduct corporate and personal performance appraisals
- Creatively resolve paradoxes or contradictions in
productivity versus inquiry, autonomy versus control, and
quality versus quantity
- Interactively develop self-amending and self-correcting
structures
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You can multiply your creativity and creative leadership
skills just by applying these strategies to all of your
problems, situations and decisions.
Experts in psychology, management and organizational
sciences call these strategies, "action-logic" - their
studies reveal that professionals generally fall into one of
three different behavioral categories:
1) Reactive - 5%
2) Preventive - 85%
3) Creative - 10%
This article has described the "creative" forms of
action-logic - by using these strategies people will be
moved to call you an "individualist", a "strategist" or a
"magician"!
"I am personally convinced that one person can be a change
catalyst, a "transformer" in any situation, any
organization. Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an
entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative, patience,
respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a
transforming leader." Stephen R. Covey
Are you ready to leverage, empower and energize your
creative leadership? Are you willing to be that catalyst,
agent of change or provocateur who inspires others to
contribute to the growth of your organization?
Ensure the success of your "Strategically Wise Synergistic
Process of Creation" with these 5 "Logical Action Steps" -
your teammates and organization will be so glad you did.
Mustard Seed Investments Inc.
Copyright © 2004, All rights reserved
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bill Thomas produces "The Leadership Toolkit" - a web
based training program that improves your leadership skills,
energizes creativity and transforms you into a persuasive,
empowering leader. Inspire Confidence, Be Creative, Enhance
Your Leadership Influence - Get "All the Tools You Need To
Lead!" http://www.leadership-toolkit.com/info.html
------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author
Bill Thomas produces "The Leadership Toolkit" - a web
based training program that improves your leadership skills,
energizes creativity and transforms you into a persuasive,
empowering leader. Inspire Confidence, Be Creative, Enhance
Your Leadership Influence - Get "All the Tools You Need To
Lead!" http://www.leadership-toolkit.com/info.html
Written by: Bill Thomas
