Insight: Building blocks to success

Have you ever faced a challenge in the workplace and drawn a mental blank? From logistical problems to new marketing ideas, sometimes the creative solution just won’t come to you. What if I told you there was a way to improve this situation and change the way your brain approaches everyday challenges? The answer lies in unlocking your creativity.

Make no mistake, creativity isn’t just for marketing and innovation teams, and it isn’t something only ‘naturally creative’ types can be good at. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Future of Jobs report, more than 70% of companies consider creative thinking to be one of the skills most expected to rise in importance between 2023 and 2027. Creative thinking is vital to everyday life and work.

What is creativity and how do you improve yours?
One explanation I like is that “creativity is defined by an idea that is both novel and valuable”..After all, new and useful ideas are often what we need to innovate successfully in the workplace, whether it’s a budgeting challenge, a new kitchen layout or a new product development. Everything ultimately comes down to how you think. So, if you and your team can enhance your collective creative thinking capabilities, you could see a real change in how efficient, effective and innovative your operation is.

As adults, our ability to think creatively can stagnate; studies show we can get fixed in our mindset and unable to see past existing solutions and what’s already known. If this sounds familiar, don’t give up, there is a lot that can be done to prime our brains to think more creatively. This is a subject I recently explored in my dissertation as part of my masters in consumer psychology, where I took a deep dive into all the ways adults can unlock their creative brains.

The role of play
One of the simplest and incredibly underrated ways to boost your creative thinking abilities is through play. When was the last time you played like a child, with toys or in an unstructured way, letting your imagination wander? I’ll bet you haven’t done this recently.

As adults, we have little time for play and often feel guilty about it, perhaps even seeing it as a waste of time. However, research suggests there is a significant correlation between playfulness and creativity in both adults and children . Many studies indicate that play facilitates creativity. When you’re engaged in being playful – you think differently, you’re in the moment and you often suspend the logical and the rational in favour of fun and amusement. This altered state is what let’s creativity in, unlocking your capacity for thinking freely and priming you to see things differently.

Bringing play into the workplace
Play can be seen as serious business, with real benefits to organisations that embrace a fun culture. So how can you embrace play in your workplace? There are plenty of ways of do this and play dates aren’t just for kids, so why not arrange one for your team?

While I was researching my dissertation, I came across something called Lego Serious Play, which was originally developed by the company as an internal methodology for addressing business problems. Developed in association with academics, it’s a brainstorming approach based around the concept of taking a hands-on, playful approach to generating ideas.

 I loved the concept and the science behind it so much, I recently trained to become a Lego Serious Play facilitator and am now taking bookings from a range of organisations looking to boost their team’s creativity and innovation. I tried it out with my own team and it was incredible what came out of just a few hours spent with Lego bricks! Despite being a team that’s worked well together for over 10 years, we came away understanding each other so much better and full of energy and new ideas.

More ways to play
There are a lot of different ways to approach playfulness in the workplace; it’s about finding what works for your team. I now have a toolkit of playful tasks for stimulating creativity in the moment, building teams or, more specifically, innovation processes. In addition to the more well-established benefits associated with teambuilding activities, such as breaking down barriers between staff and a boost to wellbeing, you’ll learn so much about each other as a team through play.

The Lego Serious Play sessions, for example, ensure that 100% of the team are involved 100% of the time, giving everyone a chance to shine and be heard. You may discover that there are different sides and skills to the quieter or more junior members of your team; I know I came away with a different perspective after just one session with mine.

Training your creative muscle
Your workplace play dates don’t need to happen every week, but creativity is like a muscle – you’ve got to train it regularly if you want to keep it working well. After all my research into creativity, I actually do activities to nurture my own creativity every single day. However, I suggest easing yourself in and starting with a creative workshop to stimulate some new ideas for key periods in your organisation’s calendar (for example, Christmas, new year and Easter). This will help your team to perform at their creative best and bring innovative thinking to the workplace every day.

To find out more about how to unlock your team’s creativity, either in a Lego Serious Play workshop or by using other playful activities, get in touch at [email protected].

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