– Prakash Krishnamurthy
The corporate world has completely capitulated itself to “time.” We are too busy meeting deadlines or compiling unwanted data and reports fetched through internal requests. ‘Time’ has dictated the life and activities of everyone on a daily basis. “Time is money” is the slogan of the corporate world. Today, in most companies – there is a big race to catch up with “time.” Annual targets seem too distant and beyond the horizon, which has generated immense fear -resulting in a “mindless haste” to cover up the “long distance.” Quarterly targets have been sliced and diced into – monthly and fortnightly goals. There is a relentless push to achieve revenue numbers and growth within the organizations. This “push” has percolated down and across to the depths and breadth of the organization.
“You can’t push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb.”
In today’s world – the ‘Sales team’ is focused and dedicated completely to achieving their revenue goals. The ‘Finance team’ is overwhelmed with tasks of generating revenue reports and analyzing the comparative matrix of past years. The ‘HR team’ is lost in the maze of appraisals, appointments, and investigating legal gaps for attritions. The ‘technical team’ seems to be totally over-burdened by demo’s, POC’s, implementations, and accreditations.
The ‘logistics and support team’ seem to be juggling the barrage of quote requests, shipment deliveries, and complex documentation. Finally, the ‘marketing team’ seems to be busily catching up with social posts, long lists of requests for events, and communication between vendors, partners, and colleagues. Above all this, even the ‘senior management team’ seems to be inundated with” “team evaluation, decision-making process, strategic thinking, and connecting the dots with other business leaders.
So, the whole company seems to be immersed in the ocean of tasks, activities, and responsibilities. In such a scenario – what happens to the creative thinking abilities of all the employees within the organization?
Hence, the big question is – Is this creativity getting utilized, or is it getting corroded?
There is a belief that “every human being has creative greatness within him/her.” Even though the corporate world is rampant with grand statements like “thinking out of the box,” “qualitative thinking,” “knowledge transfer,” etc. – does it fall in the category of creative thinking? Most creative thinking is focused on problem-solving or addressing issues – rather than ideating or enhancing imagination. Similarly, a great amount of effort is invested into ‘simplifying’ the task or activity – rather than conceptualizing a new or fresh method of doing the task. Moreover, the need for creative thinking percolated to the lowest rank of the organization structure.
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge – but imagination.”
Creative thinking is an “inventive” thought process. It is a skill that lets you consider things from a fresh perspective. It helps you in gaining new insights into your quotidian tasks and activities. A new creative idea can make you feel ‘brilliant’ and unstoppable. It also adds up to building your own confidence and happiness in your mundane work. It is always easy to get stuck in the same thought patterns – however, it is an incredible feeling of “freedom” to think differently. If the thought pattern is the same – then the output is mostly limited to a small scope.
Many times employees feel that they are trying and doing their best, but still, people don’t get satisfied with the results. Suppose the attempt is to “please or get acceptance” from the other side. In that case, it is a weak effort; however, if the passion is to deliver something exceptional, creativity becomes a natural trait.
“The dreamers are the saviors of the world.”
All this adds up to – why creativity is so important.
For a company to grow and be competitive in the market – the employee community needs to evolve itself to the next level. The next level could be a critical role or a leadership position requiring ownership and responsibility. If an employee has not advanced meritoriously – then they become a barrier in the “path of progress” for the company as well as the team. “Creativity” is one of the key traits to transcend ourselves towards quality enlightenment. Creativity leads to happiness and motivation among all the team members.
Time and again, it has been noticed that senior managers or even the senior management team have ignored or undermined the creative abilities of their colleagues or even their own team members. This “escapism” mindset does not fall into the merits of being a quality employee or a good leader. Today a leader is valued if he works closely with his team members on “creative concepts and ideas.” Creativity is the “secret weapon and silent tool” of every growing organization. The world requires more and more altruistic and resilient employees as well as leaders to ignite the torch of progress. Every department starting from Sales, Technical, Finance, HR, Logistics, Support, and Marketing, needs to engage in “the quality or creative thinking.” The true sign of a successful company is based on how well the employees have evolved and how effectively the leaders have been empowered.
“Your limitation is only your imagination.”
Brief
To attain growth within the organization, the complete employee community needs to evolve towards creative thinking and empowerment to become better leaders. The corporate world is full of hustle and bustle. Everyone seems to be in an endless race towards achieving materialistic goals. In this article, it is an attempt to show the value of “creative thinking” and how it has become a necessity for attaining growth.
