
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
------------------------------------------------------------
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
To Your Continued Prosperity,
Bill Thomas - Editor
+1-719-544-9949
...............................................
http://www.leadership-to olkit.com All-the-Tools-You-Need-to-Lead-and-Succeed! Mustard Seed Investments, Inc. 140 West 29th Street, #161 Pueblo, Colorado, 81008 USA
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
AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.
AP - The U.N. Security Council called for an "immediate" and "durable" cease-fire in Gaza in a resolution Thursday night even as fighting between Israel and Hamas raged — with early morning airstrikes killing seven Palestinians and pushing the death toll to about 760 in the near two-week conflict.
AP - A key panel unanimously recommended impeachment for Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday, setting up a vote that could make him the first governor to face such fate in Illinois' sordid political history. Blagojevich should lose his job for abusing power, mismanaging government and committing possible criminal acts, including federal allegations he tried to sell off a U.S. Senate seat, the special committee concluded.
AP - Tim Tebow gave Florida the jolt it needed, and the Gators toughed out a second BCS title in three years. Their 24-14 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in a choppy, sloppy affair Thursday night made them a national champion. But it likely did little to quiet fans of Southern California, Utah and Texas, all of whom already claimed the top spot.
AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.
AP - Less than a month after its first report, a congressional panel overseeing the Treasury Department's $700 billion financial bailout is demanding more answers.
AP - U.S. policy to win in Afghanistan must recognize the poor nation's limitations and its neighborhood, especially its intertwined relationship with U.S. terrorism-fighting ally Pakistan, the top U.S. military commander in the region said Thursday.
AP - Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that he sees no reason for President George W. Bush to pre-emptively pardon anyone at the CIA involved in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. "I don't have any reason to believe that anybody in the agency did anything illegal," he said.
AP - Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month in what is alleged to be largest financial fraud in history.
Reuters - The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip but Israeli warplanes launched intermittent attacks on Friday.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama warned on Thursday the U.S. economy could stay mired in recession for years without bold action and he urged lawmakers to work day and night to pass a massive stimulus plan.
Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.
Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Reuters - Al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and a top aide are believed to be dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest results of a campaign targeting the militant group's leadership.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama named Tim Kaine as head of the Democratic Party on Thursday, rewarding an early supporter with a high-profile political post even as he continues to serve as Virginia governor.
Reuters - Europe on Friday looked for a swift restoration of gas supplies, after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a rancorous pricing dispute with Kiev.
AFP - Israel was under intense pressure Friday to end its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip after the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire as the death toll from the war rose past 760.
AFP - Hopes for a quick resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe were rising Friday after Russia agreed on the terms for the deployment of monitors in Ukraine.
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation... Read More
We have all attended meetings that were boring, mindless and profoundly ineffective.... Read More
Escalating gas prices...tensions and turmoil in the Middle East...a struggling world economy.... Read More
This article relates to the Compensation and Benefits competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More
Project heroes. We've all heard of them. Some of us have even... Read More
"Without the chance to meaningfully participate in steering one's own destiny, without... Read More
All maintenance activities of the workforce must be documented, this includes breakdown... Read More
Look for sponsors and solution owners rather than problem owners.Everyone participating in... Read More
American CEOs are dropping like flies. Boards, armed with new federal rules... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation... Read More
Telecommuting or virtual work opens up a wider net of potential employees... Read More
Many books have been written about managing people, and an equally large... Read More
There is a pervasive assumption that small firms are more creative and... Read More
As Albert Einstein said:-"The significant problems we face today, cannot be solved... Read More
Howard Dean's tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee will be... Read More
Although this performance discussion is an opportunity for you to discuss your... Read More
Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most effective tools for... Read More
Are your people consistently following your procedures? Each year, organizations lose thousands... Read More
Before you start your own business one of the first things you... Read More
IntroductionThe role of the Human Resource Manager is evolving with the change... Read More
Audiences who saw the fabled Broadway musical, Chorus Line, marveled at the... Read More
Note: This article was written for a internet business site. It is... Read More
Whether you choose to do your own books and accounting or hire... Read More
Use this check list to assess your communication skills.Focus* Do you pay... Read More
It is vain to do with more what can be done with... Read More
There's a great little article ('Business Lifeforms') on the back... Read More
A study a couple of years ago found that 63% of executives... Read More
We had a problem with handling materials in a production department. Our... Read More
How many times have you asked someone to do something like "draw... Read More
Eventually, your business is going to need to have some software development.... Read More
Introducing a learning culture into organisations can be difficult at times, particularly... Read More
Why do some new managers succeed while others fail? It all depends... Read More
Tommy Sherman daily monitors a helpdesk-provisioning queue for a large company. The... Read More
"? [get] the right people on the bus, the right people in... Read More
I have been an entrepreneur for over twenty years and have absolutely... Read More
In most industrialized nations, the average age a student graduates from high... Read More
In the bestseller, Good to Great, Jim Collins discovered that, "the good-to-great... Read More
Imagine the following scenario; Ten years ago you decided to quit your... Read More
Hiring good people is only half the battle. The other half is... Read More
From the personal and professional experiences of other colleagues and myself, one... Read More
This is a challenge for every company owner and manager. You have... Read More
1. Let people know what you expect. If people know what's expected... Read More
Many times business owners can have significant differences in management styles that... Read More
Late last year I was presenting a workshop for the senior managers... Read More
Direct reports-people who need direction and leadership-rely on their leaders to give... Read More
As a manager our role is to:1. Establish the vision, or our... Read More
Sooner or later, most business owners need to look for outside financing.... Read More
Many times business owners can have significant differences in management styles that... Read More
The knee-jerk response to prioritizing requirements is to mark everything as a... Read More
Lack of Operations Manuals stunting your growth?CONTENTS:1. Do you lack functional Operations... Read More
Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay... Read More
If you're one of the many executives struggling with finding and keeping... Read More
People are empowered when they are given the authority and responsibility to... Read More
Fear, Incentives and GrowthZig Ziglar says that there are three main ways... Read More
Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of... Read More
As a small business operator, personal checks may be one method to... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation... Read More
In most industrialized nations, the average age a student graduates from high... Read More
One of the first questions we ask a prospect or new client... Read More
Transitioning from Vertical Hierarchies to Decentralized / Flatter OrganizationsThe need to restructure... Read More
There's one simple secret to effective meetings: set an agenda and stick... Read More
Some say that in business as in sex: if it is good,... Read More
It happens over and over in businesses every day.Within large companies, people... Read More
It is difficult to pick up a newspaper or listen to a... Read More
According to a Gallup Poll, 80 percent of employees said the availability... Read More
In management seminars I often compare debt to an infection. A reasonable... Read More
If you own or operate a business in the UK, especially in... Read More
The objective is to beat the competition and make money. Everything a... Read More
In today's competitive environment, companies realize that a good boss is one... Read More
Women have made tremendous contributions to society at every level; consider Joan... Read More
This article relates to the organizational structure competency, commonly evaluated in employee... Read More
Mistake #1: Going with the flowInexperienced interviewers sometimes fall into the trap... Read More
Do you manage by walking around? What do you see? People excited... Read More
The practice of outsourcing business processes has long been subject to the... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation... Read More
The goal of perfection is a challenge. It is often viewed as... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation... Read More
Perfectionism can get in the way of building or marketing a successful... Read More
Many work environments now are open plan, with only a few senior... Read More
All maintenance activities of the workforce must be documented, this includes breakdown... Read More
If you have ever worked within a large organisation then you are... Read More
Decision-making shows up throughout the problem-solving process. The decisions may be difficult... Read More
In a management role procrastination can seriously hold back progress and demotivate... Read More
If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him... Read More
When approaching any decision, it's important for individuals to maintain the healthy... Read More
Every parent, educator, and manager knows that "Nintendo children"--those born after 1970... Read More
Resistance. It isn't something people cherish or enjoy encountering. We experience resistance... Read More
Rejection hurts. No one likes to give it or to receive it.... Read More
Growing companies must always be ready for the next challenge. If you... Read More
Okay, so you've figured out what kind of meeting is needed, you've... Read More
Are your people consistently following your procedures? Each year, organizations lose thousands... Read More
Every business must strive to provide quality products and services to customers.... Read More
Does your business need the services of a computer consulting firm? Before... Read More
Q: One of my former employees has launched an online business very... Read More
Business Management Business Management |