Some gnarly tasks and problems require inspiration to be addressed or solved. They are primed for a brand-new solution…if only one came to mind. Without some creative insight or flight of imagination, progress becomes slowed or stalled.
Inspiration is often the missing ingredient in solving a problem. Without it, leaders can’t propel the team, or themselves, forward to see things in a new light.
But how does one find it? Manufacturing inspiration on purpose doesn’t seem possible. It may even be an oxymoron. Yet, hanging with the status quo means waiting for inspiration to strike. It rarely does.
The best leaders don’t wait for inspiration when they need it. They know that complacency is the enemy of creative insight. They refuse to wait for the lightbulb moment. Instead, they set the conditions for inspiration to happen.
While a leader can’t plan their way to a creative breakthrough, they can put themselves and the team in a position to find it. Creativity requires creativity, and inspiration depends on newness. The best leaders ask very simple questions, answer them, and then act to put inspiration on the menu.
• Where can we go to give us a fresh perspective or to challenge the one we are living with?
• Who can we meet or engage with who sees the world very differently than we do and might help us generate some original thinking?
•What experience can we engage in that will shake up our senses and push us to see things anew?
Creative leaders spark the imagination by bringing outside stimuli into their world. They use creative people, new environments, and novel experiences to fend off the rigidity and status quo of common thinking.
Doing things they don’t normally do sets the stage for lightning to strike. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, “Imagination previews life’s coming attractions.” Without it, we go to the same old places.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
