Wherefore Art Though Creativity?

Are your teams coming up with the same old tired solutions to new problems?  Do they drag their feet when a decision has to be made?  Is there a definitive lack of new product or service ideas that will affect the bottom line in the coming months?  Instead of replacing employees or placing pressure on teams to come up with new ideas, consider training your people on how to tap into their innate creativity.  Here are a few, pardon the pun, creative ideas you can use to get your staff moving in the right direction. 1.  Bring in a creativity coach to work with the team to teach them new ways of thinking. 2.  Hire a local artist to bring in supplies and spend the afternoon creating and working on a piece of art while employees watch.  Have the artist discuss their thinking process. 3.  Have someone come in and teach your staff to meditate and ask them to spend some time meditating every day. 4.  Put teams in a room with poster board taped on every piece of reachable wall.  Hand them colored crayons and markers and ask them to brainstorm ideas for products for services… no matter how silly their ideas might be. 5.  Hand out beautiful, personalized company journals to employees and ask them to write down any and all ideas they have throughout the workday and bring the journals to read out loud at brainstorming meetings.