Creativity is your and the employees' best friend

Creativity has different meanings for different people, for some it is about problem-solving ability and for others it is about expressing oneself artistically. No matter what type of outlet you and your employees need to get your little grays going a little extra - is there room for that in your workday? And do you fully understand how employees' creativity needs to be safeguarded, nurtured and respected?

It's hard to put your finger on it, but it sometimes starts as a diffuse feeling of irritation, a kind of absence. A vaguely noticeable feeling that something is rubbing, something is missing. A restlessness. You try to fill the void in different ways, but neither food, exercise nor Netflix satisfies your worries. It's like the meaning of things has been lost? And the restlessness does not want to subside. It may take breaks, but does not disappear, coming back all the time.

It creeps into your nerves, it moves inside you.

Something wants out.

Not getting an outlet for your creativity can certainly manifest itself in as many ways as there are people, but in my role as a consultant in creative communication and writing, I often encounter the same basic story: people feel empty. Like they lost something along the way. They run and run so fast to get somewhere and do not notice that they have lost the most important thing: to affirm the desire and longing. To have fun! That which we had in us from the beginning. That which made the curiosity take over. When we climbed trees because we were driven by the view, and completely forgot to be afraid of heights.

People I meet simply long to express themselves. Maybe it's with age, maybe it's today's social climate, maybe we're tired of the surface. Whatever the reason: people around me have begun to respect their creativity because they notice that it makes them feel good.

Creativity is for everyone

The definition of creativity is broad and the researchers do not agree on what it really is. Ability to solve problems is a definition. Artistic expression another. Motivation is not unimportant in this context either.

I think we need to broaden our view of what creativity is. It's not about painting paintings or writing poetry or fumbling around. It is not the only genius in the House who creates great deeds. It is something that permeates everything we do - and the job is no exception. The need does not stop at the threshold of the open office landscape.

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Creativity is you and me. It is listening to ourselves and understanding what makes us find our flow. It's having a passion for putting together puzzles, it's when it jerks in the hands of those who want to feel a tree trunk in the park, it's the longing to take another route to work or mecca with the bike. To hang out with the kids and see the world through their eyes.

It's the daydream and the laughter. It is everything that does not feel like a must, but like a desire. What we are attracted to, like a little happy magnet.

It is to be able to enter the zone, the small sphere where everything settles down and becomes still inside. To be able to do something because we want to, not because we should. That things do not always have to have a goal or purpose.

Creativity is freedom of thought.

And in a life where our thoughts are so often occupied by other things - digital impulses, musts, pace and demands - we need to protect ourselves and our expression. We must protect it, because it is our buffer when energy fails.

Manage the creativity of your employees

My belief is that these things are strongly related to our well-being, our quality of life and our ability to be whole people. We need lots of parts to function, and creative freedom weighs heavily on the scales of life.

I do not belong to those who say "We must dare to talk about mental illness" - it feels like that is the only thing we do today. Still, it's escalating, so we need to try something else. Maybe we need to change the way we talk about it? Change our focus in the conversation. Talk about where we want to be instead of sinking too deep into the hopelessness where we stand.

I believe that there is great power in directing energy towards our creativity. Let it take place, respect it, let it equip us and strengthen us. It becomes a protective filter against an outside world that invades and penetrates. It becomes your membrane that saves you from letting the sick penetrate and damage your innermost being.

So. A question for you, you who are a manager and leader - how do you see the creativity that exists in your organization? Are you an enabler? Do you fully understand how employees' creativity needs to be safeguarded, nurtured and respected? Do you let that happen? Are you using this human power at your disposal? Do you ask your employees how they view their own creativity? Do you wonder what they long for and how you can meet their longing?

Not? Do it.

Because it's time to try something else now.