My view of an organisation that exhibits creative or innovative behaviour is organic and focuses on people. It therefore seems a good idea to use metaphors that relate to the wellbeing and performance of people themselves. So what does make us feel good or energised and what is not so good?
How about a detox by way of a change in diet (as opposed to some of the unpleasant practices that exist at health spas)? As human beings we tend to feel sluggish when we have drunk too much alcohol or coffee or not enough water. We are told to eat foods high in fibre and cut out refined sugars and saturated fats. Lastly we can all eat less.
How does this relate to our organisations? Our organisations can feel sluggish and stodgy when:
- We all keep doing exactly the same day in and day out
- Bosses spend much of their time micromanaging and dictatorial
- Knowledge and opinions are not canvassed or allowed
- Lack of transparency cause workers to ask 'why bother'
... and how about having too much of the things that are bad for us:
- Too many initiatives and change programmes
- Over reliance on outside consultants
- Analysis paralysis i.e. analysing rather than doing
- Fear of making mistakes so we 'do not do'
- No strong vision or commitment (no diet plan)
- No shared responsibility (no commitment to our diet)
Readers can take this metaphor as far as they like, as with most things it is simply another way of looking at our organisations to find new and different solutions to our problems.
Derek Cheshire is an expert, speaker, consultant and facilitator in the areas of Business Creativity, Innovation and Idea Generation. He is creator of the Innovation Toolkit, and co creator of workshops such as Bite Sized Creativity, Creativity as a Business Tool and The Idea Factory.
