They Have a Better Idea ... Do You?

David Hardy

Senior Manager, Creativity and Innovation
Institute for Learning
Bank of Montreal
Toronto, Canada
dhardy@ifl.bmo.ca

The key to creativity is clarity. Never work on a creative challenge without first writing down a problem statement in the form of a question. If your work involves a team, post the question throughout your office where everyone can see it. Then get people to agree on the words you use. For instance, if your creative goal is to improve a product, you have to be sure that everyone has the same definition of "improvement."

Remember, if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.

David Hardy had some of his most creative ideas and insights during a seven-month trek across North America.

Betty Sue Flowers

Professor of English,
University of Texas
Austin, Texas
bflowers@uts.cc.utexas.edu

I've learned lots of lessons from watching creative people at work. But I learned the most surprising lesson from a scientist I worked for as an undergraduate. He asked me to sort through applications for post docs in his lab. I picked out the best and the brightest. As he leafed through the stack, he kept a few of the straight "A's," pitched out the "B's," and then told me to go back to the pile and find students who had made both "A's" and "F's." These would be more than just the smartest. They would be the ones who loved something and followed what they loved.

He was right. People who love a project will be the most creative members of a team -- the ones who pitch in to do any job necessary, are willing to go to the very edge of failure, and aren't afraid to reach the limits of their capacities. Their passion for the work energizes everyone else. They know how to engage in the high play that makes breakthroughs possible.

Joseph Campbell deepened this insight when we worked together on "The Power of Myth." "Follow your bliss," he told me, "and what look like walls will turn into doors."

Betty Sue Flowers has collaborated with Bill Moyers on several of his books, including "Genesis: A Living Conversation" (Doubleday,1996).