SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU SPRING 2020 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 83COLUMN
AS AN ARTISTwho also works for a business school, I often talk with
managers about how to inspire more creativity within their teams.
They seek fresh ideas, inventive solutions, ingenuity, originality,
and new pathways to innovation — but most say their teams are
not delivering.
The problem isnotthat their people lack creative impulses but,
rather, that they are too focused on getting the creative process
right. For example, in supporting organizations that are imple-
menting agile methodologies, I work with many teams so
consumed by getting their chapters aligned or doing their sprints
correctly that they miss the opportunities that spark imagination.
They avoid the unknown — the uncertainty that breeds creativity.
How can you solve this problem on your team? Start by setting
the conditions for a creative culture:
Understand your motivation.In the beginning, you ought to
have some vision of what you want to do, but a plan that’s too fully
formed or too blindly followed leaves little room for innovation. What
is the organization attempting to do? What problem are you trying to
solve? Understanding your motivation will help direct you toward
your goal while allowing for exploration along the way. It’s not about
going from A to B. It’s about going from AtowardB and knowing why.
Encourage conflict.Tension is central to creativity. If it’s
not there, summon it. Invite the fieriest member of your team to
challenge your motivation. Ask, “What are we missing? What if
we did this differently?” Have the conversation publicly — in a
constructive tone — to show the rest of your team that it’s OK to
push the boss in order to reaffirm or adjust direction.
Relate with curiosity.Look beyond individuals’ functional
expertise and relate to your team members as curious, intelligent
humans with great ideas and worthy aspirations. Urge them to
connect over what theydon’tknow as well as what they do,
approaching challenges with questions, not just answers.
Fosterbothness.As a painter, when I want an object on my can-
vas to be lighter, I use black paint to darken the surroundings.Teams, too, can practice visualizing and working in opposing per-
spectives; that is, they can develop a sense of bothness — a key tool
in our changing world. Make a habit of challenging the upsides
and downsides of choices rather than defaulting to a “best” prac-
tice. A decision could be right given the circumstances today, but
tomorrow things might be different — and you’ll be more pre-
pared to adjust if you’ve considered it from both angles.Aithan Shapira (@madetotilt and @aithanshapira) is an artist and
lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is working on a
new book, Tilt: Transforming Creative Process Into Cultural Practice.
Comment on this article at http://sloanreview.mit.edu/x/61322.
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Copyright © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. All rights reserved.Spark Team Creativity by
Embracing Uncertainty
BY AITHAN SHAPIRA