‘Necessity is the mother of invention’, as the saying goes – and we’re certainly seeing that now. The Coronavirus pandemic has led to a proliferation of new ideas everywhere. The Mercedes Formula 1 Team have worked with medics to develop a way of providing oxygen to patients without needing a ventilator; a Japanese YouTube video shows how to make a face mask from a paper towel, a handkerchief or a bra; a trampoline park chain in America is providing virtual birthday parties for children. Social media is awash with fitness classes, concerts and book launches.
In the working world, it’s likely that you have already done several things you would have dismissed as either impossible or not worth trying – online team meetings, assessments, brainstorming sessions, customer meetings…
Workarounds and new ways of doing things
Here at Indigo we’re finding out that we don’t need to be in the same room for these things after all. Our clients tell us they are finding that enforced home working is forcing them into workarounds and new ways of doing things that might well stick when the health crisis is over.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a way to harness this creativity outside of a crisis?
The good news is, there is a way. It’s been tried and tested by businesses all over the world since 1967, at Indigo we’ve spent the last 18 years introducing it to our clients and helping them to embrace real change.
It’s Dr Edward de Bono’s ‘Lateral Thinking’. This tool-based approach gives us a robust and systematic way of coming up with new ideas. Whether it’s Concept Extraction, Random Entry or Challenge, by approaching the need for creative thinking in a structured way, you can expect:
- Genuinely new and different ideas.
- A volume of ideas, giving options to combine, expand and grow.
- An atmosphere where everyone can participate and contribute.
So, if you want to make a real difference to your organisation’s creativity:
Lateral Thinking will empower your people to challenge current thinking, solve problems and generate new, creative and different ideas. Find out more about:
- Public workshops – online VILT (virtual instructor-led training) and face-to-face classroom. More…
- In-house workshops – for groups and teams delivered online VILT (virtual instructor-led training) and face-to-face classroom at a time and place to suit you. More…
For the complete creativity workshop you can combine Lateral Thinking with Six Thinking Hats® which helps you to assess and select the right idea, whilst reducing conflict and increasing collaboration.
- Public workshops – online VILT (virtual instructor-led training) and face-to-face classroom. More…
- In-house workshops – for groups and teams delivered online VILT (virtual instructor-led training) and face-to-face classroom at a time and place to suit you. More…
About Stephanie Butland
Stephanie Butland specialises in creativity, thinking skills, team development and communication.
Having worked with Indigo since 2004, Stephanie is a Master Trainer in Dr de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats®, Lateral Thinking and Focus On Facilitation™ techniques. She also delivers workshops in Think on Your Feet®, Writing Dynamics™ and The Skilled Presenter™ and is a Belbin accredited and CIPD qualified trainer.
Sources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52087002
https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/make-your-own-face-mask-with-these-simple-step-by-step-guides-032620
https://www.skyzone.com/virtual-birthday-party
