Creative things are created by professionals. They excel at brainstorming, thinking and bringing new ideas to life. They understand the importance of investing in motivation and value. And while freedom is important for creative intelligence, the act of self-creation requires organization. Without a foundation that provides structure and organization for creative endeavours, your creative process will not be successful.
The challenge for leaders of creative organizations is to find ways to increase process, ownership, and productivity without killing the creative process.
3 roadblocks hindering the creative process
Whether you’re leading a team of writers, designers, artists, artists, or any other type, these are three challenges that almost little if any group can relate to.
1. Dysfunctional planning
Brainstorming is essential to the creative process, but making a productive brainstorming session is more difficult than it seems, especially when the process is unstructured.
Disorganized thinking increases the chance that the meeting will lose its relevance and become unproductive. We’ve all been in those sessions that end up in YouTube purgatory, Wikipedia chasms, or something completely stupid.
Although fantasy can provide a greater perspective, these exercises are rarely focused and there is no guarantee that they will produce results that will work. Instead, a structured brain structure – a more open and flexible way of thinking – will produce ideas that are more expansive and useful.
Unlike unstructured brainstorming, where participants brainstorm ideas as they come to mind, structured brainstorming requires everyone to follow certain rules, such as stop judging, focus on the topic, and maintain one conversation at a time. By sticking to a structured brain, you will:
Give everyone in the group a chance to contribute (not just a few voices)
Focus on quality, not just quantity
Orient ideation to take the right direction and promote the inspiration of ideas
Make sure there is a deadline in the session and other steps to take.
2. Missing the big picture
No one is better than those who solve problems within hours, days or weeks later with the perfect solution. A stranger watching this process might think that the crazy process here is just that… crazy. But for the creative team, they would say it is the creative conclusion of the creative process.
The challenge for designers is not the solution. Rather, it is the danger of overlooking something greater. Every job your creative does — whether it’s creating an ad, launching a new tagline, or editing an article — is part of a strategy, campaign, or larger initiative.
Unless your team can see and understand the larger context of their work, it will be difficult to find consistency and unity across the entire project. Losing sight of the big picture can also lead to the misallocation of resources or difficulty meeting deadlines.
3. Difficulty adapting to change
One of the unique characteristics of creative people is that each person develops their own approach to the creative process over time. In many ways, it is their greatest strength, but at the same time, it can be a hindrance.
When a change happens – a team member leaves or a new person joins, there is a change in leadership, or there is a client who wants to join the creative process – it can be difficult to deal with the problem without disrupting the creative process.
Despite the tendency to resist change, adding structure and organization can be beneficial. By creating a process that simplifies the process, you can guide how teams approach work, brainstorm, consider new ideas, and ultimately create, in between it is despite the change. By adding consistent levels throughout the transition, your creative team will be able to adapt quickly.