“There is no great genius without a tincture of madness.” Seneca, 1st Century AD

Joni and Annie are sporting their haute couture at the Iowa State Fair. They are fearless. How long has it been since you wore a pickle hat? My guess it was some time ago. Probably around the same time you had your last really great idea. How do I know? Great ideas and play go together. They are intrinsically linked.

Corporate work schedules rarely include a block of time for “a little bit of crazy.” You would think by now, when creativity is such a hot commodity, that we would be demanding room for it. Rather, so much work is being demanded of the average worker that our brains are short-circuiting. Maybe it is time to reconsider our priorities. Instead of working overtime to squeeze more and more profit from our companies, maybe we should schedule in “a little bit of crazy” instead.   

Imagination is the main ingredient of creativity. We had boatloads of the commodity when we were kids. What happened to it? We stopped playing. Creativity is the main ingredient in innovation. Marketing dynamo Seth Godin has corporate executives reluctantly building things out of blocks at scheduled meetings. Tim Brown, President of IDEO, has conference attendees creating 30 second portraits of their neighbor, which are promptly followed by “sorry.”  Why do we feel sorry when we only had 30 seconds to complete the task? Adults have deeply programmed scripts telling us that there are right and wrong answers to everything. We fear. We fear it won’t be perfect. We fear looking stupid, somehow reverting back to the 7th grade. Until we are fearless to try new things, new ideas will remain elusive.

Creativity and Innovation are necessities in today’s workplace. Creativity gives us the ability to connect new dots, and to discover new ways of looking at old things. Imagination gives us the ability to role play. How will you ever develop excellent customer service if you cannot imagine yourself in the place of the customer?

Want to be a more creative person and/or become a more creative company? Take a look at your schedule, and make sure there is room for serious play. Playing will help you find your genius.

That’s this week’s Imagination Hat.