New Deal and The Holst Group

In last week’s Daily Mail I was concerned to read that half of those on Labour’s “New Deal” are back on benefits in a year. My concern is not that this is a fact but that it has taken all this time for someone to recognise and publish the figures.
In so many cases we have got it wrong especially where the young unemployed are concerned. I work for The Holst Group who have been the European partners for Dr Edward de Bono and I am in fact de Bono Master trainer.
For several years I have run a course called “Thinking Smarter Not Harder” within the New Deal programme. The course is based on Edward de Bono’s thinking skills from the famous Six Thinking Hats and his Lateral Thinking techniques and tools.
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Predictable innovation?

“Innovation simply isn’t as unpredictable as many people think”
Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School
When organisations look at innovation they tend to think of ‘creativity rooms’ and ‘idea spaces’. What they don’t see is creativity and innovation as a skill that individuals and teams can learn to apply.

Many myths surround the generation of new and unique Ideas. Some organisations think they have to hire creative people. Some think that if you sit on bean-bags and take off your shoes, Ideas will come flooding in.

The reality is that you can learn how to generate Ideas. Just like learning to play the guitar or golf, creativity is a skill you can learn, develop and improve. When using creativity techniques, you are guaranteed to generate many more Ideas than normal.

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..the Six Hats is such a very simple concept

 

Edward de Bono’s Message

Again and again, all over the world, I am meeting people who have been using the ‘Six Hats’ method of parallel thinking and finding it useful. What continues to astonish me is that for 2,400 years we have been satisfied with ‘argument’ as a way of getting anywhere. Those who have been using the Hats find that when they go back to the argument mode it is so primitive, slow, crude and full of ego-plays.

Yet the Six Hats is such a very simple concept. Why did it not come into general use hundreds of years ago? It is true that some understanding of brain chemical balances provides the logical basis for the Six Hats method, but the empirical use of the method provides more than ample justification for its use.  The sad answer is that the guardians of intellectual process in society are so enamoured of the critical mode that there has been no effort to develop constructive modes of thinking.

The right environment for creativty

I attended a conference yesterday run by the London Business Forum. Sir Ken Robinson (excellent speaker – I recommend you see him if you get the chance) spoke about the need for the right environment in order for creativity to be released. He used the analogy of Death Valley in the mid 90’s.

Death Valley typically gets 2 inches of rain per year, however, one particular year saw 6 inches of rain fall in just a few weeks. Other parts of the West Coast of the US also received three times their normal rainfall. The results were drastically different.

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..new ideas and business..

 

Edward de Bono’s message

All businesses start out with an idea. The idea may not be very original. The idea may copy exactly what someone else is already doing and aim for a share of the market.   The idea has to provide value for the proposed customer. The idea has to be feasible. Finally, the idea has to be profitable. 

But once a business is up and running then new ideas are seen as a risk. The psychology of risk taking suggests that as soon as there is something to lose then people become very risk averse.  Most corporations could double their profits with a good idea. Once a corporation is running effectively, with skilled people’, a distribution system and a productive capacity then is the time to welcome new ideas. Problem-solving, efficiency and new idea creation are all very different activities. Only the first two are taken seriously.

Innovation – Art or Science?

A new piece of research by Cubiks explores what is important for successful innovation. This has highlighted, once again, a major bone of contention for me.  Here we have some serious research on innovation and there is not a single word on the fact that creativity is a skill which can be taught, learned and developed.  Once again it is about process, finding highly innovative people and then meeting the challenges of being able to manage them and integrate them in the work force.  Read more

Need for Creativity

 

Edward de Bono’s message

When we think of creativity in a business setting we often think of new products and services. In practice this is not the most important use of creativity. The more important use may be ‘better ways’ of doing something which is routine, well known or even an old idea. The destination is set. How do we get there?   There may be simpler ways of doing things that have been done before. There may be creative ways of cutting cost. There may be creative ways of reducing wastage.  Unfortunately, the departments that see a need for creativity tend to be the R&D department and the marketing department. Operations and engineering departments have no time for ‘fancy ideas’.
That is a pity.

Saatchi & Saatchi’s World Changing Ideas

Saatchi & Saatchi have announced the judges for the 5th biennial Award for World Changing Ideas. Edward de Bono heads up that list and will also present his Medal for Thinking to the finalist whose idea best meets Edward’s criteria of ’simple, practical and effective’.

With such a focus on innovation in business at the moment, innovation awards like these are critical for promoting the fact that innovation shouldn’t be left to chance. Innovation is as important to well-established businesses as it is to inventors, entrepreneurs and start-ups.

To see more information about the Awards, go to here http://www.saatchi.com/innovation/