Creative Leadership

The first lesson with Piers Ibbotson was quite unusual indeed. It was held in the Drama Hall which was a break from the normal lecture room.  During the course of the afternoon we carried out several practical excercises .

Each person was giiven a playing card with the instruction of acting out the status of the card. Then, without revealing your identity, each person had to find others similar in status and stand in line inorder of importance.

Two groups – each given the same command to move chairs from one location to another; each group received slightly different versions of the same command. This is  known as ‘Framing the Creative Constraints’ and is deisgned to gently steer or nudge the group without interfereing with the process of innovation.   The results were in stark contrast to each other. First group told ‘Choose for yourself a Leader and a 2nd in command with the task to “Get a stack of Chairs‘ – The  results! – An orderly stack in a new location – a bit slow off the mark as there was much organisation and ordering and delagating. Group 2, were given a scenario,”Imagine you are at a garden ball sipping champagne when it starts to rain…….the expensive chairs are outside and are about to be ruined” Group 2 responded in a very differnt manner – with the task completed in record time – in a chaotic way.

Depending on how you lead – the resulting actions will either be full of innovative possibilites or, less iterative with no innovations or possibilities. W talked briefly  on the  role of Managers who work with  processes that lead to a measurable output. But, with increasing demand for creative output, how do Leaders direct for innovation to imerge.  Piers introduced us to the concept of “Creativity as a Boundary Phenomenom” which is what happens when the boundaries are reached “in order to come up with soemthings new individuals and groups needs to enter a boundary zone where ordubary, habit-bound thinking and doing are stretched”. ……until ideas and solutions can emerge“.

I could understand this concept – as many of my best pieces have emerged from an unexpected collision of frustration and demands, or asPiers puts it “on the edge of Chaos”

Each person was giiven a playing card with the instruction of acting out the status of the card. Then, without revealing your identity, each person had to find others similar in status and stand in line in order of importance.

Whilst  freedom contributes to creativity, there is also need for constraints and boundaries. Put simply, the constraints are artful motivational and inpsirational requests that create direction and  helpul suggestions which help direct creative output. It is a fine balancing act of allowing creativity whilst maintaining control of the original constraints.Another important factor that encourages security and trust within a group – is the suspension of heirachy. Status must be supended for the purpose of creativity – a practice used by the Army to get things done.

This was experiential learning to the max! !!!  Piers’s methodology for discovery and development of our Leadership capabilites is a practical experiential approach to such a  complex subject. The practical excercises were immediately clear as you couldn’t rehearse the outcome.  Piers would insist on us redoing the task driving home the experience or, realising the significant change in outcome which, happened again and again as individuals applied themselves fully.