Complex systems and projects work very much like the theatre.

A metaphor I learned from a friend over lunch, she explained how there are so many different parts running at the same time in both fields, from professionals preparing the work, uniforms and costumes, backdrops and processes, music orchestra and running timelines, lighting, stage preparation and presentations. The list goes on.

For when the curtains open, everything needs to be running in-sync at the Exact. Same. Minute.

Try this experiment and compare one of your projects to theatre work. List the different layers to be designed and orchestrated, make sure the team is experienced, and prepared, and have access to all the needed materials. Design touch points at specific intervals to make sure you’re running progress with each other and ready when the curtains go up. Rehearse the music with the actors, the costumes with stage design and the logistics of getting people and things in and out as smoothly as possible.

What if your next training was from a theatre production company rather than a project management company?

so what you work in a financial industry?

So what if your construction industry does things differently.

Try it and see what happens. You will surely bring delight and you might just be amazed.

Think of a problem you’re facing today. Even an hour ago.

Now try to explain this problem to a five-year-old. What would you say? How would you explain it?

Now imagine telling it to your great grandmother. What words would you use? How can you relate?

Write down those two scenarios and look at them. These are different perspectives to your problem that may lead you to original desired solution. Simplify your language to get a clearer image of what you’re up against: The essence of your problem.

How often do you want to channel creativity into your daily life?

To ensure you do it, decide upfront how and when.

We skip our creative time because we realize we have to do a lot of things before that dopamine hits the neurons. We must first make the intention of being more creative, then decide when we want to exercise our creative brain, and then finally we have to choose between the many tools to experiment how to bring out the best ideas forward. All of that before getting to the results we need, which are the ideas themselves. That’s too much decision-fatigue for a 10am ideation session.

But if you decide up front, your day could start with a warm up exercise. Make an effort to run it daily, in the same spot if possible, at the same time.

Gather the courage to do it by yourself, in front of others or not, accompanied by others or not. Be OK with some people joining, and be OK with nobody joining. It’s the practice that you’re focusing on, not the result. If you can collaborate with others to co-lead with you, even better. Enjoy the ride.  

Do the same exercise so you don’t have to decide each time before your brain is fired up.

Set an idea quota of 30 ideas a day and don’t stop until you get them. Fil in 30 empty circles with different shapes, work through a puzzle on the table, complete a word game, or use an idea mash-up tool to bring in new concepts from unrelated fields and sources. Watch a 10-minute video or listen to a podcast of something as far away from your domain as possible, then force connect ideas to that domain.

Now that your creative juices are up, you’re ready to generate those incredible ideas for your problems. Remember, play is an integral part of solving decisions. Make it deliberate.

Work.

This one word sums up an entire orchestra of feelings that makes us who we are at seven in the morning. It can inspire, stimulate, drag, tire, or frustrate us. It’s a combination of things that happen daily, usually between 8am and 5pm, sometimes more hours, rarely less. We know, and fear, that it isn’t the mountain ahead that wears us out – it’s the grain of sand in our shoes that we walk in daily. We have an awful a lot of sandy shoes these days.

To ease our mornings, an activity the day before is key.

Tracking our progress is the single largest day-to-day motivator on the job, says Daniel Pink in “When: the scientific secrets of perfect timing”. Yet we don’t track our progress because we rush out of work or we hit submit, never taking the time to properly “cool-down”.

Instead of fleeing, we’re better off reserving the final five minutes of work for a few small deliberate actions that bring the day to a fulfilling close. Write down what you accomplished since morning for 2 minutes, and the 2 other minutes are for making a general plan for the following day. This will help you close the door on today and energize you for tomorrow. Write it your way, as a cartoon sketch, a number of icons, a song recorded on voice note, or any other way that helps you enjoy this task more than dread it. This will help you end, and start, your day on a high note.

For an added wellbeing bonus, the last minute is one of gratitude. Send one person who was part of your today’s accomplishments a thank you note for being there.   

A blind man sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: “I am blind, please help”.

A passerby stopped to observe. He dropped a few coins in the hat, and without asking for permission took the sign, turned it around, and wrote another announcement. He placed the sign by his feet and left.

That afternoon that passerby returned by the same road where the blind man sat and noticed that his hat was now full of bills and coins. He stopped for a quick chat. The blind man recognized his voice and asked what he wrote on the sign that made such a big impact on his day.

The passerby responded: “Nothing that was not true, I just rewrote your sign differently. It now says: “TODAY IS SPRING AND I CANNOT SEE IT”.

.

I read this story many years ago and learned from it. Here are some of the things that stayed with me since then:   

• Always carry a pen or a marker with a notepad. You never know when creativity hits or ideas flood into your brain.  
• Be ready to offer your brilliant ideas for free. The more you do, the more ideas will come your way. You will always outrun others by sharing more ideas.
• Any person can offer creative solutions to challenges they are not experts in. They also don’t need any degrees or skills to share brilliant ideas, only some confidence in trying new things and seeing how they go.  
• Change your strategy when something does not go your way and see if it offers a better perspective.
• Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts.
• Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness later than to ask for permission prior.

Is there anything else you got that I missed?

For so long we’ve been accustomed to the idea that play is separated from work or learning. We completely forgot that throughout our childhood, it was through play that we learned how to absorb information, master our skills, learn rules and tools of the game, negotiate and renegotiate promises, solve problems, and learn perseverance and deep concentration. The very essence of skills we need and continuously use daily at work.

The difference is, now we chose to use those skills looking grumpy and sitting on a desk for long hours staring at a screen, attending useless meetings and complaining of back pains. Those skills that use up all our mental and physical concentration and suck the energy out of our eyeballs while we feel the unfairness, injustice, and lack of time.
In the coming weeks, I will be sharing more ideas to spice up your routines and bring joy to dull tasks without much preparation from your end. It only requires a shift in mindset to choose and imagine happiness.

For now, if you haven’t done so already, I invite you to sign up for the 7-day Creative Senses Challenges. Those mavericks are inspirational, and their creativity is contagious.

Cheers,

Randah