Creativity at work: Why it’s more important than ever and how to boost it

At one of my school parents’ evenings, my mother and father were told by my teacher that every child can draw… but that their daughter was the exception! It wasn’t said unkindly, and I didn’t mind. It remains the case today. I can’t draw. I can’t sew. I can’t make things.

So in light of that, I’m always pleased when I hear people describe me as creative. Throughout my career I’ve had a reputation as a creative thinker. A much-misunderstood discipline, creativity is a skill that is thankfully not reliant on drawing skills!

Creativity in the workplace: a skill for the future?

Today more employers and recruiters are recognising the importance of creativity. What does this mean? In essence, looking at things differently, being innovative and solving problems in original ways. These are must-have skills across any successful organisation, whether you’re an engineer or a HR leader. A survey by LinkedIn recently revealed that creativity is the most in-demand soft skill. The World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2020 cited creativity and problem-solving as top skills identified by employers as rising in prominence.

Here at Ericsson, creativity has always played an important role in the organisation. It’s what enables us to innovate new products and services. Whether it’s applying digital technology to cut global emissions or transitioning a global workforce to work remotely, we are an organisation full of people who love to look at things differently. A creative mindset makes all the difference to how we run the business and it gives us a competitive edge.

As a leader I recognise how important it is to challenge ourselves - and those around us - to think differently and explore new possibilities. And the further we can expand our thinking, the more we can make a bigger impact.

Reframing the question

Getting in the creative mindset starts with zooming in on the question we want to answer: before we can begin coming up with ideas, we need to get the question right. And the bigger the question, the more room we have to be creative. So it’s important to take the time to reframe the problem, and ask: what is it we are really trying to do here? Reframing gives us room to step back from obvious solutions, look at the problem from a different angle and even turn it on its head.

But I’ve learned not to expect the answers straight away. Creativity isn’t about getting it right first time, but embracing experimentation, and recognising that mistakes will be made as we go.

Remote collaboration to boost creativity

There are fears that months of remote working are taking their toll on creativity. Last month The Financial Times reported that it remains the single biggest issue for business leaders looking at the impact of homeworking ( ‘Where’s the spark? How lockdown caused a creativity crisis.’) In a global survey of 145,000 employees by workplace research company Leesman, 28 percent of homeworkers said they were unable to collaborate on creative work while at home. But there are upsides to remote working: solitude away from the distractions of the office can enable deep work; getting out for a walk can help generate ideas.

I get my creative fuel from others, bouncing off ideas and building on someone else’s thoughts. Of course that's more challenging in the current climate when we’re working remotely.

One challenge is how to virtually replicate those chance encounters that tend to happen in the office. My colleague Selina Millstam, who is VP, Head of Talent Management here at Ericsson recently experimented with an initiative to encourage chance meetings across the organisation as part of our culture transformation programme Ericsson on The Move. A state-of-the-art online participative platform was used to facilitate conversations between colleagues around the world, for example between a software developer in India and a customer relations executive in Germany. An estimated 17,000 employees took part over 72 hours, making 28,000 comments (you can read more about the project in this article by Lynda Gratton, professor of management practice at the London Business School). What a great example of how we can innovate and experiment to find new ways of working and collaborating!

My six-point manifesto for nurturing a creative mindset

Here is my six-point creativity manifesto with ideas that I’ve found useful during this time:

1. Make space for creativity. Creating the right conditions starts with a commitment to allow space for it. When our calendar is full of back-to-back calls and tasks we’ll struggle to have those big ideas. So ring fence time to allow time for freeflow thought and expression. Give yourself permission to be creative by making space in your schedule.
2. Know what fuels your best ideas. We’re all different and that means eureka moments come from different sources. A run. Listening to loud music. Silence. A walk with the dog. Making dinner. Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin famously has his best ideas in the shower, so much so he’s had a shower installed in his office so he can take one whenever the need arises! Work out what you need, and do it.
3. The right tools matter. In my home office I’ve got a flipchart and bright coloured pens. There’s always a big question on there - whatever is on my mind that week. I constantly add to it, scribbling ideas whenever they crop up. I was cooking dinner the other evening when inspiration struck - I ran upstairs to jot it on the pad. Invariably if I don’t write these ideas down straight away they are gone, so make sure you have a pen and pad to hand. Know what tools you need to generate and capture your ideas.
4. Don’t be afraid of idea abundance. Start with reframing the question - what are we trying to achieve? - and then be prepared for ideas in abundance. The first answer is rarely the right one. Creating an environment where you can brain dump and feel free to express lots of ideas is vital. No idea is a ‘wrong’ one even if it’s not eventually the best one. Remember than coming up with lots of ideas increases the chance of having great ones.
5. Become an idea collector. New ideas are borne from the collision of old ones, and inspiration can come from all kinds of places. I’m always screenshotting images and web pages, and taking photographs of signs in shops. Being on the look-out is a great way to build up a library of images to draw on later. Recently I wanted to relocate my large rhododendron and found a gardening company online. I loved the messaging on their website, so I screen grabbed it. I don’t know if or when I’ll ever use it, but examples like that fuel my inspiration and keep my creative muscle flexed.

6. Choose the space that sparks ideas. I love the creative sparks that happen on business trips, or when I’m in between meetings in London or even moving around the office building. When I worked at Vodafone one of my favourite meeting spaces was a converted campervan on the office campus. Of course it’s difficult to find places to inspire when we are locked down in homes and can’t get out. But sometimes just switching zones can switch things up - perhaps relocating from your usual desk to an armchair or to a window with a view will give you a new perspective. Getting moving, preferably outside, is another way to enable more of those eureka moments. So take your question or problem for a walk outside and see what the fresh air brings.

Creativity is an opportunity for everyone in the organisation, and thankfully you don’t need to be good at drawing!

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