The coronavirus lockdown has unleashed a wave of creativity, shared via WhatsApp every day.
The above is one of my favourites I received, entitled: “Commuting in Corona Times”. I have sourced it back to an illustrator named Kera Till and I share the image with her permission.
These messages bring a much needed laugh in a tense and challenging period. But they are also a reminder of the creativity people have, and how our structured hierarchical corporate system often stifles this valuable resource.
While everyone is away from the office, what better time to start reshaping corporate culture?
Companies worried about emerging from this crisis should focus on harnessing the creativity within their organisation. An institutionalised workforce has a narrow and limited capacity. Now more than ever creativity is needed.
Forget the job titles and the defined departments, empower people of all levels to unleash their creativity. Unfortunately, without the right environment so much untapped creativity will remain dormant, never to see the light.
Companies are made up of all sorts. There are those who want to be told what to do and those who want to use their own initiative and to create.
So, you can’t force creativity. But you can bring together people who are passionate and enthusiastic about similar things. For example, sustainability.
If you want a more sustainable company then make time for people who are passionate about sustainability to come together, to regularly brainstorm ideas. It should not be limited to someone with “sustainability” in their title.
A Pablo Picasso quote I love – because I believe it encapsulates the creative process – reads: “I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else.”
In a similar vein, I believe if you bring the right people together in the right environment, other ideas will flourish that you may have never expected.
End
Vincent McCarthy, CFA