When Sparks Fly: Igniting Creativity in Groups

Description

How does a leader manage for creativity? Many managers fall into the trap of assuming that only gifted individuals-readily identifiable "creative types"-can produce breakthrough thinking, and if you don't have an eccentric genius on your team, your efforts are doomed to mediocrity. Some even argue that creativity is an art that can't possibly be planned or managed without extinguishing the vital creative spark. Yet, say Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap, today's most innovative, complex services, products and processes spring from well-led, well-managed group interactions. Blending their backgrounds in business and psychology into a fresh perspective, Leonard and Swap sweep aside conventional thinking about creativity to show how managers can actively shape group processes to enhance creative output. They offer proven strategies based on a deep understanding of human behavior for stimulating and directing the group dynamics that lie at the heart of innovative thinking. The book clearly outlines and analyzes each step in the creative process and gives practical suggestions for managing creative teams, including specific techniques for composing groups to maximize creative abrasion, re-channeling the tensions of conflicting points of view into new ideas and alternative options, and failing forward to success. Leonard and Swap explore how all aspects of the work environment, from leadership style to the promotion of passion to the use of space to maximize serendipity, can enhance innovation. Drawing on examples in companies that range from small startups to Fisher-Price, Intel and Hewlett-Packard, When Sparks Fly shows how sophisticated managers can galvanize groups to maximize their creative potential.

Want to fire up creativity in your company? When Sparks Fly just might be the fuel you're looking for. Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap describe a method that can help people become more innovative and better at teamwork. "Whether you lead a group of three in a nonprofit foundation or 300,000 in a Fortune 500 business, the basic process of creativity is the same," write Leonard, a Harvard Business School professor, and Swap, a Tufts University dean. The process involves five steps: selecting the right mix of people to spark creativity; identifying the problem needing novel ideas; developing alternatives; taking time to consider choices; and selecting one option.

Leonard and Swap bolster their ideas with real-life examples of corporate creativity and analysis of dozens of psychological studies about human innovation. The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), for instance, generates breakthrough ideas by teaming up such diverse people as artists, anthropologists, and computer scientists. And to support diversity's role in creativity, they cite a 1992 study of 199 bank CEOs. The research found that top management teams are more innovative if they include people with varying expertise. Each of the book's chapters begins with a fictional management scenario and concludes with a summary of key points. It also includes chapters on designing the best physical and psychological environments for igniting new ideas. When Sparks Fly is a good tool for managers and others interested in fanning the flames of creativity. --Dan Ring

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