“Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

Creativity is one of the most fundamentally important elements of any organisation. Innovation and the creation of new ideas & products fuels an organisation’s success, and ensures that the business is recognised as a leading force in a particular field. At People Lab, we understand that encouraging creativity in the workplace is an integral aspect of successful employee engagement.

We believe that happy people make workplaces better for everyone – customers, employees, the business and society. Employees aren’t going to be happy (or engaged) if they feel that their creativity is stifled. Encouraging your employees to be innovative and contribute to the bigger picture in the organisation is key in the engagement process. Working for an organisation that seemingly doesn’t appreciate your ideas or input can be alienating and disengaging for any employee.

So, where does YOUR creativity come from? For me, I’m at my most creative when I’m trusted with the flexibility I need to gather my thoughts and ideas. The best ideas don’t always come to mind when you’re in a busy office, or at the same desk you’ve been sitting at for 6 hours. For me, a change of scenery can really help to spark those little flames that can turn into great ideas. Sometimes, this might mean working from home for the day, from a bright and colourful coffee shop, or from the floor of the meeting room with giant sheets of paper and marker pens.

Another thing that really helps me is gathering the rest of the team together for an informal ideas session. This can be anywhere – in a meeting room, in a pub with a pint, or in the local library on big squashy beanbags. For me, it’s about getting everyone together, away from the usual office environment, and spending an hour or two talking over ideas. Some of our best ideas have been born this way, and it can be really useful in distinguishing the ideas that’ll work from those that won’t.

Perhaps the most important thing of all is feeling that I can air my ideas with the rest of the team. It’s so important that people in the team can be honest with each other about new ideas – as well as being constructively critical and encouraging. If a team member felt that their ideas were always dismissed or ignored, they wouldn’t bother sharing them – which means that some of those great ideas we’ve put into action over the last couple of years would have been lost.

So, where does your creativity come from? What do you need to feel inspired to innovate? Share your ideas in the comments section below.

Take a look at Elizabeth Gilbert’s Ted Talk, on your elusive creative genius. She muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses – and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person ‘being’ a genius, all of us ‘have’ a genius. You can find it here – enjoy!