 Covid-19, it’s testing how we use our creativity.Creativity does not have values, people do. Even as the biological effects of Covid-19 are the same for all, its overall effects on the haves and the have-nots, the well-governed and the badly-governed, the selfish and the altruistic, the close-minded and the open-minded will be quite different. Even when fighting a common enemy the creative faculties of people in different situations with different values are bound to be deployed differently. Here are some realities that impact the depth and breadth of our creativity.
Global creativity and local reactivity. Two different realities in our present world order have become obvious. The first is of a world that is highly interdependent and, indeed, there has been unprecedented exchange of knowledge between countries on Covid-19. The second, is that the forces of execution of public policy are governments of nation-states and this has led to a dogged concentration on the plight of one’s own. These realities could produce reasonably efficient mechanisms for dealing with coronavirus on a global scale, only if the spirit of international collaboration does not yield to xenophobia, which is also raising its ugly head. Technical know-how and human skills. Two other realities affect the ways we operate in this crisis. Our advanced specialist know-how and practice in many areas – medicine, health management, equipment, essential supply chains, security, communications and much more – are invaluable in helping us cope with this crisis. However innovation is shaped by culture – the way people absorb and use technology. We would be nowhere without the human skills needed to relate to others, to win people’s trust or to gain acceptance for public programs which involve sacrifices. Without these our innovations will be at best underutilized. As we face Covid-19 can we help open values win the day and can we use our human skills to ensure our technology is serving humanity? Dimis Michaelides Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation. www.dimis.org dimis@dimis.org
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 Covid-19. That horrible little thing will only respond to action, the right action. It takes a lot to transform fear and dismay into resourcefulness and optimism. And a lot more to make a creative idea go live. Consider how vital it is to:
Choose the best solutions. You have great ideas. Which are the best ideas based on the value they will bring when implemented, their originality and their feasibility? The spread of coronavirus is forcing us to make very big decisions with knowledge that is highly imperfect. Every option has pros and cons and time seems to be a luxury. This makes us nervous as to the risks of what we are undertaking in matters in which we have zero experience. But we cannot avoid making the choices rapidly. Get buy in for your ideas. We may think selfishly – ourselves, our families, our countries first. However when an invisible threat lurks at close quarters we are all better off in ensuring our choices are taken with others in mind. The best way to sell creative solutions is with a spirit of positivity and community even if the time for consultation and dialogue is absolutely minimal. This will also help further effective implementation and risk-sharing. Make your solutions happen. Whether learning new things online or deciding what restrictive measures to impose on others, action is paramount. Creativity is not only a thought experiment, it is realized only in practice. It is best to transform your ideas into reality sooner rather than later. Which of your ideas is now ready to go live? When do you start? Good luck! Dimis Michaelides Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation. www.dimis.org dimis@dimis.org  Covid-19. A deadly virus is challenging our creativity and our reactivity.«Πενία τέχνας κατεργάζεται» comes from the Greek poet Theokritos (3rd century BC), and roughly translates into “necessity is the mother of invention”. Our creativity is indeed reacting to the coronavirus framed by many problems we seek to resolve. Let’s recognize how important for good creative outcomes it is to:
Understand the context. Never before have we been privy to so much information so fast. Our big data analytics are OK but we genuinely need more to make sense of things. The information we want is not only on the virus itself but also on its impact on the economy, politics and society too. Working with good information is crucial for good outcomes. Define the challenge(s). We are faced with a huge number of challenges: understanding the malady, minimizing the spread, coping with the infected, minimizing deaths, keeping health professionals and supply chains alive and well, making the best of isolation, finding a vaccine, getting back to work, getting back to (a new?) normality and so on. Clearly defining the challenge you want to address is the best basis for finding creative solutions. Seek imaginative solutions. We have plenty and keep them coming everybody. Many valuable ideas come from where there is already some expertise – 3-D printing, scuba-diving for masks and ventilators, online forums for teaching, meetings, music, theater, comedy, deliveries – or those that come when suddenly small things in family and social lives become vital. The best ideas however come from purposeful imaginative thinking. They can be sparked by humor, dreams, unexpected connections and a healthy relationship with the impossible. What are your analyses of the situation and challenges these days? Are you actively seeking impossible ideas to transform into valuable solutions? Dimis Michaelides Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation. www.dimis.org dimis@dimis.org  She didn’t actually say it like that. She might have asked “to be or not to be?” and insisted that “that is the question”. In any case, machines are already up to asking profound existential questions.On 11th February 2019 a very unusual event marked the latest man-versus-machine challenge: a debate on whether we should subsidize pre-schools or not. In a quite unique public gathering attended by hundreds of people, IBM’s female-voiced AI system, formally known as Project Debater but lovingly nicknamed Miss Debater, opposed Harish Natarajan, a debating champion of international renown.
The human won, this time. What stole the show though was the sophistication of the debate and the outstanding argumentation of both contestants - see highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJXcFtY9cWY - and the apparent humanity of Miss Debater. Debating requires expert and general knowledge, reasoning, creative thinking, eloquent expression and the skilful appeal to emotions, all skills once considered unattainable by machines. No longer. In this case both the computer and its adversary showed ample evidence of mastering these competencies. Interestingly Natarajan was expecting emotional arguments from Miss Debater and it was his readiness to address these with spontaneity that helped him win. I am sure she has learnt from this and she is probably thinking about how to outdo her opponent next time.  Covid-19. A virus is challenging our leadership thinking and practice.
Vision matters. In a crisis, it takes foresight to factor in the day after and prepare for that too. Creating and communicating an image of a future we wish to achieve together is vital. The big decisions must consider the costs as well as the benefits of a course of action. Good leaders passionately inspire people to responsibly take on the hardships that will make the vision come true. Innovation matters. Technology is know-how, innovation is about inventing new know-how or making current know-how deliver new value. Good leaders in times of coronavirus are already putting available technology to new and better uses and, they are re-designing technologies to address the challenges of the day. Creativity matters. Creativity, as most CEOs said in a 2010 study by IBM, is the most important leadership skill. Not only is it important to create a vision and to activate innovation. It is everyone’s best friend in times of accelerating change. And in crisis too. Good leaders will not just rely on their own creativity but they will enable the creativity of others to flourish and be realized with new innovations, new mindsets and new cultures. A good leader takes people to places those people have never been to before. A great leader takes people to places neither they nor she has ever been to before. She is navigating the unknown and inspiring others to follow. What is your vision through and beyond Covid-19? What new technology are you using, how many creative ideas do you have for leading your future? Dimis Michaelides Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation. www.dimis.org dimis@dimis.org  A humble invisible pathogen is revealing many truths about leadership.
Speed matters. Covid-19 spreads fast because it multiplies with normal human interaction. Controlling its outcomes calls for fast decisions not planning bureaus. This does not mean action without thinking, it means fast thinking and fast action. Moving ahead imperfectly is better than perfectly stalling, good leaders have already understood this. Versatility matters. Leaders should be both authoritative and empowering. There are moments for barking out orders and moments of sharing opinions, moments where micro-management is crucial and moments where it is best to hand over full control. Adaptability is surely a mark of good leadership. Co-operation matters. Even the most rugged individualists accept that the challenge of the day can only be confronted by working with other people, other organizations, other communities, other countries, sharing know-how and solutions. A spirit of compassion and collaboration goes much farther than one of competition and confrontation. Good leaders profoundly understand this and act giving credence to virtue or αρετή as described by Plato in ancient Athens. In what ways are you co-operating with others in the heyday of the coronavirus? Dimis Michaelides Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation. www.dimis.org dimis@dimis.org  Covid-19, a microscopic piece of genetic material, is testing our leadership.
Competence matters. In the midst of our crisis today we turn to the leadership of experts – epidemiologists, researchers, pharmacologists, doctors, health professionals, food producers, food distributors, refuse collectors, public utilities. We turn to political leaders, company leaders, community leaders, volunteers, family and so many more. Character matters. Whether our leaders are considerate or brutal, honest or duplicitous, co-operative or combative, altruistic or narcissistic is very important. Trust matters, and it matters more than ever, and trust is at its highest when leadership combines high competence with good character. We matter too, you and I. Our own personal leadership skills are tested as we take on new responsibilities and make decisions that affect ourselves and others in situations that are new for everybody. Think about this, dear reader: How are you exercising your leadership skills in the heyday of the coronavirus? Dimis Michaelides Keynote speaker, author, trainer and consultant in Leadership, Creativity & Innovation. www.dimis.org dimis@dimis.org  Politicians and bureaucrats are condemned to co-exist with each other and with the other pivots of entrepreneurship: businessmen. Sweet or toxic their symbiosis is necessary, as they are both key players in the innovation game. A private company in a capitalist system will innovate by starting up a new enterprise, or by improving its products and services, or by launching new products and services, or by extending its markets, or by reducing its cost base, or by changing its business model, strategy and structure. In competitive systems, private companies are learning to adapt to faster change because the alternative is to wither and die.
Government has many roles in innovation. First, a direct role in innovation through public institutions such as universities and research centers. Government can undertake fundamental research which has large costs and few immediate commercial benefits like the large Hadron collider, space travel and renewable energy. Or it can subsidize such research or promising areas. Mariana Mazzucato, a public innovation expert, has shown how 6 of the 8 most important features of the first smartphone (Apple’s i-phone) were generated by government or with public funds. Second, government is an essential part of the ecosystem for Innovation.  Creativity is imagining something new and making it happen.
The novelty can be big or small, radically new or somewhat different. Imagination is vital. So is action because the value of creative ideas is realized only when they are implemented. New ideas always involve a change of mindset. According to Russel Ackoff creativity is the ability to identify and overcome self-imposed constraints. Making conscious efforts to see things in new ways is very important and not always easy. We have ample evidence-based research that we are all creative. We are not equally creative nor do we use our creative skills in the same ways. Yet we can all further develop our own creative skills. In our times of fast and accelerating change, more and more organizations are recognizing the value of creativity, without which no innovation can happen. A recent IBM survey of 1500+ CEOs concludes that creativity is the most significant leadership skill. The following twelve tips will help you improve your creative skills at work and in life. Tip # 1 Idea generation is only part of the process. First, do the groundwork - explore, understand and clearly define your challenge – beforeyou start seeking creative ...  Fuelled by creativity, imagination, reason, science and technology, innovation has served as the basis of human progress since the beginning of history. Innovation increases happiness as it solves problems, satisfies needs and makes people better off. It is essential for our well-being. I do not subscribe to the nostalgic nonsense that technology is evil and dangerous and that “good old days” are gone forever. Of course we need to understand that innovation always happens within a socio-political context which in turn shapes its outcomes. The costs and benefits of innovation can be very unevenly distributed and this, in turn, impacts society and politics. Innovation often serves selfish and even evil purposes. And it is undoubtedly impacting climate too, in ways which only international co-operation can address, and it shall do so with more, not less, innovation. At the level of individuals, the renowned psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has shown how happiness and creativity are intimately related in two seminal books*. Innovation practitioners will also attest to the importance of personal engagement and enjoyment in the act of collaborative creation. Beyond individuals and teams, companies and communities, what might we learn from surveying happiness at the level of nation-states? The World Happiness Report 2019**, commissioned by the UN and edited by economists Helliwell, Layard and Sachs, is the 7th of its kind. It is a pioneering study in the emerging science of happiness which shows how the quality of people’s lives can be coherently, reliably and validly assessed by a variety of measures of subjective well-being. (See table) |