Creativity and innovation - they get our attention. Students in classrooms want to be engaged and see creative and amazing lessons. Adults in meetings yearn for presentations that are more than a PowerPoint presentation being read aloud. Consumers are looking for something different that will catch their eye. Young women are hoping for a creative invitation to prom or for a proposal that is unexpected and breathtaking. Yet, if most of us were asked, we would say that we’re just not that creative.

While some may be more creative than others, I believe that everyone can become more creative.

Being creative may push you out of your comfort zone and your idea may flop. Erase the fear of failing. When a creative idea works, it is like igniting a spark and watching it turn into a blazing fire.

Many years ago I served in a school as a learning support strategist. One of my responsibilities was to share instructional strategies and encourage teachers in their profession. I was preparing my weekly newsletter and decided to focus on creativity. I started by encouraging teachers to choose a common object and think of all the ways it could be used instructionally in the classroom. Since it was October, I chose a pumpkin and came up with twenty ways teachers could use a pumpkin for instruction. In case you have an inquiring mind, here were the ideas:

A key to the success of any organization or group is relational connectedness. People will work harder for the success of an organization if they believe in the vision and cause that they are working for and if positive relationships exist between the members of the organization.

It really boils down to the fact that you need to know the people with whom you work or lead. As a middle school principal, it was important to me to ensure that each year as new teachers came to our school that they had an opportunity to bond and build relationships with the teachers who had been there over the years. That’s one of the reasons leaders take the time to do those “get to know you” icebreaker activities. To the task driven, it may appear to be a waste of time, but if you have solid activities, relationships will begin to form. As relationships develop, collaboration begins to occur. Someone once said that two heads are stronger than one and collaboration for the betterment of your organization is a positive thing! You may lead in an office setting, a school, a volunteer organization, a church small group or children’s group. Periodically, I will share some of these icebreakers on the blog so that if you are leading any type of group, you will be able to modify and adapt these to work in your situation. I like to call them Interesting Icebreakers…

Cultivate Creativity

Everyone Has A Story

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