Organizations in the 21st century need to use technological advances to their advantage, as allied tools for creative thinking.
In a highly competitive and demanding professional world, where technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Automation are also bursting with force, soft skills are decisive.
In this order of ideas, creative thinking is positioned as one of the most valued qualities within work teams. The transition process towards the so-called Industrial Revolution 4.0 cannot be understood without key elements such as innovation, adaptability, and the vision of change.
Unfortunately, the traditional educational model is still far from optimally enhancing creativity in students, since the same educational scheme, with rigid programs and a focus on mechanical-memoristic learning, gradually, albeit progressively, reduces people’s ability to broaden their creative horizons.
Consequently, the profile of most higher education graduates is that of professionals programmed to follow precise indications, to perform within limited margins of action, and to adhere to the traditional structured norms by the book.
Although, on a professional level, discipline and knowledge of basic notions are extremely useful, the extreme orthodoxy -legacy of an educational system inherited from the worldview of the First Industrialization-, evidently, significantly limits the creative processes.
For this reason, I would like to share some considerations to promote creative thinking in high-performance work teams:
First, the organizational culture of any company that aspires to promote creativity among its collaborators must be based on trust and never on fear.
Of course, companies and institutions need to achieve established goals in order to be profitable, but betting on authoritarian systems where making a mistake is inadmissible, implies fostering a culture of fear.
When this happens, it inevitably closes the incentives to innovate, since implementing bold ideas requires courage in the face of uncertainty; proposals that break new ground can potentially fail.
However, annihilating creativity is even riskier, since a changing environment requires permanent updates. Only those organizations with the flexibility to adapt to the new era of technological transformation will be able to survive and be successful.
On the other hand, when companies are unable to reinvent themselves given their limited vision -which is often rooted in the good results of the past-, the outcome can be catastrophic. See the case of Blockbuster.
Secondly, encouraging creative thinking involves setting up work teams with plural and complementary profiles. As the saying goes: in a group where two or more people think exactly alike, we can conclude that there is one too many.
On the contrary, the diversity of talents, experiences and ideas greatly enriches creative processes since it facilitates the exploration of different perspectives to access solid value propositions.
Interdisciplinary teams tend to perform better than homogeneous groups. Human learning is nourished by the multiplicity of knowledge.
Under competent leadership, this plurality of profiles fosters productive synergy, stimulating creativity.
As a third point, 21st century organizations need to use technological advances to their advantage, as tools allied to creative thinking.
The power of big data, the reach of digital platforms, and the sophistication of artificial intelligence, far from being threats to or replacing human creativity, are instruments that, when properly applied, become crucial factors in achieving optimal levels of performance.
Understanding that technology is science at the service of people, it is certain that these inputs, together with those that eventually emerge, will help organizations to be able to find solutions to the challenges of the contemporary era.
To this end, it will be essential for the leaders and professionals of today and tomorrow to be prepared to embrace change and take on the transformation train that is already underway, hand in hand with knowledge and creative thinking.