Creativity (aka Adaptability)

To be creative is to be able to adapt.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

This quote is particularly relevant given today's business climate but it is not from the latest guru on this month's bandwagon. Charles Darwin wrote these powerful thoughts in "On the Origin of Species" 150 years ago.

What is adaptability?

• Being willing to step back and look at the situation with fresh eyes.
• Doing things less, more, faster, more slowly.
• Observing others and leveraging off their ideas by extracting the core concept behind the idea.
• Willing to explore ideas that where previously dismissed as "Won't work here".
• Thirst for knowledge. Seeking out new thoughts, trends, shifts by having regular conversations with co-workers, suppliers, experts and people not from your industry.
• Linking unrelated ideas together.

Keep a folder of ideas from magazines, brochures, and websites that you can draw on when looking for inspiration.

And finally: apply those ideas! The only way to switch creative thoughts into innovation (ie, bring about change that has meaning) is by exploring different ideas and applying them.