Ideas Experts' Roundtable on Creativity ...................................................................................................

Innovation is about more than coming up with the next new widget. It is also about nurturing a mind-set of creative thinking throughout the organization. The Futurist invited Mr. Hiam, consultant, to share his experiences in retooling the idea factories in organization.

The Futurist. We think of ideas creation in organizations as usually being about new product development. What other kinds of innovation do you help organizations do?

Alexander Hiam. In truth, the most important idea-creation challenges are not in product development. They are in areas like solving process problems and challenges, such as new customer acquisition, hiring, or communications.

The Futurist. What is the most unusual method you've used to spark creative thinking in organizations?

A.H. I've used a paper-cutting as a starting-point activity. We sometimes work with folded paper to create startlingly beautiful symmetrical patterns when unfolded. It can be a metaphor for unfolding the germ of a new idea, and it also engages the hands and different parts of the intellect in ways that can free up new ideas.

The Futurist. What obstacles are there in corporate ideation, and how to you overcome them?

A.H. There are a great many obstacles. One of my approaches is to take trainees through an assessment activity in which they identify up to 32 barriers to their own personal creativity. That's a lot, of course, but by naming and identifying the most important ones for them, they can begin to manage their own creative environment for the first time.

The Futurist. Is the idea-creation process easier or harder to sell to organizations in times of accelerating change and uncertainty?

A.H. Everything is harder to sell to business when the economy is down. Paradoxically, if there is one time when innovation should be most important it is when an organization is under performance pressure. It is pretty hard for executives to have the courage to invest in creativity training or innovative activities when they are worrying about their bottom lines. Few leaders today have the foresight or insight to do that. As a result, businesses generally prune their way out of financial problems, instead of growing their way out.