The Goldilocks Zone of Creativity
In a world of constant change, creativity is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
I recently worked with a communications team whose leader felt that their creative spark had fizzled. Pressured by urgency and limited time, the team found themselves reverting to what worked in the past, rarely allocating the time to explore new possibilities.
In this post, I describe how to create the conditions that will break your team out of routine work to get you to what I call the “Goldilocks zone of creativity.”
Beyond Quick Fixes: The Hidden Culprits Eroding Employee Health
The prevailing belief in our society is that our health outcomes are predominantly the result of our personal choices. However, a large body of empirical evidence shows the vital role played by the context in which we make these choices. The workplace itself is a significant risk factor for morbidity and mortality, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and behavioral health issues.
Are Project Management Methods Out of Date?
From shifting client needs, unpredictablesupply chains, volatile markets, extreme weather, new forms of hybridwork, pandemics, social uprisings, the disorienting surprises seem never-ending and mostly out of our control. The days when you could plan a project and then execute according to the plan seem like a distant memory. Change is accelerating at a dizzying pace.
Ironically, the one thing you can count on in these turbulent times is being surprised by unforeseen events. No surprise, then, that Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner report in their new book How Big Things Get Done: “A staggering 91.5% of projects go over budget, over schedule, or both.”
What if our tightly controlled project management routines are the culprit, not the answer?
Given that projects rarely go exactly to plan, how can we use this awareness to change our approach and work more effectively? How can we use an understanding of complex dynamics in service of our work?
Your Brain on Complexity
Ever find yourself in a situation where you feel overload, uncertainty or instability? There’s a whirlwind in your head; things are in flux; the path forward is unclear. You are being asked to perform in a complex environment. And if you feel stuck or overwhelmed, there’s a reason for that. Your brain has gone into lockdown mode.