Give the flowering of ideas: Why it is necessary to encourage creativity in work

As entrepreneurs, developers and designers, we use ideas to get some benefit. We adore new technologies. We like to experiment, and still - to challenge the difficulties. Most of us join the startups that are developing new technologies, with the dream of changing the world, with the desire to make it better and learn, enjoy their work and turn what is our passion into a career.

And for a while, everything happens that way.
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Projects require considerable effort to implement them. At first, everything is new and exciting for us. We have the freedom to implement new ideas and time to experiment, learn and explore. But then the work absorbs us. We begin to tie in the quagmire of demands and processes, and also find that the experiments that gave rise to the inner flame in us no longer have the original meaning.

This is a problem for any fast-growing startup (or stable business) to solve, since creativity and imagination are more important than knowledge, as Einstein could say.

We are convinced that the organization is responsible for creating an environment for experimentation and creativity. We have tried many concepts for many years and identified a number of aspects that help in “restarting” the creative component of the project and reviving the creative mood in the team. Here is what we found:

Create a space specifically for collaboration.

It is very easy to get caught up in routine, templates and other workflow pitfalls without space specially allocated for additional projects - not only the physical place of work, but also a proper timetable, as well as morale. Creating a perfectly designed and clearly marked zone for experimentation and creativity is a rather exhausting process. Honestly, with this we are lucky. Until recently, we resorted to using a multitude of resources, but all this was somehow fragmented, until several of our employees took up an additional project, the purpose of which was to create conditions for working on a large number of side projects. Inspired by their previous collaboration, Katie McCoy, Amit Jahku, and Jerry Low developed a web application that facilitated design work. Online space for collaboration where ideas could take shape. Thanks to their project, we got a place to work. The collaborative platform within the company called Kicklow, which they invented and developed, gives us the space needed for collaboration and experimentation, which generate new ideas.

Openness and simplicity

What we like so much about using Kicklow as a center for working on our additional projects is the simplicity with which employees can post projects and join them. The application has all the necessary tools to work on joint projects in an exemplary open-source style. It contains descriptions of projects, and supporting components, as well as messages about changes, the names of employees working on projects and much more. Creating such a universal space is crucial for empowering employees to share knowledge and skills. People can see what they are working on now and join the project with one click. You can easily observe all the processes. Whatever you use to rally your team, make it as practical and painless as possible. Believe me, the results will speak for themselves.

Develop professional skills and improve by researching new

We urge our employees as often as possible to go beyond their teams and specialization. Such a mutual enrichment of ideas is not easy to promote in the conditions of the daily working routine. And despite the fact that we really like the dedication of our employees to their work, we must bear in mind that in the long run, the restriction of only one field of activity does not contribute to professional growth and individual development. When different people and groups get the opportunity to interact with each other, new ideas are born. People who would not work together would get a chance to exchange ideas, share their skills with each other and get to know each other better. It also gives team members the opportunity to refresh or improve skills that are a little rusty in their daily work routine. Some ideas gain life, others do not. But everyone benefits from the fact that any participant, no matter what post he holds, can propose an idea and study it.

And let the ideas bloom!

We are big supporters of research and improvement. We had no failures. Not everything worked. Not everything developed as planned. But it normal. Through gradual improvements, the sharing of knowledge and skills, as well as efforts to achieve innovative goals, team members discover new ideas, skills and techniques that can contribute to success in other areas. These projects encourage the discovery and research of something new, which in turn are very informative. And we often find that a project designed to solve one problem solves another or several problems at once, or points us to other difficulties that were not taken into account. A process is always of the same (and often greater) value as the end result itself.

Results:

Our three employees created a fantastic platform that helped implement both external and internal projects — for example, the IxD Checklist utility created by Amit Jakhu and Aaron Legaspi, which helps bring clarity and focus to the design of your interaction thanks A simple list of the necessary components. Undoubtedly, Kicklow has become for us a real find. It helped to gain cohesion, aroused the enthusiasm and progressive development of the team in their daily work.

But to achieve all this, you do not need Kicklow. And it is not necessary to be attached to applications (you will agree, we are a little addicted to them, but the good old pen with paper is also good, if this option suits you).

The most important thing is to create a space for interaction, fill the workflow with fresh ideas, build a more cohesive team, and first of all create an appropriate atmosphere so that creative experimental innovation sparks flare up into a raging flame as often as possible.