Full transcript
0:20If I was to ask you, what do CEOs view
0:23as the most crucial factor for business
0:25success?
0:26What would you say?
0:28Some of you might think business rigor,
0:31perhaps vision,
0:33maybe even manager discipline.
0:36But you'd be mistaken.
0:38According to a study by IBM, the number
0:41one factor identified for business
0:43success, believe it or not,
0:46is creativity.
0:48But we have a problem.
0:50These leaders say that creativity is
0:52core to business success.
0:55However, they're unknowingly choking it
0:57out of the business environment.
0:59So, how do we bridge this gap?
1:02As a design leader in Silicon Valley for
1:04a dozen years, I've been spending some
1:06time thinking about this problem.
1:09And I believe we have a fundamental
1:11misunderstanding of creativity.
1:14We need to start by rejecting the notion
1:16that creativity belongs to a select few,
1:19that it's owned by the creative
1:20right-brain thinkers, the painters, the
1:23playwrights, the poets,
1:25and that it's unavailable to the more
1:26logical left-brain thinkers,
1:29the mathematicians, computer scientists,
1:32engineers.
1:34I'm here to tell you today,
1:36we all have the capacity for creative
1:38thinking.
1:40In fact, creativity is a birthright,
1:43available to all,
1:45but used by few.
1:47Once we come to accept and acknowledge
1:49the fact that we can all be creative
1:51thinkers,
1:52we can focus on its development.
1:56So, how do we ignite creativity?
1:58The answer
2:00is in our past.
2:03Picasso once said, "Every child is an
2:05artist. The problem is staying an artist
2:08when you grow up."
2:10I'd like to invite you all to take a
2:11moment, step back to your childhood.
2:14We questioned the world. We were curious
2:17about everything.
2:19And we were naturally observant.
2:23Did you know the average preschooler
2:24asks 100 questions a day?
2:28We can draw a lot of inspiration about
2:31creativity from our childhood.
2:34It starts by opening our minds, looking
2:37for new possibilities, and challenging
2:40the status quo.
2:42Just like parents foster creativity in
2:45their children, we must do the same in
2:47the workplace.
2:49So, how do we change?
2:52I'd like to share three strategies,
2:54three strategies I believe everyone in
2:56this room can use to bring creativity to
2:59their workplace.
3:00Let's start by talking about
3:01environments. Environments are the
3:04foundation for creative thinking.
3:07If you look at most business
3:08environments today, this is what they
3:10look like.
3:12Not very inspiring.
3:14Boring, bland, rows of cubes,
3:17equally boring and uninspiring meeting
3:19rooms.
3:22And the tools that we use, generic
3:24computers, lined notebooks, black pens.
3:29One of the core aspects of creative
3:30thinking is ideation, exploring a
3:33variety of ideas, collaborating.
3:37And these kinds of spaces and tools just
3:39don't foster that behavior.
3:43But think back to your childhood. These
3:45are the kinds of spaces you worked and
3:48played in, a variety of different
3:50locations for different kinds of
3:52activities, bold, bright, colorful,
3:55energetic.
3:57And the tools we used?
3:59Blank paper, colored pencils, pens,
4:02paint, markers.
4:04Everything we needed for imagination and
4:08creation.
4:11The good news?
4:12Companies are catching on, and they're
4:14recognizing the importance of the
4:15environment.
4:17Microsoft, Google, LEGO,
4:20just to name a few, are investing in
4:22spaces like these.
4:24They're getting the importance of
4:26creating a variety of spaces for
4:28employees.
4:31At Citrix, where I work, we opened a
4:33design collaboration space inspired by
4:35the design school at Stanford. It's
4:382,000 square feet of wide-open space
4:41filled with whiteboards, tables, stools.
4:45It's easily configurable, so you can
4:47create any kind of unique working
4:49environment. Creative supplies are
4:51everywhere at your fingertips.
4:55The room is available at all times,
4:57designed for spontaneous collaboration.
5:02A radical change happened when we opened
5:04this space.
5:06It was pretty incredible. Instead of
5:08preaching about the merits of
5:10collaboration and ideation, we started
5:14seeing it happen real time every day.
5:18And even better, employees are telling
5:20us they love this new way of working,
5:23and they are coming up with better ideas
5:25that are impacting our products.
5:28Environment is the foundation for
5:31creative thinking.
5:34A second way that we can all
5:37ignite creativity in our workplace is
5:40through experiments.
5:42But the problem we have is we are so
5:45laser-focused
5:47on execution, on process, on efficiency,
5:52that we're missing the opportunity for
5:53innovation.
5:55We create cultures where we are afraid
5:57to fail.
5:59And as a result, we do the same thing
6:01again and again and again, because it's
6:03what we know, and it feels safe.
6:07But we aren't able to innovate by
6:10repeating the same thing. We get trapped
6:12in this cycle of micro-improvements, of
6:15incrementalism, and missing out on that
6:18great opportunity for creative
6:19innovation.
6:21Go back to your childhood.
6:24There was no one way to build a tower of
6:26blocks,
6:28or to make a fantastic creation from
6:30Play-Doh,
6:32to build a snowman after a snowfall.
6:35And if we failed, it was okay. It was
6:37part of the process.
6:40We need to bring this mindset back to
6:41the workplace.
6:45Thomas Edison made a thousand
6:48unsuccessful attempts before inventing
6:50the lightbulb, but he saw this as part
6:52of the process.
6:54He said the lightbulb was an invention
6:56with a thousand steps.
7:00We need to embrace this mindset of
7:02experimenting. We need to learn to fail
7:05fast and fail early. We need to take our
7:07ideas and improve them and iterate them.
7:11This is how ideas go from good to
7:13spectacular.
7:16A really great way to do this is through
7:18prototypes. Prototypes are models
7:21created cheaply and quickly using
7:23everyday items.
7:26You can take these prototypes and you
7:28can show them to customers. You can
7:30explore a broad array of ideas with
7:33prototypes. Throw away the ones that
7:35don't work,
7:36and continue to refine the ones that do.
7:39It's the best way to experiment and fail
7:42fast, fail early.
7:45A really famous example of prototyping
7:47comes from IDEO, a design agency in
7:50Silicon Valley.
7:51They used this prototype made from a
7:53marker, a film canister, and a
7:55clothespin.
7:57And they brought it to surgeons.
8:00This prototype resonated so well with
8:02the surgeons that they were able to come
8:04up with a whole host of ideas of how to
8:07improve this surgical device and bring
8:09it to life.
8:10IDEO was able to use this great
8:12information and feedback to refine the
8:15idea, and ultimately generate a real
8:18surgical device that tripled the
8:21client's revenue in this product space.
8:24So, although experimenting and
8:26prototyping may in some ways seem like
8:28child's play,
8:30it's actually driving real innovation
8:33and business success.
8:39A third way that you can all ignite
8:41creativity in the workplace is through
8:43storytelling.
8:45TED is the most fantastic example of
8:47storytelling,
8:49spreading ideas through stories that
8:52touch people.
8:54But in the business environment, we have
8:57just lost the art of storytelling. I
8:59think we've all sat through this
9:00presentation, a stack of cold, boring
9:04bullets on a screen, no emotion, no
9:07context.
9:08What have we done?
9:11Stories have the ability
9:13to inspire and persuade,
9:17like these kinds of presentations never
9:19will,
9:20like facts, reports, and charts just
9:23can't.
9:27Rewind to childhood, when we were all
9:29natural storytellers.
9:31We told stories through role play. We
9:34empathized with our characters and
9:36captured the hearts, minds, and
9:39imagination of our audience.
9:42We need to bring this back to the work
9:44environment.
9:47Stories have a really powerful ability
9:50to package information, context, and
9:52emotion.
9:54There are a few things that I believe
9:55make stories really, really successful.
9:58First of all, they start with passion
10:00and emotion and vision. They're not at
10:03all about constraints and timelines.
10:07They make your customer the hero.
10:10Someone that your audience wants to
10:12invent for. They're hanging on every
10:15word. They want to see that customer
10:17succeed.
10:20And lastly, stories drive conversations.
10:23They're not just one-way monologues.
10:26They leave the audience wanting more.
10:28They want to understand. They want to
10:30help bring your idea to life.
10:36One of my favorite examples of story led
10:39innovation comes from GE Healthcare.
10:42Doug Dietz, an industrial designer for
10:4420 years, decided he was going to go out
10:47and see his MRIs being used in the
10:49hospital.
10:51And he made a really unexpected
10:53discovery.
10:55The experience of a child receiving an
10:57MRI.
10:59The child was crying in the hallway.
11:02And the father leaned down and said,
11:04"Remember, I told you you have to be
11:06brave."
11:08Doug was so moved by this experience
11:11that he wanted to learn more.
11:14He discovered that many children have to
11:17be sedated because this experience of an
11:19MRI is so terrifying.
11:23This increased risk,
11:25cost, and stress
11:28on the family and the child.
11:31Doug was so determined to solve this
11:34problem. He went back to GE Healthcare
11:37and told this story.
11:39A group of people were so inspired that
11:41they wanted to work with him. They
11:43wanted to change the ending of this
11:46story.
11:47And the result is pretty incredible.
11:52They developed the adventure series of
11:54scanners.
12:02This one is actually called the cozy
12:04camp experience. And as soon as the
12:06child opens the door, they're off on a
12:08camping adventure.
12:10They snuggle into a sleeping bag. And
12:13when they go into the MRI machine, it's
12:15now an adventure in a tent.
12:19He and his team completely transformed
12:21this experience
12:23from one of terror, risk, and cost
12:27to one of complete joy. Pretty
12:29incredible.
12:32The good news is lots of companies are
12:35getting the importance of stories. These
12:37are pictures from my workplace. People
12:39are telling stories with their ideas,
12:42using prototypes, and bringing them to
12:44life.
12:49Creativity
12:51has the power for invention and ultimate
12:54success.
12:56Environments, experiments, and
12:57storytelling are just a few of the ways
13:00that I believe you can inject it into
13:03your workplace.
13:05But remember, creativity is a
13:08birthright.
13:09It's available to all,
13:12but used by few.
13:15So, I ask you
13:18to embrace,
13:19empower, and insist on creativity in
13:23your workplace.
13:25And watch the ideas unfold.
13:28Thank you.
13:42Thank you.