What if you are creative, but your organization is not?

Many of us have worked in places that have tried to adopt more creative practices, and we know that it doesn’t always produce the desired results. In fact, if we introduce creativity, it can even seem to backfire.

But Jon Kolko has devised a formula for injecting creativity into resistant organizations. Author of the book, Creative Clarity: A Practical Guide for Bringing Creative Thinking Into Your Company, Jon is a Partner at Modernist Studio and Founder of Austin Center for Design. He served as VP of Design at Blackboard, has worked extensively with both startups and Fortune 500 companies, and has written four additional books on design.

Jon shares insights for achieving creativity and innovation in even the most resistant organizations. In this interview we discuss:

Why attempts at introducing creativity into organizations can make things worse
The role framing plays in the creative process and how it helps with innovation
How leading with a creative strategy changes can yield more innovative solutions
Why summary problem statements are so important
How to push through complexity to arrive at simplicity
Why creative people work best a flow state of uninterrupted blocks of time
Why embracing a creative culture means embracing uncertainty
The role of feedback in a special kind of meeting called a critique
The two reactions to avoid when receiving feedback
How creative approaches differ in small versus large organizations
The three types of ownership of ideas
The one skill that every instructor needs to teach students in creative fields
What mentors are invaluable
Why teaching design thinking is inseparable from teaching of design

Episode Links

Jon Kolko

Creative Clarity

Frog Design

Ideo

Flow

The Swoop and Poop

Design Thinking

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CM 098: Jon Kolko on Igniting Creativity in Organizations

Curious Minds at Work