Creative Thinking

Feb 24

This morning I came across this beautiful management story on the power of creative thinking.

The Chairman of a company was once holding a weekly meeting with his staff, when a worker raised a peculiar issue of toilets. He complained that the quality and hygiene of toilets for workers were very bad, whereas the executive toilets were always in a very good and clean condition.

The Chairman asked his top executive how much time he would need to set it right. The executive asked for a month. The Chairman said, "I would rather do it in a day. Send me a carpenter."

Next day, when the carpenter came, he ordered the sign boards to be swapped. The sign boards on the workers' toilets displayed *Executives* and the Executives' toilets displayed *Workers.*

The Chairman then also instructed to change these sign boards every fortnight. In the next three days, the quality of both the toilets became equal.

This is not a story, but a true incident, pertaining to Mr Russi Mody, who was the Chairman of Tata Steel at Jamshedpur from 1984-1993.

Tata Steel is one of the companies of the Tata Group, an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai (Estt in 1868) with products and services in over 150 countries across six continents.

There are problems that we come across every day, but how we respond to those problems is what directs our paths ahead. Problem identification requires critical thinking, but solving a problem requires creative or lateral thinking.

But out of the box thinking is not so easy. That's why Henry Ford, the man who founded Ford Motor Company once said:

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it."

It reminds me of a Chairman, who wanted to discuss the features of a new product his company was about to launch. He called a meeting of all functional heads to discuss strategy.

He gave a power point presentation with SWOT analysis. He then asked for suggestions and ideas, but all of them concurred with the Chairman, appreciating his initiative.

The Chairman said, "You people have not come prepared. I'll call the next meeting tomorrow to discuss the product." And he cancelled the meeting.

A brainstorming session is nowadays arranged to suggest as many ideas as possible in a short time for a future activity or for solving a problem, before considering some of them more carefully.

There are four principles of brainstorming to unlock creativity by collaboration:
*Quantity over quality.
*Withhold criticism.
*Welcome the crazy ideas.
*Combine, refine, and improve ideas.

So let's come together as a team and think, think and rethink to generate exciting new ideas for a better future.