Team Work and Creativity Why work in a team? I can do it better myself.

Things Researchers and Other Smart People Know about Working in Teams l The Ability to work in Teams is one of the Top Five Skills that Employers look for in hiring and promoting l Companies that utilize teams in development of products, etc. benefit greatly because…..

Teams bring a diversity of skills and perspectives to bear on any given problem.

Things Researchers and Other Smart People Know about Creativity l People who critically and creatively think are more likely to be successful in school l People who critically and creatively think are more likely to be successful in work settings l People who think creatively are more likely to describe their lives as fulfilling and satisfying

Working with Others l Task Processes: Specific interactions that focus on the job at hand l Transactional Processes: interactions that carry communication about: –individuals –the team –the task processes l Without transactional processes, we can’t do the task processes

What makes a team? l Work group: Relies primarily on the individual contribution of its members for group performance l Team: Strives for a magnified impact that is incremental to what its members could achieve in their individual roles

Definition A team is a diverse group of people who share leadership responsibility for creating a group identity in an interconnected effort to achieve a mutually defined goal within the context of other groups and systems.

Diverse Specific and Different Resources and Abilities are Needed

Shared Leadership Because of the diversity and the specificity of the task, every member must guide the team whether there is a designated leader or not

A Created Identify A team self-image that becomes a cohesive and motivating force

Interconnected Efforts Efforts constantly weave and coordinate the contributions of each member

Mutually defined goal Communicate intensely to develop goals and ways to achieve them

Context Work is affected by the context, the environment, and the system within which it works.

The Creative Process As Described by Roger von Oech

The Different Types of Creative Thinking l Explorer l Artist l Judge l Warrior

Explorer l Provides the Raw Materials from which new ideas are made 4 facts 4 concepts 4 experiences 4 knowledge 4 feelings 4 etc.

Explorer l Dares to go where no one has gone before –Using only safe routes is not exploration l Need to look in uncharted territory l Need to wander how it all fits in l Need to feel a little lost l Need to pay attention to unusual patterns l Need to Use different senses

When have you been an explorer?

Artist l Takes the raw material and makes something new from it 4 experiment with variety of approaches 4 Ask “what if” questions 4 Break the rules or create new ones

When have you been an artist?

Judge l Ideas are great, but decisions have to be made! 4 Is this idea good? 4 Is it worth pursuing 4 Will it give me the return I want? 4 Do I have the resources to make it happen?

Judge l Evaluate and critically weigh the evidence l Look for drawbacks l Wonder if it will work l Question your assumptions l Listen to your gut l Make a Decision!

When have you been a Judge?

Warrior l Implement your Idea! l Take the Idea into Action! l Be offensive!

Warrior l Need to develop a strategy l Be flexible enough to change it l Commit yourself to reaching your objective

Warrior l Overcome 4 excuses 4 idea killers 4 temporary setbacks 4 other obstacles l Need to have the courage to do what is necessary

When have you been a Warrior?

Review l Your Explorer is your role for searching for new information and resources; l Your Artist is your role for turning those resources into new ideas; l Your Judge is your role for evaluating the merits of an idea and deciding what to do with it; and l Your Warrior is your role for carrying your idea into action.

Creative Process l Linear Progression?? –Likely you will use Explorer role in earlier stages, –Artist and Judge in the middle stage –Warrior in the later stages l But, there should be a fair amount of shifting around

Two Main Reasons for Failure l Weak Roles l Bad Timing

Use It or Lose It You have to make a deliberate effort to get and keep all of your creative roles

Timing is Everything Knowing when to use your roles is vitally important to your success. For example: l Using your judge when you need to explore l Using your artist to implement your idea Need to Shift to Roles when it is Necessary

Getting Stuck in a Role l Explorer: Never get around to making sense of ideas l Artist: Spend all your time working and re- working your creation & not letting go l Judge: Inhibit your artist and spend so much time evaluating that you never make a decision l Warrior: Rush into action whether you are ready or not

Team Work and Creativity

Questions…. l Describe the Role(s) in the Creative Process that you Feel Most Comfortable With. l Describe the Role(s) that is Most Unfamiliar and Uncomfortable for you.

Questions... l How could Utilizing a Team be Useful in the Creative Process?