Do Ideas come out of the BLUE?
Posted by anjali on March 25, 2007
Well of course they do! Don’t we know how Archimedes came up with one while floating in a tub of water? How Newton was struck with one while sitting under an apple tree?
Seems like ideas do come out of the blue! The above two examples though are of examples of geniuses, which is one of the biggest myth’s: that creativity is the forte of geniuses. Each and every individual is inherently creative. Research proves that kids are more creative than grown-ups (about 60 times more). It’s for good reason that some of most talked about companies like Google zealously nurture a college like environment giving enough space to people to “BE” themselves.
What usually happens is that being products of “strict and traditional educational systems”, we kind of loose it somewhere in the growing up process. There is so much stress being put on logical and analytical thinking. Also, our brain thinks in terms of “patterns “, which of course has it’s own benefits in problem solving (finding spontaneous answers to on the spot problems for ex). Think back to a time when the only kind of door handles that existed were of the push down variety. So the first time somebody came across a door with a knob, he probably took a few seconds to figure out that it had to be rotated. There was a problem solved, and a pattern made. The next time he comes across anything even vaguely similar to a knob, he knows what’s to be done.
So, ideas do seem to come out of the blue…but in reality a lot has to be done beforehand to make the situation fertile before one can reap a good crop of ideas “out of the blue”. So what is it that we at MangoSpring do when we are constantly wanting to nurture innovation (idea in action) and creativity (the process that you go through to come up with innovative ideas)?
It’s their baby - At MangoSpring each and every team member gets to own a module/feature or product — no strings attached. That’s what makes them experiment around, give their best and come up with innovative ideas…..with no overly critical bosses looking over the shoulders.
Each one has one - Don’t we all have that special nook/corner where we feel the best and do the best… Springsters this April would be making one for themselves and for their teams in the MYSPACE contest.
At your best amidst nature? - It’s not a rare sight to catch Springsters on our Terrace garden with a laptop or notebook in tow, mulling over a problem or just plain recharging. So what if we don’t have Daffodils? The balsam’s in full bloom this February and March were a great sight!
Quality Time - We spend quality time together as a team, be it at the lunch table or over a game of foosball. We make it a point to celebrate birthdays, go for outings, etc. After all, great ideas don’t come up in isolation.
Pathshala sessions - It’s easy to get trapped by what we know. We teach employees to break free of mental ruts and don the Six Thinking Hats and other techniques.
Idea Pipeline - We don’t just encourage ownership; we absolutely demand it! Everyone gets to log in their ideas into the repository. We don’t just reward referrals, but also good ideas.
Work is fun - How could I forget to mention the interesting work that we are doing at MS? Full of challenges and fun!!