Need For Creativity, Innovation In Business Drives Professional Development
Online, March 2, 2010 (Newswire.com) - With the demand for creativity and innovation in business at an all time high, professionals are increasingly building their personal development plans around creativity training and innovation training. But the best creativity training programs don't just target the individual - they work best when used with teams or entire organizations. Creativity training is now a vital part of any organization development program.
"We need creative, innovative people now more than ever," says Sandy Cormack, a personal and organizational development consultant who runs CreativityTraining.org. "In the global economy, more and more of our jobs are being outsourced or replaced by software and web-based applications. Professionals need to be problem solvers, collaborators, critical thinkers, visionaries, pioneers, and integrators - performing functions that can't be easily outsourced or automated."
The creativity training process begins by taking a 'creativity test' or assessment. From this, individuals learn their own unique creative styles - illustrating exactly how they prefer to innovate. They then learn how to move outside their 'comfort zone' and solve problems across the entire innovation spectrum, from improvement and sustaining change to transformation and revolutionary change.
"When you do this in a group setting, magical things happen," says Cormack. "People not only learn to understand their own creativity - they begin understand their coworkers and leaders as well. If I understand how you solve problems, I can better give you what you need and vice versa. This breaks down internal barriers and opens up channels of internal collaboration."
Creativity and innovation training often focuses on specific organizational needs - strategic visioning, change management, new product development, productivity improvement, and leadership development. When done in this manner, people put their training to immediate practical use and are more likely to retain and apply it in the future, according to Cormack.
"Everything starts with the creativity assessment," he emphasizes. "When you learn something important and interesting about yourself like this, it kicks off a life-long personal development journey."
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Tags: Business, business creativity, creativity, creativity training, innovation, innovation training, personal development, professional development