What Makes For A Great Creative Team?

You may believe that some people are more creative than others and wonder why you can’t be as cutting edge or your showroom be more innovative? The first step is to understand the traits teams must have to constantly innovate.

The most consistently creative teams are motivated by the work itself. They derive personal and professional satisfaction from daily challenges and activities and enjoy the process. They are intrinsically motivated, constantly looking to improve what currently exists and laser focused on refreshing what has gone stale. Intrinsically motivate teams and team members understand the why of what they do and that generates greater returns and better results.

Consistently creative teams are action orientated. They are never satisfied with the status quo. Instead, they look at what currently exists with an eye toward improvement. If it’s not broke, consistently creative teams look for opportunities for improvement. They understand that big harry audacious goals are achieve with baby steps, one taken and the other.

Consistently creative teams build on what’s working well now using current progress to create more progress. They tend to focus on a few things that work exceedingly well and build on top of those successes to address things that are not working well.

Consistently creative teams are usefully delusional. Imagine if 10 years ago, you were asked to invest in a transportation company that owned no cars or a lodging company that did not own a single property. You were pitched that people would rent space in their homes and properties to complete strangers and ordinary people will convert their cars into taxis and not have to deal with licenses, regulations, etc. Would you have invested? Most likely, the answer would have been no. Consistently creative teams believe anything is possible regardless of how insane the idea may seem at first blush.

When you attempt to make a difference, especially one that may be significant, you are likely engaging in random acts of insanity.