29 ways to stay creative when you’re training (part 3 of 3) plus a contest
Posted by Lee-Anne Ragan | Filed under Creativity & innovation, Training & development
Note: this post contains a chance to win a free song. Keep reading for how to enter…
I came across this great video (see below) from Tofu Design called 29 ways to stay creative. I really like the title because it assumes you and me are creative to start with, which is my mantra. Creativity is in our DNA – some of us just have to dig deeper for it if we’ve been discouraged from displaying our creative gifts.
I’ve added to the 29 points to emphasize how you can stay creative when you’re training, creativity being such an important part of training and all. The first part of each item below is from the video (e.g. break the rules), what follows are my suggestions (e.g. create curiousity).
BTW: for the first ten ways to stay creative when you’re training see the first post. For the second ten ways see the next post.
21) Break the rules – in training ‘ah ha!’ is often preceded by ‘huh?’ as the Heath Brothers say in their excellent book Made to Stick. Create curiousity, don’t give away all the ‘answers’. Learning will pop and stick as a result.
22) Don’t force it – you can lead a horse to the classroom but you can’t make her learn. Create the most sumptuous learning environment and learning content you can but know learning is a partnership between you and the participants. You can’t force learning.
23) Read a page of the dictionary – I use paper or online dictionaries for a creativity activity. To reinforce the concept of ‘cobbling,’ that is creative concepts often cobble together disparate, seemingly unconnected things, I’ll have participants pick two random words from a dictionary and make up a story for how they’re related. How are watermelons and speakers connected?
24) Create a framework – have a plan. Know where you’re headed with your training content. Break it into organized chunks. That’s how our brains learn.
25) Stop trying to be someone else’s perfect – learn from the masters but make your training your own. If you’re copying someone else the participants will know it.
26) Got an idea? Write it down – training ideas are elusive. Got one? Make sure you capture it on your iPhone, Blackberry, notepad whatever, just capture it.
27) Clean your workplace – make sure your training supplies are easy to find and organize. No one pays you to take 4 hours to pack up your supplies for a workshop. Organize your training agendas. Mine always include:
- a list of supplies I’m bringing to the workshop
- a list of supplies I’ve arranged for the client to provide
- what I need to do on site to prepare before the workshop starts
28) Have fun – I always say suffering is optional when it comes to learning. Make your training workshops enjoyable and retention increases. The old adage of ‘putting your nose to the grindstone’ involves blood people! Who wants to suffer when it affects learning and dramatically decreases retention.
29) Finish something – all good things must come to and end, just like this series and just like training workshops. Make sure you plan for a suitable closing. I plan my closings to include a focus on both process or Journey Life Lenses™ as well as content or Destination Life Lenses™. Then, depending on the particular group I’m working with and what they need, I’ll put the emphasis more on one or the other.
Putting the points into practice I’m combining 5 take a break, 8 drink coffee (or my equivalent shake your booty), 18 (count your blessings), 28 (have fun). Eureka by the Soweto String Quartet just came on. I’ve just cranked it up and am about to leap out of my chair and dance to it.
Point 9 is listen to new music. Make a comment below about your idea for staying creative. On Sept 26th I’ll randomly draw three people who’ve commented and send them a copy of Eureka so you too can put the points into action!
29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.
Tags: agenda, creativity, curiousity, inspiration, organization
September 16th, 2011 at 11:06 am
Get out of the office!
September 18th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
How right you are Crystal. Such an easy thing to do and yet I know there are days when I work at my computer so long that when I finally stand up my legs are stiff. Do you have any ritual/practice for making sure you get out?
September 20th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Do some thing not the norm like crawl up on your desk, get up and walk in a circle one way for 10 times then the opposite direction for another 10, blow air out of your nose if your not going to disturb anyone for as long as you can…..or put a hate on and then mitts…and giggle
September 20th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
i want to cobble, cobble, all day long!
September 21st, 2011 at 12:20 am
Your are a creative gold mine Dolly! I can totally imagine you climbing up on your desk (& dancing no less)!
September 21st, 2011 at 12:21 am
Love the notion of creating something new from things that already exist Danielle. There is ease & elegance in that.
September 23rd, 2011 at 4:22 pm
This is more about trying to capture the creative bits as they crop up but I find it useful to keep some post-it notes in the car. That way I can jot down ideas when I think about them (or when something on the radio sparks an idea or I hear something I want to remember/check out). By using a sticky post-it stuck on the dashboard I am more likely to see the note and take it with me where I can (in theory) do something with it.
The problem of sitting at your desk so long your legs become stiff seems to be an increasing problem for me. To combat it, I have moved both my garbage can and my recycling box away from my desk with neither being close to the other. The idea is that I need to get up to put things into either vessel or possibly just to pick up the paper that has missed the target when I attempt to cheat and toss the paper in as if shooting baskets.
September 26th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Hi Diane- great ideas all three. I have a vision of your car covered in brilliant (both in colour and content) sticky notes! How fun and helpful. Great idea to put your garbage can and reclying a ways away. Simple and effective. Love it.
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