Creativity wins out - how to think like The Apprentice

So the wait is finally over. After weeks of pitching, selling, leading and following, negotiating, inventing and backstabbing, the winner of the latest series of The Apprentice is...Creativity.

Tom Pellereau is the name, but creativity and innovation is the game. And ideas are his stock in trade.

He is obviously a highly creative guy - and last night on the follow-up interview show "You're Hired!", Tom displayed several of the habits, behaviours and attitudes that all highly creative people tend to have.

These are habits (or to put it another way, tools and techniques) that the rest of us can study, learn and put into practice to improve our own personal creativity.

Firstly, he seems to have plenty of ideas - one after the other. Actually, what he demonstrates is that he doesn't close down an idea simply because it hasn't been thought through. He shouts it out, he gets it out there - he doesn't confuse idea generation with evaluation. When he is supposed to come up with ideas, that's what he does - comes up with ideas. Stop judging your ideas - just shout them out, write them down, and get on to the next one.

That's his second habit - he captures every idea in writing. At on point on the show host Dara O Briain suggested another idea - and Tom whipped out his notepad and pretended to write it down. Dara even said "I love the fact that he's got the notepad!". I suspect, Dara, that you carry a notepad too. All creative people do, and that includes great comedians.

Thirdly, he is incorrigibly optimistic. He believes in ideas, and he believes in his own ability to come up with ideas. A healthy cup of Tom's optimism every day could help us all with our own challenges, I believe.

His optimism, belief in himself and all-round decency came in one stunning phrase last night about the fact that he is dyslexic. "I was extremely lucky" he said "that from a young age I knew there were lots of things I couldn't do. I saw things in ways others couldn't, so I had to concentrate on maths, engineering and designing".

That, Tom, is the power of creative thinking. Many congratulations.

Facilitating a brainstorm - managing the outcomes

The final responsibility of the facilitator of a brainstorm or meeting is manage the outcomes - to make sure that the session has achieved its objectives, and that you have the right outputs in the right format.

The first stage in managing outcomes is to manage expectations in the first place: to know what you want to achieve; to ensure all concerned are agreed on objectives; and to know what the next stage in the process will be.

So have clear in your mind what the outcomes must be. Are you looking for some initial thoughts that can be worked up later? Or a decision on what course of action to take (in which case this meeting isn't for generating ideas, but rather evaluating them)? Do you want the ideas to be pretty substantial in terms of 'completeness'?

And presumably, at least part of the outcomes required will be an action plan to move on to "next steps".

Make sure you have captured ALL the ideas generated - or if the teams have come up with a load of ideas which were not shared, get them to type them up and email on to you. And give them a deadline!

Set aside some time (a couple of days later) to go through these additional ideas - there's always a chance you or the team missed an absolute cracker when you went through them the first time.

Group the ideas together on a whiteboard or on post-it notes. You're looking for themes, big ideas, concepts "with legs".

Get some initial feedback on favourite ideas - but be aware that the group intellect "tends to the norm". In other words, in groups we tend to select the more obvious, instantly recognisable ideas rather than the innovative or unusual ones.

To counteract this, give everyone a few votes - say, five. They have to look at the ideas boards, on their own, then allocate votes as they see fit (for example: two to one idea, and one to three others; or all five votes to one idea). Then they go up one at a time and allocate the votes as written down (or they hand their scoring sheet to you). In this way, you don't get everyone simply following each other once one idea becomes the favourite.

And finally, make sure you share next steps with everyone. People will be happier - and will remain engaged with the project - if they know what's going to happen next.

If you follow these steps, your meetings and brainstorms (and the ideas generated) will be better, faster - and more effective.

Facilitating a brainstorm - managing time

As Douglas Adams said, "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so". 

It may be an illusion, but time is the most expensive resource you use up while running a meeting or brainstorm. Think of all those expensive colleagues sitting round the table (or lolling on sofas, or stretched out on rugs in the park - where do you hold your brainstorms?). All watching the clock. All trusting that their time is appreciated, and being used well. 

The key to using time well is to have a plan, and stick to it. Sketch out an agenda that covers the key 'events' in the brainstorm - the introduction, the thinking part, the switching of teams, the harvesting of ideas, the summarising at the end. How long will each take? How much will you need to allow for  sessions that are going so well you that don't want to stop?

You needn't share the agenda in detail - although it is a good idea to give your participants a rough idea of where you're going and what you'll be doing. And give deadlines and outlines - saying things like "We'll now break into pairs for a twenty minute challenge". 

Stick to the deadlines. Don't wait for everyone to come back into the room (physically or metaphorically) on time - go get them. In fact, go get them five minutes early - so that they don't delay the re-start by deciding then to go to the loo!

Have the agenda in sight, and in mind, throughout the meeting. Try not to over-run - if you think you might, pick up the pace. 

Keep the tempo up - this raises the energy in the room and seems to contribute to quicker thinking. It also stops everyone taking time for idea evaluation instead of idea generation (evaluate later is one of the golden rules of creative thinking). 

And if you want to earn the undying admiration and love of all concerned, finish ten minutes early. Every time a meeting finishes early, a lovely fluffy kitten is born.