Some things never get easier. The first moment of getting into a cold swimming pool. Resisting the box of donuts lurking in the office break room on a Friday morning. Dealing with difficult people. But some things do, and zoning into your creative mind is one of them. So next time you feel like there’s… Read more »
Good working relationships are motivated by empathy. Boost creativity and enhance success at negotiating by becoming more “you-conscious.”
We need new criteria in government job circles. We must look for and reward innovative thinkers and realize that performance is not a zero-sum game. We must look for ways to engage in continual learning on the job, recognizing that this is a key component of innovation and creativity.
Want to innovate like a true professional leader at your agency? You might have to act like you’re 6 years old again.
The next time you’re tasked with coordinating a team meeting to come up with the next big creative innovative idea for your agency, remove all of the chairs from the room.
Time is of the essence and I’ve found the following tools really useful in helping me tell visual stories without the hassle of complicated software.
Herbert Simon once said “Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.” Before hearing that statement, I had a very narrow view of design. I thought design was for creative types or artists who made shoes, furniture or cool new technology products. I didn’t realize that design encompassesRead… Read more »
While there are many aspects of my detail to The Innovation Lab at the Office of Personnel Management that I enjoy, one of my favorites is access to the Lab’s space in the sub-basement of OPM’s Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building. The space is a dream for those seeking a creative and collaborative work environment. ForRead… Read more »
Quick, be creative! For most people, this is a tall order. Thinking creatively on-demand is not an easy task; in fact, it can be outright intimidating. But, according to four experts in the field, it’s also probably not a necessary one for innovation. Results from OPM’s 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey indicated that nearly 91Read… Read more »
In the heat of frenzied media coverage, problems aren’t the only newsworthy topic out there. Somewhere in the underbrush, there’s a story about solutions or people working on solutions. There’s no need to wait for an enterprising reporter to dredge that story up — we can help them find it.