The brilliant humourist Mark Twain receives credit, but I have been unable to find a solid citation. The observation has been attributed to several other prominent humourists including: Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw), Artemus Ward (pseudonym of Charles Farrar Browne), Kin Hubbard (pen name of Frank McKinney Hubbard), and Will Rogers. Yet, it is unlikely then any of them said it. The creator remains anonymous based on current evidence. It’s all about our tendency to believe that what we think is fact when unfortunately it’s just opinion, and as an opinion it may not be correct. Most importantly, […]
Read More
I am certain you’ve heard it before — seek input, be inclusive, welcome perspectives, collaborate with others. But why? Why is this type of inclusion beneficial for individuals, teams, and organizations? When individuals from different walks of life come together and share unique viewpoints, there is an increase in positive results. Without diversity of thought, innovation is thwarted, and corporate initiatives may stall. You need to approach issues with a number of perspectives to be able to see the big picture. Leaders must leverage the strengths that vary from person to person as well as their unique contexts, preferences, and life experiences. […]
Read More
There are few things more gripping than a great story. Storytelling is part of our make-up, helping to entertain, educate and inspire us. In business, storytelling is an intrinsic part of our working lives. We like to hear stories and share them because they give us hope and motivate us. They also influence our everyday workplace culture. So why and how does storytelling have such an influence in inclusion? An organisation’s culture is a culmination of all the stories we hear and share at work every day. Imagine a story being told in the office about how a colleague who […]
Read More
Diversity is key to creativity. Not just diversity in your workplace, but also in your personal life. It encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision making and problem solving. Diversity can improve the bottom line of organizations, and lead to incredible discoveries and breakthrough innovations. In fact, many people consider diversity one of the most important ingredients for creative thinking! When you are looking for solutions to a problem (virtually all creativity is the result of trying to solve some kind of problem), your brain will automatically work with information that is related to the problem. It defaults to […]
Read More
I was so inspired when I read FourSight’s recent article Creativity Surge: How to Sustain Your Energy during a Global Crisis https://blogs.foursightonline.com/ that I was inspired to dig a little deeper! The world is battling a deadly virus, the global economy is in a perilous state, and millions of people are closeted away in lockdown. So why is this a good time to be thinking about creativity? In every day, non-pandemic life, we tend to engage in more conforming behavior rather than creating behavior. During a crisis, however, our survival instincts kick in, and we recognize that past patterns that […]
Read More