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So, there is Margot, the rubber duck, who normally lives in a whirlpool in the sky, but now in Rome. There is Frity, her “flatmate” who, after an argument with Margot, finds himself on top of Mount Kilimanjaro, borrowing the fur coat from Gertrud, a Namibian tourist. Not to mention, his meeting with King Louis, the Lion. There is the black cloud, transformed into a whale, now safely housed in the Colosseum. And somewhere, there are undefined Aliens floating an an UFO.

Just another normal day at the office?

The “Never Ending Story” has progressed. The group of people who are developing our little ….fantasy….. come from two different parts of the same organisation. That is the only thing they have in common.

The rules of brainstorming are that no idea should at first be rejected. Whatever comes to mind gets aired. Another one of those business speak words. Some ideas are better than others. But I was heartened to see another analogy in an article where the qualities of a Miami basket ball team are compared with the team spirit of a company.

The analogy is important – it combines two worlds, two environments and which complement each other. Out of the box thinking. Our story is a little more extreme perhaps and it pursues a few other goals. The 8 authors currently involved in this group exercise are naturally separated – what combines them is our environment in which they can write story. Already, there was an element of competitiveness – we want to use bigger words! The story is beginning to gain traction, some dynamics are slowly appearing on the horizon.

People listen in amazement when the story is read out to them, they laugh, they are relaxed, their minds open up. The pressure falls away and eventually the ideas flow. Eventually, some bonding will take place, some identification might happen. And maybe, somewhere, someone other than me, will be proud of what was achieved.

This, against a backdrop of efficiency programs, project milestones and the fact that nobody had bothered to clear the empty coffee cups, empty bottles etc from the meeting room next door led to a more unpleasant discussion.

sharp pencils, sharp minds, creative results

Where do products come from? Where do processes, systems, company cultures come from? It would appear that they simply appear out of thin air and land on the shelves of stores or in the order books of suppliers. 

Magic!

What is fascinating, at least for me, is that someone, somewhere had an idea at some point. This idea could have come from any other source but it sets a train of activity in motion, which, if it survives, will lead to an enrichment for the creator, the company and the customer or user.

It is the very foundation of business.

The danger is that the idea gets bogged down in the framework which organisations create to function. Often, this framework also impacts the creative process of employees. Any number of continuous improvement incentives with a money bag attached, if implemented, are only really stop-gap measures. If you need to use money in order to motivate people to be creative in the workplace, then….well I personally think there is something amiss.

Enter our “Never Ending Story” environment in our Biz-Speak  Community. It’s one story with many authors. It was launched yesterday and already we have a small, fat man with a big nose, sitting in a whirlpool in the sky with his rubber duck. A slight tiff between these two characters (the duck is called Margot, our friend is called Frity) leads to the duck falling down to earth and landing in Rome. Frity, showing some concern but not much foresight, jumps after Margot but somehow manages to land on Mount Kilimanjaro. Surrounded by snow and only wearing his bathing costume, he enlists the help of a Namibian tourist wearing a fur coat. That is where the story is at now.

To make it more challenging, the story is being written in English. There are only 3 rules, the rest is up to the individuals or teams writing.

I won’t pretend that getting this story off the ground was easy for the first participants, but with perseverance and a few questions we managed to set something in motion. It will be fascinating to see where Margot and Frity take not just the reader but also the authors and what adventures they will encounter on their travels.

The biggest reward? Smiles and laughter as the creative process got underway.

To challenge or to be challenged? That is the question.

Several years ago I had the pleasure of working with a manager whose entire management philosophy was to challenge and be challenged. And in the course of our cooperation, as we got to know each other better, the challenging provocations became more rounded, more fulfilling and more effective.

Any idea was worth discussing, any concept worth debating – thinking  outside the box was standard procedure. He has since moved on to other companies, out of sight but not wholly out of contact. And the legacy of this challenging spirit lingers on. It is, for me, learning at its utmost purest.

Therefore, it is always welcoming when there are some assignments which enable the challenge and be challenged mindset to start living again.

Everybody knows that a software roll out, the introduction of new computer systems, processes and the like does not go unhindered. Resistance is great, working along the lines of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. to “it means more work”.  Preparing such a task from a communication point of view is such a challenge. Usually people need to be convinced to use new programs and just how do you convince them?

One such current assignment is matching this problem with our “enjoyable communication” criteria. The latter is a list of words which make business communication an “enjoyable” experience. We work towards fulfilling the communication goal by aligning the necessary content with the communication criteria. My role is to be the recipient of the intended message and the others have to formulate the messages. The discussions are a challenging game of ping-pong and they lead to a concrete, visible result. In a positive and good atmosphere, it’s a healthy workout.

It should make controllers happy too. Bad communication can be expensive. Believe it or not, you can calculate how expensive it can be. The cost of any communication should provide an added value  Critical analysis up front can determine whether the expected result meets or exceeds the cost of the communication.

Challenges – all the way. As I once heard by the producers of a school play a few weeks ago: “We love a challenge”.

Light bulb moments are important

Another one of those “business speak” terms which float around the system. And eventually land in our own training room.

Today was one of those “the future is tangible” days. Where you know that the concept we are unrolling actually does work.  A long term client made his way to us. The agenda doesn’t actually become clear until the first cigarette has been smoked, a coffee drunk and the transition from a corporate environment to peaceful rural setting kicked-off. I have learnt to deal with the unexpected and our association goes back a long way. A little fine tuning and we’re off.

At the heart of the discussion today was the concept of added value and how people need to deal with it. Both as someone as in the driver’s seat and someone who tends to be driven.

It’s a question I tend to ask myself quite often and others around me. What added value does our work bring you? And today, what added value does our social learning environment bring to some of our clients?  In the particular case of today’s client, the added value is significant. Today’s discussions have set off a process which we both need to keep an eye on. Sending emails might not be secure enough. Creating a “virtual office” here is a better solution. It allows us to stay in touch by adding comments, documents, links, files which might be necessary for us to think about, comment and discuss. It doesn’t replace the face to face meetings which take place about 3-4 times a year. In fact, it enhances them – because both are better prepared and know what the priorities are on the agenda.

With this added value, we can enjoy the effectiveness of our work in the tranquility of our training room.