Big Little ThingsHow to give creativity its due (instead of killing it or faking it or misleading yourself about it) so that it can actually happen - Part 3 of 3
Here’s the last set of simple ways to use creativity to make your work better. (check out previous posts 1 & 2) To be clear, we didn’t make this up, and we don’t know who did. But we’re still surprised at how much talk there is around these small ways of working, and how little action. We’d like to change that.
Learn every day
If your professional development happens only when there isn’t any other work to do, you’re not going to get any better at your work. So make the time to teach yourself something new. No doubt it’s a tough thing to do when there’s a deadline approaching, but new perspectives are the key to great work. And great work should matter more than any deadline.
Invest in failure
Some lessons can only be learned the hard way, and failure is often the best teacher. You are in the business of creativity, which means it’s your job to experiment and try things that you’ve never tried before. If an idea or an approach fails, it’s a good lesson and a step toward the right answer. And if the idea works, it will most likely do more than anyone could have expected. So make failure a regular part of your day.
Take action
If you think something needs to be done to make your work, your culture, or your job better, do it. Don’t wait to be told. It’s pretty likely that lots of people in your company would be psyched that somebody’s finally doing something. In fact, your bosses probably would be too. So go ahead and do the thing that needs to be done. It’s your company, and it will be what you make it.
So how does it feel to be your own boss?
(Oh, and you can download the full pdf of all three parts from the middle column. It’s called How to clean out your desk. Enjoy)
