Creativity - most important for future success

"Knowledge comes from the past, so it's safe. It is also out of date. It's the opposite of originality." - Paul Arden

Building a career used to be a question of academic experience. This has changed. The knowledge of today can be useless by tomorrow, e.g. having a MBA in the pocket was key to success in the past. According to Harvard Business Review, Dec. 2009, the top three best-performing CEOs in the world do not have a MBA-Titel. Instead they find creative solutions in a complex world, which is according to the IBM 2010 Global CEO Study the most important factor for future success.

The Creative IQ

How to make the world a better place? How to increase sales? Two questions that seem to not have anything in common. Although there is one similiarity: the unknown future. Somehow innovative minds can envision the future. The most innovative do understand what consumers need in 10 years from now and how to increase sales. Innovative minds do have a high creative IQ.

We describe the creative IQ as the result of the interaction of mind, emotions and intuition. Out of cognitive, emotional and intuitive intelligence arises the creative IQ. Of course there are many ways to describe intelligence. Some scientists believe the human species does have more than 100 types of intelligences. However we focus on three:

• cognitive intelligence
• emotional intelligence
• intuitive intelligence

How to be successful in a rapidly changing world?

1. Cognitive Intelligence

All children are creative [before school enrollment]. They learn through curiosity. Asking questions is their job. They mainly think with the right hemisphere, which is responsible for divergent thinking. It's easy for kids to associate, think chaotically, invent new games and spark ideas. What can adults learn from kids?

Kids are constantly exploring new things. 
New influences and new impressions accelerate the process of generating ideas. Through change the brain starts to build up new neural connections. Without change nothing new would be built. On the contrary without change the brain starts to minimize the neurological system due to it being an economical system. It's comfy to use existing paths rather than to try out new ones. As a result we often find old people being obstinent. We can only think radical, if we are curious, imaginative and most of all courageous. That is how we build up new neural connections and stay on top. 

In the IQudo Creative Skills Training we explain how to stimulate divergent thinking. 

• The IQudo Peak-Creative-Test defines personal creative values and ideal environmental conditions.
• The IQudo 7-i Idea Model describes the main values of creativity and how they can be reinforced.

Understanding comes first

2. Emotional Intelligence

For selling a product it's crucial to understand the customers' needs. In order to perceive his desires we need to be emotionally intelligent. The control center for emotions is the limbic system and the amygdala.

Emotionally intelligent people combine feelings with rational thinking. Based on feelings like empathy, creative engineers develop products that turn out to be bestsellers. People with a clear perception of emotions are better in problem solving.

In the IQudo Creative Skills Training we explain why emotions are key to solving problems. 

• Exercises show how to efficiently apply emotional intelligence in the creative process.
• We explain how to use negative emotions for creativeness.
• Play! - don't work. Seriously, playfulness is the most fun way to find ideas. We explain how the game works.

Good ideas come to those who wait

3. Intuitive Intelligence

The world of managers is set up in tasks that have to be accomplished in a certain amount of time. Unfortunately ideas are faithless co-workers. They appear at work whenever they want to and certainly do not care about deadlines.

To understand the ideal operating temperature of ideas, let's have a closer look at the brain. For creative thoughts to arise, the mind loves to be in a relaxed mode. The brain functions on varying brain waves. Light-bulb moments happen in the alpha-frequency, which can be called the chill out time for the mind. Therefore ideas pop up if we do not concentrate too much. More: IQudo survey idea generation 2010

In the IQudo Creative Skills Training we explain how to schedule intuitive thinking in your daily routine.

• Scientific findings demonstrate the importance of intuition for creativeness.
• We explain how to integrate intuitive intelligence in daily work.
• Relaxation exercises show how to alleviate contact to the intuitive intelligence.