Help the donkey to walk less to get water: The Dichotomy of Creativity Workshops

Written by: Lana Leas-Roy

I have been contemplating this for a while and has been reinforced by Nick Skillicorn from IdeastoValue.*.

It is the difference between what counts as success for you and your business, and what counts as success for the facilitators which many companies bring in to “Do Innovation” or “Build team creativity” for a day.

Most “innovation” and “creativity” training and workshops, don’t actually produce any tangible results!

They usually fall into two types:

  • Motivational “teambuilding” sessions, where a speaker will tell you how creative visionaries like Steve Jobs or Albert Einstein overcame obstacles to change the world. How the world is changing in the 4th Industrial Revolution etc. (without giving you any advice on how you can do this in addition to your day job) 
  • Brainstorming sessions, where a facilitator will help you fill an entire wall with post it notes of “Great Ideas!” (but then disappear when it comes to trying to execute any of them)

In both cases, the facilitator is being judged only on their time in the room.

What happens after they leave the room, after the session is over, is “none of their business”.

Having been on both ends of the equation, this just is not good enough.

Experts should always have the results of their clients at the heart of what they do.

That is how all of my consulting and training is structured: To actually drive change and results thereby building cultures and capabilities of creativity and innovation in a business.

I want to light that fire/spark for people while simultaneously equipping people with the relevant practical skills to actually apply this back into the workforce. An yes – you can take the donkey to the water but you can’t make the donkey drink the water is applicable but that’s where Goats2Unicorns differentiates itself….not only do I want you to drink the water but also to work out a way that the donkey no longer needs to walk to the water – let the water come to the donkey!!

Goats2Unicorns wants to co-exist in your organisational mind-set. Creativity is no longer a nice to have but rather a necessity of existence for organisations.