Building habits that support creativity and innovation

- Each person in your team will have their own set of habits. the good ones that help them to work productively and relatively the bad ones that hinder them from reaching their potential, stopping them to innovate and problem solve. So how do you make sure your team is building habits that will help them think creatively and generate more innovative ideas? Well, here are a couple. The first key to building habits that impact creativity and innovation is unfortunately, something that most people don't feel that they have much of but it's essential, time. It's not so much just finding free time, it's making sure that you're allocating time to the right kind of thinking, the kind of thinking that will help you generate creative thoughts. And this kind of thinking is mind wandering, you have to give yourself time to wander, to join up disparate thought, to be unfocused. And this means taking a moment to take your mind off what's going on around you, around in your surroundings and on your computer screen. And instead of focusing outwardly, something that involves your executive network to focus inwardly onto your own head, something that involves your default network. Your brain is home to a number of specialized networks. The default mode network which includes part of the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus is activated when we daydream or retrieve memories, the executive attention network is recruited when we need laser-like focus. Science shows how engaging your default network activates a mode of thinking that helps you make these long range connections between previously dissociated thoughts. And given that the best ideas usually come from connecting up things that haven't been joined up before, it's a great way to get your creative juices flowing, making sure your people are taking time whether it be every day or every week to have this time for mind wandering is key to ensuring that they're activating the right mind states that facilitate creative thought. The second habit is one of the brain's main foodstuff, information, the brain thrives of information. It keeps it sharp, prevents cognitive decline and generally facilitates just about every cognitive state that your team will need to go about their daily work, discovering new information lights up the reward network in the brain just as eating does. With limited knowledge, there are always going to be limits to the types of connections that your team can make and therefore a limit to their creativity. The richer the mind, the more opportunity there is for making the connections that help with creativity. Consider how you can facilitate this, virtual shared lunches, listening to a team member with an unusual hobby, tea and cake with someone from another company, or push the boat out and ask a teenager to attend your meeting and share the things that they're most concerned about for the future. There were also loads of other habits that you can encourage in your employees. For example, science often shows that making analogies or imagining for a moment that you're else are a great way of thinking differently and creatively about something during the day or during the night, it's all about making sure you get that good night's sleep as this is when the brain rewires and reconsolidate things, often throwing up new ideas when you stand in the shower the next morning. You also have to make sure that you're in the right kind of mood. Generally evidence suggests that being in a positive mood, something that momentarily takes your mind away from your desk helps to reset and refresh your thinking which can then help with creativity and innovation. The structure of the brain is constantly building new connections, a concept called neuro-plasticity. This means that what we pay attention to, what we repeat, what we focus on is shaping our brain. The takeaway is to intentionally shape your brain whether it's intentionally scrolling through social media for something that interests and stimulates your brain reward networks or organizing tasks for better efficiency, you're equipping your brain to be better at the tasks you do, so practice wisely.