Cultivating creativity
What made the greatest civilisations in human history, as well as the most successful organisations nowadays? How funny, for nearly all of them, the failure to cultivate this charateristic also caused their subsequent slow agonies and disappearances.
Creativity is what concretely distinguishes humans from other species on earth: farming, clothes, transportation, technology, litterature, arts... our imagination has been extraordinary. And we know there is still plenty of room for innovation!
Paradoxically, today culture promotes via advertising and other media the homogenization of mind and body into one acceptable norm.
It already starts at school, where poorattention is given for originality and novelty. One single response is valid to any problem, and failures are harshly penalized. Sadly, the school often miss to reveal and develop the talents of children. On this matter, I greatly recommend the talk of Sir Ken Robinson, at the excellent TED conference.
Once a young student then gets his first job, he will be expected to comply with standard procedures for working. The same logic takes place. Very few people are asked for some creativity, though it would be in the interest of both the employer and the employee.
I dream that the Agile movement will break this suicidal tendency, by focusing on collaboration between individuals and incremental iterative development. There is finally hope for a disciplined and creative approach. In the 21st century, the 'soft' nature of software makes the field an ideal candidate for experimenting a societal evolution at work.
Creativity is what concretely distinguishes humans from other species on earth: farming, clothes, transportation, technology, litterature, arts... our imagination has been extraordinary. And we know there is still plenty of room for innovation!
Paradoxically, today culture promotes via advertising and other media the homogenization of mind and body into one acceptable norm.
It already starts at school, where poorattention is given for originality and novelty. One single response is valid to any problem, and failures are harshly penalized. Sadly, the school often miss to reveal and develop the talents of children. On this matter, I greatly recommend the talk of Sir Ken Robinson, at the excellent TED conference.
Once a young student then gets his first job, he will be expected to comply with standard procedures for working. The same logic takes place. Very few people are asked for some creativity, though it would be in the interest of both the employer and the employee.
I dream that the Agile movement will break this suicidal tendency, by focusing on collaboration between individuals and incremental iterative development. There is finally hope for a disciplined and creative approach. In the 21st century, the 'soft' nature of software makes the field an ideal candidate for experimenting a societal evolution at work.
posted by Pascal at 10:38 AM
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