Creativity is an important skill whether you work with words, numbers, or images. It sparks innovation and collaboration while leading to problem solving. 

It’s not enough to just try and hire creative people though. Leaders need to inspire creativity in their employees daily.  

Creativity reaches its peak potency when it “permeates an entire company,” says Rhett Power in Inc.com. 

Power offers three ways to kindle creativity in an organization by inspiring new ideas. 

Reinvent the wheel’s purpose 

Being original just for the sake of trying something new doesn’t always work and can waste your time. 

“Genuine creativity isn't about having all original ideas; it's about finding new ways to apply existing ones,” Power explains. 

For example, if your team is having trouble with project management, reach out to the project management software company you are using to see if they have tools or processes they offer, then adapt those to your team. 

“Encourage people throughout your organization to play with existing ideas, technologies, and products to solve problems. You never know what might spark a creative solution,” Power recommends.  

Combine disparate disciplines 

It’s common for an organization to silo different disciplines.  

“You're either an artist or a scientist—a graphic designer or a data engineer, perhaps,” Power offers as an example. 

Bringing those two disciplines together through mind mapping can inspire creativity in both fields.  

"This process involves starting with a central concept and writing out as many connected ideas as you can to create a word web,” Power explains. “After brainstorming, observe any interesting idea combinations from various sections of your map. When you engage different parts of your brain through word association and graphical layout, you can unlock creative connections you might not have seen before.” 

Take ideas to the extreme 

When you are brainstorming, no idea is too big. If you worry about the limits, then you are curbing your ability to think of the best ideas. 

“Create a culture where big ideas are encouraged and embraced,” Power says. “A revolutionary concept might come from the most unexpected suggestion. You can always worry about logistics after you've found the best big idea there is.”