Deploying human creativity
CHANDU NAIR
CREATIVITY@WORK: S. Ramachander; Response Books, a division of Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., B-42, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 320.
Creativity@Work seems like a contradiction in terms. For most people, work is one thing and creativity another, and ne'er shall the twain meet. This is the myth Ramachander seeks to debunk; on the contrary, the thesis of his book is that at work there are infinite possibilities to display and deploy human creativity.
At its deepest level, this book and the concept it deliberates upon, is fundamentally about unlearning. "To unlearn and let go old mental models is a concomitant of learning," posits Ramachander; only then, he says, can one truly embark and learn on the voyage of creative discovery. Unfortunately, he says, "much managerial thinking... is linear extrapolation."
Organisational culture — does it reflect what a company is or what a company has? In his view, unlike short-term managerial fads, innovation is perennial and is all about constant renewal.
In his mind, creativity, an oft misunderstood and misused term, has the following ingredients: imagination, exploration, openness, willingness, broad goals, heuristics and humour.
Spirit of enquiry
His book covers different territories, all aimed at kindling a spirit of enquiry and learning. `New ways of seeing', `Action learning', `Listening: beyond the noise of words', `Why speed kills', `Creating the energy: Pranayama and Yoga' — are some chapter headings which indicate the diversity of the coverage.
Through the book, he urges the reader (and his target audience appears to be the formally `western' trained manager-professional) to discard old notions, tired models, classical linear-sequential approaches — the `its-always-been-done-this-way' mode in short. As his favourite knowledge source, Jiddu Krishnamurti, says, "Learning is always in the active present, it has no past."
He is clearly taken up by Tony Buzan's concept of mind mapping and the power of pictures. His book is liberally dotted with mind maps and cartoons (good work by Ravikanth, The Hindu Business Line cartoonist). Thinking in pictures is so marked by its absence in corporate circles that his evangelism of such a powerful way can easily be understood. Bringing a child-like enthusiastic abandon to a supposedly adult activity like work can actually energise the latter, he convincingly argues.
Thinking in pictures, mental gymnastics, a playful uninhibited approach, the use of `Pranayama' and Yoga, theatrical methods — there's no dearth of topics, concepts or ways that he hasn't touched upon to constantly drive home the point that creativity is an unending journey of both letting go and renewal.
Philosophical strand
A strand of spiritual and philosophical thought runs through the book. Interconnectedness, oneness, letting go, mindfulness — phrases normally associated with such thought is liberally sprinkled in the book. Apart from expounding on techniques to kindle your creative juices for even supposedly humdrum activities, the book stresses the vitality of energising and being in touch with one's self to truly unleash the full force of our own creative energy. Clearly, he is influenced by the vitality of ancient yogic approaches and especially by the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti. A number of Indian examples are proffered right through the book, making it that much more relevant to the Indian reader.
Though he suggests that "you may look upon Creativity@Work as a workbook of your own", the format of the book does not easily lend itself to that purpose. Maybe he might just be persuaded to create a truly imaginative workbook rooted in Indian ethos and with a global outlook.
For in the end, it is not just enough to ask, as Richard Feynman does,
"I wonder; I wonder why I wonder
I wonder why I wonder why I wonder", but also to know why one wonders and how one wonders. And to wonder at it all.
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