People Need Tools

I've said it before. I'll say it again a thousand times in the next year, I suspect.

People need tools.

Now, I'm an engineer, so I'm sure I have a bias here... but... we are a tool-using species.

Anyway, I love sharing tools with people and seeing them do cool things with these new found toys.

Last week and this week, for example, I'm running a two-week 'summer workshop series' with my training peers and the HR team. We've covered Six Thinking Hats, Language Processing, SMART goals, Vision statements and a bunch more.

Today, we covered Innovation. I shared a number of exercises and activities (TOOLS, I prefer TOOLS!!) from the book Thinkertoys, by Michael Michalko. Great book - go buy it now!

What I loved about the session today was hearing a participant say, "I'm not creative at all", and then, through the use of these tools, come up with one brilliant, cool, innovative idea after another.

And then, with all that output in front of her, insist, "No - really! I'm not creative!".

Well, people aren't creative... output is creative.

So if you end up with creative output, that's good enough for me!