Anyone who has given shape and identity to the “little hand” we are talking about these days is an undisputed genius. In less than 24 hours someone of an “abstract concept” gave him a shape, an image and publicly made him, in effect, a new, ironic and innovative “character”. This “character” today occupies the plethora of figurines on sale in the famous Via San Gregorio Armeno, in Naples, aimed at enriching the Christmas nativity scene with the (genius) intent of making it a gadget for a real business!
Last night with friends we immediately checked on the WEB if you could buy the gadget: alas it is not present. Probably the Neapolitans are currently focused on local business, on packages to be produced quickly in relation to the demand to be met urgently for the almost imminent arrival of Christmas which will increase their sales. I guess they have temporarily set aside the idea of thinking about larger numbers and “exporting” the “hand” to the north (or abroad): a matter of days, I guess (and I hope!).
From my ten-year experience I find that on all company tables there is inevitably confrontation on the subject of innovation to push economic growth, innovation to generate change, innovation to anticipate change and so on.
This episode of the “little hand” which was given shape and identity in a few hours, immediately makes me reflect on how creative all Italians are, pioneers of hypotheses that led them to the stake like Giordano Bruno, flexible despite difficulties and equipped with intuition and genius.
I invite the reader to think of Galileo Galilei, of Leonardo Da Vinci, the precursor of a thousand prototypes of machines built in the following centuries. And again if we imagine all the artistic production of painting and sculpture by Botticelli, Perugino, Bramante, the magnificent Caravaggio that I love and even Michelangelo, Canova to get to the myth of Dante Alighieri and all the poets who have succeeded one another over the centuries and the great ones musicians, architects and writers.
Citing all the Italian artists would be a very difficult undertaking. With discrete humility, on the other hand, I would like to focus on the objective fact that Italian embodies: creativity.
The question is: how much do we allow and allow and legitimize to use our creativity?
After 10 years I still imprinted a coaching session where a person told me that he had stopped offering his contribution because the feedback was always “inability to realize his ideas” due to lack of money, time, other alibis, etc. . The customer – winner of an innovation award the years before – had thus decided to give up sharing her visionary intuitions. Only after she was convinced that it could make a difference and give new impetus, confidence and bring other and new technical innovation to the company, did she get back into the game by regaining self-confidence and obtaining excellent Business results (despite the challenging historical economic period!).
To use creativity and expose yourself as normal and vulnerable human beings, you need courage and go beyond the fear of prejudices that can come from colleagues, bosses or contingent situations.
How many of you really do it? How many in a meeting would like to say: “Ah, you know I have a crazy idea, I would do this…and then they don’t?”
How many leaders castrate ideas even before hearing them? Or do they not promote them or do they do them themselves? or even worse do they proclaim themselves the holders of the truth and blather “here we do as I say”, invalidating a profitable exchange that can multiply creative thinking and innovation?
In summary, in relation to the Resources, I have noticed two types of behaviors that are repeated in companies:
– Resources equipped with many ideas that confront each other and that do not care about the prejudices of their detractors.
– Super-gifted resources with many innovative ideas that fear confrontation and suffer the prejudices of detractors and renounce functional sharing.
What do the leaders do?
The first reflection is to invite the CEO, or the managers of any BU to create a climate where the Resources feel entitled to be able to express their creative idea. Take action to make people confident in allowing themselves to offer their contribution. This theme, which at first reading may seem obvious, is essentially a very delicate coaching theme that concerns the “quantity and quality” of trust that the Resources have in themselves. In other words, it’s about their self-esteem.
Theme that I regularly face during the Coaching paths. A topic that should not be taken lightly, indeed, should be taken into consideration by HR Directors, CEOs and Sales Directors who need disruptive strategic ideas and proposals.
Being disruptive is proportional to how much you open up in general, to how much you have and trust in:
– themselves
– to new / novelty / change
– clear, effective and timely execution
The creative idea without execution remains a fabulous idea without form, without identity, without personality.
The invitation is to remind us that the Italian people enjoy the natural talent of creativity, imagination and extraordinary intuition.
Dear reader, remember that the “little hand” gadget was made in less than 24 hours. The genius who did all this, whoever he is, has my esteem, my respect and revives my pride in being Italian!
Use your creativity, share it and feel entitled to manifest it in any form and anywhere with enthusiasm, ethics, entrepreneurial and visionary spirit. In companies, for example, taking the lead and with determination affirming your disruptive point of view.
In Maiora