Word to the Wise - creativity training - Brief Article

Training & Development, Sept, 2000 by Haidee E. Allerton

Creativity. That's the watchword, much like plastics, whispered knowingly in Dustin Hoffman's ear in The Graduate some 30 years ago.

The Intelligence Factory says creativity is the quality most likely to land you the job of your dreams. In fact, innovation training has grown more than 1,000 percent in the past 10 years, and more than half of North American companies offer it to employees.

The toy group Hasbro has been using a shamanic guidance consultant to help staff explore their intuitive feelings about their work, and courses are offered on the teachings of the 6th-century monk St. Benedict to inspire leaders and managers.

Employees of Andersen Consulting can go to Chaos and Zen zones to stimulate and incubate ideas.

And the phenomenon is not confined to the United States. A London ad agency has a womb room for relaxing and thinking. Sweden's Skandia fills its environs with classical music and the aroma of baking bread.

What's next? According to The Intelligence Factory, these are just on the horizon:

* more companies using games, puzzles, and brainteasers to screen job applicants to find the most creative thinkers

* officially sanctioned power naps, already permitted at Eastman Kodak, Pepsico, IBM, and Pizza Hut

* strict time limits--10 minutes maximum--on meetings

* Berlin-ing, the German capital being the new premier source for executives in search of creative energy.

* cultural immersion of key employees in new cultures during intensive, paid-for holidays

Source Futurescope, The Intelligence Factory, intelligencefactory.com; "21st-Century Business: Upping the Creativity Quotient"