Natura&Co

Lucia Intili

In the fast-paced world of Human Resources (HR), navigating change and fostering innovation are integral to organizational success. As professionals in the HR world, we witness firsthand the importance of creativity in driving transformative processes within diverse organizations.

During my professional career in HR and Change Management, I have witnessed a wide range of transformation processes in various organizations. From small procedural adjustments to large-scale system implementations, I was involved even in profound cultural changes that required a thorough review of the company’s fundamentals and structures.

Despite the diversity of challenges, my passion for change goes beyond. I find deep stimulation in innovation processes, where change is centered on the ability to generate creative and exceptional solutions. It is in this context that I am specialized, dedicating time to the study and practice of innovative techniques and methodologies. From this point, I explore the creative nature that characterizes us as human beings.

The communicative need of the human being is one of its most distinctive and fundamental characteristics. From ancient times, communication has been essential for survival, social development and the transmission of knowledge. The ability to express ideas, emotions, desires and thoughts distinguishes and connects us as a species. These connections play a crucial role in the cognitive and emotional development of the human being. Pure creativity, isn’t it?

When we talk about creativity, we often think it involves great and unexpected moments when we come up with perfect ideas for major innovations. But nothing could be further from the truth. Creativity in its simplest expression is the simple act of transforming one thought into another that was not contemplated before and changed in the light of new information. But then, if it seems so simple, why can’t we be creative when we need it the most, especially to address our challenges or a client’s request?

First of all, what is creativity? It is a way of combining things from the world and generating ideas that, in addition to being novel, must be useful. In the hectic and fragile world we live in, creative spaces are becoming increasingly scarce. We live in a frenetic way, trying to embrace all the activities that lie ahead of our days without time to stop and think. Creativity is, however, relegated to small acts that happen without our attention and capturing them.

Returning to the question, “Why can’t we be creative all the time?” We are deeply creative beings and don’t always know how to activate that creativity whenever needed. Only a few people in this world know how to access creativity. But, here I will reveal some of its secrets for everyone to delve into the creative world.

I like to say that creativity is like magic; when it creativity, it amazes us and makes us happy. But behind it, there’s a trick, words, hat, wand and technique. For creativity, we need the same ideas in the times we live and apply it method with utmost discipline since time has become very short.

As said before, we are communicative beings and must draw from this innate ability. Each of us has a story, a personality and a current situation that shapes our way of thinking differently. Thanks to the exchange of these thoughts with other people, our brain expands, generates new neural connections and curates ideas different from those we would have with access only to our thoughts.

On the contrary, communication can encounter obstacles many times because each of us has a configuration and construction of a unique mental model. Our genetics, history, experiences, first impressions, beliefs, language, prejudices and subjectivities generate natural resistance in us. Each new perception, thought and attitude will shape how we perceive the world in which we live a little more, as everyone has a different world model and resist change almost constantly.

But why does this resistance arise? The reality is that our brain, in coordination with our basal ganglia, seeks to protect us from an expenditure of energy that, at first glance, is unnecessary. Resistance, then, becomes a natural behavior in anyone to oppose any alteration in their environment, routine or way of thinking as a defense mechanism, which obstructs creativity and the incorporation of knowledge. The challenge stands in confronting this natural resistance to face and live in a world that demands constant creativity.

The good news is the magical steps to overcome resistance and achieve creativity when we need it. I would like to share the first two fundamental magical steps to achieve this. Let’s see the first magic step to overcoming resistance and accepting new realities.

Some time ago, I listened to a highly interesting podcast that explained how meditation was indispensable for being creative, which seemed completely accurate to me. Through meditation, we manage to connect with ourselves and calm our mind and body for serving a higher purpose. We detach ourselves from the environment that continually “contaminates” us with its signals and constant information of different types that generate barriers when colliding with our resistances. This work is internal and purely personal; there will be no magic if we do not make ourselves available for change.

As for the second magical step, we have to build a happy environment for being creative. We need ourselves and those with whom we experience that creative moment to feel encouraged, full, content and happy. When we are happy, our basal ganglia relax and the brain allows entry of different ideas. If that happy moment occurs with the creative team, we generate better synchronization, develop momentary bonds, identify with each other and lower resistance barriers. As I always say, creativity is enhanced together.

In summary, whenever we want to create a creative moment alone or with a team, let’s first take a moment to relax our minds and eliminate biases from the environment. Secondly, let’s create a moment that encourages, vitalizes and unites us as a creative team to eliminate personal and internal biases. Thus, communication will flow more easily and we will find ourselves open to receiving ideas and ultimately changes more quickly.

As I highlighted, these are just the first magical steps, but there are many more tools to increase creativity according to the problem we want to work on and you can explore. I invite you to investigate, ask and inform yourself on how to access these tools for guiding you through the wonderful and creative world.