Creativity is an in-demand skill, with studies showing that CEOs feel "innovation" is the number one priority for their business. But 77% of those CEOs also believe it's hard to find employees with creativity and innovation skills.

But, in reality, plenty of people meet the criteria. The pr...

Organisations tend to reward "smart-talkers", who sound more intelligent when they're critical of others, ideas, and works. 

When people engage in criticism, they appear (at face value) to be more competent and are rewarded by leaders.

After taking over Pixar, Steve Jobs implemented a policy of "plussing", which led to great success. 

Plussing is a simple strategy where someone can only criticise an idea if they also offer a potential solution. This helps to improve on ideas, remove flaws, and generate new ideas.

Our tendency to value fast productivity prevents us from keeping an open mind once we find a solution to a problem.

To avoid this, you should encourage extra incubation of ideas toward the end of the decision-making process. 

Traditional group brainstorming isn't as productive as we think. 

Group brainstorming feels productive because we experience connection with others. But in reality, this type of brainstorming can prevent people from interjecting with their ideas, promote anxiety, and make disenfranchised em...