Have you ever felt stuck doing the same old things? Have you or your team ever been in a rut? If inspiration and innovation are at a low point, it’s time to shake things up. Creativity and innovation are born from new ways of thinking, which often emerge from new and dynamic experiences.
During this year’s Advanced Facilitator Training, our participants had the opportunity to learn new approaches from an expert. Lynn Floyd, one of our favorite Certified Masters of The Leadership Challenge, shared his insights. Fostering Hope is a nonprofit organization committed to building stronger foster and adoptive families. Under Lynn’s leadership, they continually seek new ideas to meet the needs of those they serve.
Inspired by Lynn’s wisdom, this month’s quick tips feature a list of eight fun activities designed to spark new ideas:
- Take a class on something you know little about.
- Remember, leaders are learners!
- Try a new sport or activity.
- Stretch your body and challenge your brain with something new!
- Have a conversation with someone from a completely different background.
- This is a great way to practice behavior #9 and challenge yourself to learn something new.
- Leave the building… really!
- Take yourself or your staff outdoors, or hold your next meeting in a different space. New environments often cultivate new thoughts.
- Listen to a podcast for 30 days from a group or organization that thinks differently from you.
- Afterward, reflect on how your views differ from theirs and why.
- Seek out reverse mentoring opportunities.
- Find a mentor who is at least 10 years younger than you and ask them to mentor you. They provide mentorship; you provide lunch!
- Create a shared “Favorite Book” list.
- Challenge your team to read a new book each month for six months.
- Schedule time for discussion.
- Organize a day of service at a local nonprofit organization.
- Afterward, ask team members what they learned from the activity.
Inspirational activities can be fun and are great ways to stretch ourselves and help teams feel more connected. We hope these “out-of-the-box” activities inspire you to try some yourself or with your team to generate new ideas.
If you have activities that spark creativity and innovation, we would love to hear them!