Everyone hears about thinking outside of the box. It can be a tough thing to do: after all, our modes of thought are fairly well ingrained when we enter the workplace, and opening up new channels and ways of thinking may be a hard task for some people. This is not a bad thing. For many, a job may not need much of creativity. But for industries, where a good idea is worth ten bad ones (worth, but may not justify), being able to think outside of the box will help a career go further. Fortunately, creative training is available for businesses and employees that need new ways to think about and approach any problem at hand.
Creative training does not just mean training to be creative; it is also a way to define how one is trained. We have all seen the workplace videos that help us become better at our jobs. Whether we have to sit down for two hours at work or watch at our own time, there is one thing in common: sleep. Many of these videos are chalk-full of information but do not present the material in an engaging manner. Think about cooking shows and the attractive hosts that teach you a recipe. The right amount of charisma, humour and attraction can make or break any cooking show. That is beside the point. People become better cooks when they are entertained while being taught how to complete a recipe.
There are some subjects that are really hard to teach if every person in the audience cannot fully engage with the material. One product of creative training is the ability to lead a group in learning that ensures engagement with and absorption of the material presented. For better-trained employees with higher morale and ethics, creative training should be used in as many workplaces possible. The benefits are numerous while the flaws are few.
Employee moral in any workplace can be raised with creative training. When learning how to properly cook chicken in a rotisserie grill, would you rather watch a thirty-minute long video hosted by an uncharismatic corporate chef, or would you rather be taught by Chef Gordon Ramsey? The answer is obvious because Ramsey would make you laugh while learning how to spit the chicken for the rotisserie. Mass training, like team building exercises, is better helped with charismatic and creative hosts than with a deadpan accountant or manager. But, again, it is not about just the person who is teaching, but is about how it is being taught.
Thinking outside the box is what Mad Men is all about (well, that and a tragic character). Don Draper shows the advertising industry, what it is like to be on top of popular culture while remaining classy. Creative training comes from advances in culture, popular or not, and if the thinkers do not take heed of what is new and exciting, someone else, possibly a rival, will.
Professionals who take care to attend creative training on a regular basis are able to stay on top of their game, teach their teammates or coworkers in an engaging way and offer new solutions to problems within the business.