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Harnessing Your Creativity 173

nique was the deferring of judgment. It is this important ingredient
that allows the necessary space for creativity. Unfortunately, brain-
storming has come to be used so routinely and with such time pres-
sures that, in my experience, it can all too often simply be the
pooling of the most banal and obvious ideas. It has been embraced
by some organizations as a means of suggesting that they are
creative and open to new ideas, when in fact it has become an
example of rather uncreative communication. If you are brain-
storming, then it is worth building in some quiet pauses for those
who are not extraverts and giving individuals the chance to “speak”
to themselves at a different speed.
So, while brainstorming can be extremely helpful, it needs
time and the ideas it generates need to be subjected to some of the
creative techniques you have been exploring in this section.

Do you manage to create time for fuzzy thinking in your business life? If so, how do you do
it? If not, how might you do so?

Problem finding

Sometimes we think we are solving problems that do not really exist,
except in our own minds. Or, at least, the way that the problem is
phrased simply does not go to the core of the issue. In these situa-
tions, it can be helpful to reframe the problem in more abstract terms.
A good example of this was the “people’s revolt” against ris-
ing fuel prices in Britain in 2000. By blockading fuel depots, a
handful of protesters—farmers, hauliers, those living in rural
areas—brought the country to a near standstill and the government
was seen to be ill prepared for such an extraordinary turn of events.
At first sight, this was presented as if it were a problem of the
Blair government being out of touch with the people. New Labour
was seen as losing its popular instincts—people thought it could
easily reduce the tax element of the cost of fuel in an otherwise
buoyant market. Most of the press portrayed this as the problem,
to which the answer was for the Prime Minister and Chancellor of
the Exchequer to heed the voices of ordinary people and reduce the