Sunday, July 12, 2009

Encourage Creative Thinking

Slowly buy surely, I am answering the 20 questions for leaders that Michael Smith of ClearView Baptist Church in Franklin, Tennessee asked Mike Hyatt. Mostly, this is because I am curious to see what my own answers are, rather than because I am some great leader. This week I answer the question How do you encourage creative thinking within your organization?


I believe responsibility and authority are the keys to creative thinking. The Bible tells us that where our treasure is our heart will be 1, . We focus our attention on the things we hold the most dear. We also put our money there. The most generous givers to any ministry are the ones who are the most actively involved. You want someone to think creatively? Identify the problem, make that person responsible for fixing it and give him the authority to take action. You want several people to think creatively? Stick them on a committee, don’t give them the solution, step back and let them go to work.


If you do that, they may not come up with the solution you would have. I can almost guarantee that they won’t, but isn’t that the point? Of course, you have to keep the committee sizes reasonable. The more members there are, the less responsible each member feels.