WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Lynne Levesque

Welcome to my blog.  Here, I hope you will find posts that will kindle your curiosity, ignite your desire for learning, and sharpen your strategic leadership skills.

In this first post, I will share some thoughts on why I believe that leaders must understand the power and importance of definitions — about leadership, innovation, strategy, and creativity.  In subsequent posts, I will explore other leading edge issues around leadership, strategy and creativity.

Let’s start with creativity.  Figuring out what you mean by “creativity” and “innovation” is not an academic exercise.  It’s an imperative for leaders who want to build more innovative organizations.  There are three reasons why I believe this task is so important. Continue reading →

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How to Add More Creativity to Strategic Planning

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Lynne Levesque

In a recent interview, Harvard Business School professor Cynthia Montgomery argued that we need more creativity in Strategic Planning.  I couldn’t agree with her more! Continue reading →

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MBTI – Yes or No?

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Lynne Levesque

The topic of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® (“MBTI”) has come up three times in the past few days – in a graduate school-sponsored webinar on leadership where it earned disparaging remarks from the facilitator, in a conversation with a colleague who was confused about its use, and in reading Patrick Lencioni’s recommendations about its application in his fabulous book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.”  So I got to thinking about the concerns I have with the use of the MBTI: Continue reading →

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Creativity Myths and Creative Confidence

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Lynne Levesque

An article in the December 2012 Harvard Business Review promoted the need for “Reclaiming Your Creative Confidence.”  In the article the authors, founders of the design firm IDEO, assert that “creativity is something you practice, not just a talent you are born with.”  I totally agree that there are practices to help you be more creative and to help you overcome obstacles and fears that are keeping you from being your creative best.  However, I still maintain there are too many myths and misunderstandings about the phenomenon known as “creativity,” and these myths can keep you from seeing yourself as creative in the first place and thus may be obstructing your creative confidence. Continue reading →

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Top Five Personal Benefits from Creativity!

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Lynne Levesque

In addition to the many benefits that leaders can gain from creativity, the benefits for individuals are often beyond measurement.  Swiss psychologist Carl Jung believed that creativity is one of the primary instincts and motivating forces of life and brings with it awesome powers and capabilities.  Here’s a short list of some of them: Continue reading →

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TOP FIVE BENEFITS FOR LEADERS FROM IDENTIFYING YOUR CREATIVE TALENTS

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Lynne Levesque

Now that the Second Edition of the Breakthrough Creativity Profile Participant and Facilitator Guides have been published, it’s time to talk about applying the Eight Creative Talents to the challenges that leaders face. Continue reading →

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Ten Levers for Organizational Success

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Lynne Levesque

If you try to stay current with reading business and management publications, you might be like me – a bit confused.  What does it really take to build a great, sustainable organization?  Too many writers and consultants promote different, sometimes conflicting, answers to the challenges leaders face.  Is it all about finding the right strategy?  The right leadership?  Knowing how to execute? Be an innovative/operationally excellent/customer focused organization?  Or the latest “solution” in the news: metrics and accountability?

As a researcher and proponent of the power of creativity and innovation and the importance of leadership, I am guilty as well.  After all Continue reading →

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Equal Opportunity Creativity!

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Lynne Levesque

 

When my book Breakthrough Creativity was published in 2001, I received many (mostly positive) reviews. One review in particular, however, made me stop and ponder whether my message about creativity was clear. This reviewer, writing in 2003, asked “are some types [talents] more creative than others?” Continue reading →

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North Bank Bridge and the Creativity Phenomenon

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Lynne Levesque

From the creativity and knowledge of individuals, using an incredibly creative and collaborative process come spaces for creativity to further take root.

Just recently an extraordinary footbridge was opened that links two historic neighborhoods and two lovely parks.  The North Bank Bridge is a remarkable engineering feat that opened up access to public spaces and reconnected parts of cities that had previously been divided by elevated roads.  And the parks provide a needed respite from the hub-bub of the cities that surround them (Boston and Cambridge)

Over the past several weeks since the bridge opened, I have walked the bridge and the parks several times.  Each time deepens my appreciation for what I’ll call the creativity phenomenon:  the set of activities ranging from input, through processes, to output, that describes what individuals address when they exercise their creativity. Continue reading →

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Creativity Lessons from a 30-year old TV

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Lynne Levesque

I spent the last several weeks trying to deal with what seemed to be thorny technology issues – at least to me since I am somewhat of a luddite (technology is not my first love nor do I seem to be very adept at dealing with it!).  These challenges have been frustrating and time draining and lots of other bad things….

After over a month of conversations with folks at Comcast, Best Buy, and Toshiba and many website searches, the problems have finally been resolved.   However, in the process, I have learned (or is it relearned?) several important lessons on creativity so I guess it wasn’t a totally wasted month! Continue reading →

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TWO SIDES TO THE BRAIN?

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Lynne Levesque

It happened again – right in the middle of my yoga class last Saturday. Our yoga instructor was trying to make us feel good about the balancing posture we were trying to assume by explaining that each side of the body has a different level of flexibility and stability. And then he said, “It’s just like the two sides of your brain.  One’s creative and one’s analytical!”  I almost fell out of my tree pose! Continue reading →

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