Join hosts Merv Jersak and Tim Jerome in their 81st episode of Project Managers Coffee Chat as they explore the dynamics of creativity and innovation in project management. This session defines creativity as the generation of original ideas, and innovation as the application of these ideas, turning them into reality. Emphasizing the importance of these concepts in leadership and business success, they discuss how fostering an environment of imagination and curiosity can enhance team performance and lead to exceptional project outcomes. Through various historical and modern problem-solving methods, including design thinking, they illustrate how focusing on people and addressing obstacles can lead to creative solutions. The episode wraps up with a look at the benefits of diverse perspectives in teams for fostering innovation.

Main Take-Aways

The project leader must be both creative and innovate to add to his or her ability to deliver the best possible solutions for their client. This introductory episode on the topic of creativity and innovation stresses the importance of developing these skills:

• defining the terms to set the context
• criticality of creativity and innovation to business success and problem solving
• applicability of creativity and innovation to leadership and problem solving
• applying creativity and innovation to system design
• applying creativity and innovation to your project management career
• historical perspectives and newer design thinking perspectives on creativity and innovation
• fostering a culture conducive to creativity and innovation
• tackling groupthink

Show Notes

Today’s Project Managers Coffee Chat: Creativity and Innovation in Leading Projects

00:58 Setting the context for these five episodes on creativity and innovation with definitions of both terms.

02:47 The criticality of creativity and innovation to business success.

03:10 Key differences between creativity and innovation.

04:08 The criticality of creativity and innovation in leadership and problem solving.

05:34 Applying creativity and innovation to project management in system design and implementation.

09:05 Applying creativity and innovation to your career in project management.

11:48 Creativity and innovation from historical perspectives on problem solving.

12:53 Creativity and innovation from the perspective of utilizing design thinking. What is design thinking and how does it apply here?

16:17 Fostering a culture of creativity where teams are inspired to develop these skills and to tackle obstacles that impede productivity.

18:26 Tackling groupthink by encouraging diverse perspectives.