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Creating the Creative Climate - Part 7

Another tool for building a creative climate in a company is that of training for creativity. This training includes the steps and methods an executive can use to educate his workers where he can exercise some control over the materials of education.

In practice, training for creativity or idea production may use many of the same methods used for any other type of worker training: conferences, discussions, literature study, outside guests and speakers. The basic difference is in aims and objectives.

Standard training programs are aimed at teaching set procedures for accomplishing a given task or assignment. Creative training usually goes in the other direction: it is aimed at teaching the worker to use his own mind to figure out better ways of handling standard tasks or assignments. Rapidly coming into general usage, however, are the training methods that combine both: they utilize the standard procedure of teaching a worker a specific job with specific methods, but integrate into such training the thought that nothing about these methods is final, that if the worker can think up a better way of doing something, his ideas will certainly be welcomed.

The worker is further encouraged along these lines by being exposed to information that will increase his ability to think in creative ways. As examples: a conference on methods will in­clude background on the development of the method—including the "why"—so the worker can project that "why" in terms of any ideas he may later get to improve the method. Specialized reading material, such as rack booklets on idea-production methods, are made available. Outside speakers or instructors are brought in to conduct indoctrination sessions on principles, practices, and methods of solving problems creatively; or regular company training personnel may be sent to special seminars or institutes to familiarize them with creative training methods. Still another alternative is to assign selected workers to prepare reports on idea-stimulating helps and problem-solving techniques.

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