For consultants selling creativity to organizations is quite easy, because there is unlimited demand for it. Who would not want to improve their business at any given moment if it means getting more money? But, there are no authorities watching over this creativity creation and even companies who sell creativity seem to get stuck every now and then.

Isn’t it so that when the organization is having it’s roughest time, the people start to innovate new things, because they have to? That is not ‘true’ creativity however, since it is done under pressure. Organizations that show true creativity dismantle and rebuild their processes from time to time to make better structures. I bet you know the old saying: “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”. Creative organizations are doing exactly that; fixing the process even it ain’t broken YET. It does not mean that those organizations should run around like headless chickens renewing their processes just for the sake of doing it.

Renewing organization processes is most definitely needed and it must be nicer to do it when things are still all right, rather than when it is too late. What should be the perspective on innovating the processes then? Effectiveness, productivity, revenue, etc.? If we think about the question why those processes exist, maybe we will find the answer also. The customer is the very reason for any business organization to exist. Those working in public sector might think  that it does not involve them, but they are wrong. Even in the public sector, money comes from somewhere and is used to do something. Then there must be a customer, too!

When we start to innovate processes based on the customer needs, we get into the very source of business. People have interactions with your organization, because you fill in some need for them. And whoever does it best will get the most clients. How can organizations have endless process creativity then? Certainly, knowing their customers really well and being able to think outside the box how to fill their needs.

Here are some reflective questions for you to ask:

• Are our processes designed and optimized from the customer’s perspective?
• How do we optimize our processes? Does that work as well as it should for us?
• Do we have a process for optimizing processes?
• How do we handle new ideas, innovations and such in our organization?
• Do we think “out of the box” when planning our processes?

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