January 16, 2006
In this selection from Ed's latest book, The Creative Leader, he discusses the importance of building Creative Time into your leadership schedule.
Another important mark of a creative leader is that they know that creativity is not a gimmick, but a lifestyle. The best and brightest creative leaders have regular time scheduled for creative sessions. They build in what I call C.T., or Creativity Time. Creativity emerges from order. During these sessions, creative leaders prepare to communicate God’s Word in an innovative manner, plan for the upcoming calendar year or brainstorm a new initiative for the church.
… Find out what days and times are the sweet spots for your creative juices. Once you figure this out, block them out on your schedule so you and your team can really fly.
… Build in regular and strategic creativity time. Do it together with your team and do it by yourself. Once you figure out your sweet spots, your ideas will flow like the rushing rapids of the Colorado River. Ideas begin to flow for me while I’m sipping Starbucks coffee, driving in my truck listening to music, or fishing with my son on the lake.
This past Easter, my team and I had been working through the Easter message for a couple of weeks, and I had come to a place where I knew I needed some distance from the message. I had been thinking too long and too hard. I needed to give my mind a break and find a way to get my creative juices flowing again. On the Tuesday morning of Easter week, my son, another staff member, and I went fishing. I spent the morning in a boat, just casting and enjoying some downtime.
When I came back the next day and met again with several members of my creative team (including the one who went fishing with me) to talk again about the Easter message, I couldn’t believe the ideas that began to emerge. It was like God had opened the floodgates in our minds. We had so many great ideas, that the entire application of the message changed.
