Throw the word creativity at most business people and you can usually count on one of the following reactions.

• They recoil in horror, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a deer caught in the headlights.
• Roll their eyes and smirk as if to say, “I run a business, not an art school”.
• Check to see if you’ve got two heads.

OR … throw a big BUT right back atya.

What’s that I hear you say?  “BUT I’m not creative!” (Just add whiny voice and despondent expression).

This mash up of responses has a lot to do with how you define creativity.

C-R-E-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y … it’s a concept that’s foreign and elusive to many, probably more to do with the fact that it tends to be this fuzzy, nebulous, airy fairy kind of thing people can’t quite get their head around.  Not necessarily because they don’t have a creative bone in their body.

Dictionary definition: Creativity – the use of imagination or original ideas.

Now unless I’m mistaken, when it comes to imagination we all have one. Admittedly some are a little rusty because they haven’t been used regularly since you were five.  Others may have seized completely and need emergency defibrillation. Where’s that crash cart?

Of course there are always some who are better endowed than others, it’s a fact of life. But there’s no denying everybody is capable of using their imagination and coming up with ideas from time to time.  I’ve even been known to do it myself.

So where does creativity dovetail with business?  Simple answer, everywhere – just about any industry, sector or department you care to mention can benefit from taking a more creative approach to the business of business.

The word gets thrown around in enough high-flown company mission statements for goodness’ sake, there just seems to be a bit of a breakdown between the heralding and the doing.

There are so many applications for creativity in business that I couldn’t begin to cover them in one post, so over coming weeks I’ll expand this into a mini-series of posts looking at some of the myths about creativity, what makes creative people effective, and the obvious – how to be more creative in your business.

That should help get the creative juices flowing.