So what if James Bond was leading your team? Or the Dalai Lama or Harry Potter? How would things be different? What kind of energy would there be? What would they do? Actively creative people are unconstrained by rules regulations, procedures and definitions that surround a problem. To think creatively individuals have to believe they have the freedom to think in a way that is different from the expected norms.  How would you destroy the company in 3 months? See that was unexpected – now what would be the opposite scenario? If you want to develop your creative skills or nurture them in others then you must be prepared to have a go – here are 5 tips for engaging in a creative mentoring conversation.

1. 1.       Metaphors

Metaphors which are a symbolic non literal representation of a situation are a great way of encapsulating a situation, gaining an insight or seeing something from a different perspective and generating more creative ideas. We use metaphors unconsciously all of the time in everyday conversations such as “He was cool as a cucumber, over the moon, ready for battle”. The person isn’t really cool as a cucumber, or over the moon, or ready for battle. The expressions are images, partly for dramatic effect, and partly because metaphors are an easy way to convey meaning.

Asking someone what they think they should do engages their intellect. Creating a metaphor to describe a situation engages a different part of the brain. Suggesting a metaphor or better yet asking the mentee to come up with a metaphor to describe their situation opens up the possibility of a different insight. For example:

“What kind of team would represent the team you are currently in? A sports team (which one)? An Arctic exploration team? A quiz team? A formula 1 team”

Now how would that team deal with this issue?

2. Fun

When was the last time you had fun at work? Played, laughed – the type of laugh that causes tears and a pain in your side – if you have not done this in a while spend a few hours with a five year old! Creative thought is often preceded by so called right brain activity such as sound or imagery which stimulates a connection by association. When we are enjoying ourselves, when we are playing we are more creative, more imaginative. In your next mentoring conversations rather than jumping into solving an issue start by playing some music, take in photos of happy times, bring along a game you used to play as a child – and play it, take a walk together. An adult like a child needs to feels safe if he or she is to play creatively but doing something like this takes a little courage. Do it anyway. Once you are in the “play zone” ask yourself how this could relate to the team dynamics you are struggling with or the deadlines you are facing. From this play perspective what is possible about the issue at hand?

3. Curiosity

A mentor’s role is to be curious about what is going on rather than being an expert in any one field. Curiosity is like looking at the world afresh through new eyes or through the eyes of a child. Try adding “I’m curious” before asking a question. It reduces any perceived judgement that might be hanging in the air. Encouraged by the Mentor’s curiosity the mentee can also get curious.

“I wonder what makes this team environment especially good for me.”

“What do I want to know that I don’t know now?”

“What would my 80 year old self advise me to do right now?

“How does this fit with my plans, values, and way of life?

“What support do I need to make this project take off (notice metaphor in this question)

4. Intuition

Intuition or sixth sense is not something we often trust – our working culture trains us to rely on hard, reasonable data in order to make decisions or follow a course of action. We aren’t used to listening to let alone acting on our intuition or encouraging other’s to follow theirs. Mentoring conversations are incubators for creativity – for sharing our own intuition and teasing it out from others. Mentors can pose questions such as “I have a hunch that…., my intuition tells me or I have a sense that” if they feel there is more behind what their mentee is saying. Alternatively they could push the mentee to articulate their own intuition.

“What does your gut/ heart/ instinct tell you about this situation?”

“What would you do if you had 3 seconds to decide?”

“If you knew the answer  – what would it be?”

5. Failure

Stimulating creative thinking and failure sound like an oxymoron. Surely failure is about defeat, lack of success, a shutting down rather than a building up of ideas. However an unwillingness to fail stifles great ideas. A fear of failure kills many projects before they have even begun. Lots can be learned from what didn’t work – sometimes more than can be gleaned from basking in the glory of what went well. The problem is we don’t create enough opportunities to fail in order to have those moments of insight. And when we do fail we are too busy trying to bury it and move on before anyone notices. In your mentoring conversations try exploring the last time you failed. What did you learn? About yourself? About others? About the world? What will you do differently as a result of failing?

And if you have never failed or have to go way back to play school or kindergarten to think of an example it means you are too far in your comfort zone and that is not a place of creativity.  If that is the case then your homework is to go out and try something that you will probably fail at on your first attempt. Oh and smile while you do it, think of a metaphor to describe the experience, apply that to your wider world. See how creative you can be!