The answer? Creativity. Yes, really, lawyers are creative!
For many years, I have been fond of saying (and genuinely believing) that I’m not a creative person, but having spent a week exploring LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® in Denmark, I have had to revise my thinking!
We can be so easily drawn into fixed narratives about who we are and, perhaps more damagingingly, who we are not, that we often forget to pause and reflect on what we are doing. Creativity, I have learned, comes in all shapes and sizes: perhaps it shows itself through conversation, connection or communication; maybe it’s in the tasks we do; or sometimes in stepping well out of our comfort zones to experience what is possible.
For lawyers and leaders, the power of creativity brings a number of benefits – new perspectives, a diversity of thinking, feeling and expression, ‘permission’ to experiment and not to have all the answers or be ‘right’. This does not make us any less professional. Quite the opposite, in fact, this exploration of different ways of working, leading and relating to others enhances our impact and opens up the possibility of creating new narratives and knowledge.
The perceived wisdom is that we need to ‘think before we act’ and there’s a lot to be said for following that path. However, what if, once in a while, we think creatively – using our hands, perhaps, to build a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® model to represent our ideas and thoughts, bringing out opportunities to explore and redefine ways that are no longer working for us.
What supports your creative thinking?