Leaders need to narrow their focus and dig deep into work-tasks.

For Routine work-tasks we need to establish systems and processes. Many business gurus have taught this…Michael Gerber’s E-Myth series is a good enough what-to-do manual for Routine work.

not-Routine work-tasks require a different type of attention. Few business gurus teach this. I have found Edward de Bono is the best guide…he has written over 70 books on creative thinking and how it can be applied to business.

I have tried to Seek Simple…

In the above picture of Routine work and not-Routine work you see the 80/20 Rule coming into play…at least 80% of our time is spent doing Routine work. That’s the light green part. A much smaller amount of time is spent on not-Routine such as strategizing, idea-storming, and innovating. That’s the dark green part.

Does this visual look a little like PAC-MAN? I hope so. Routine work tends to eat up all of our time. This includes making mistakes and fixing them. This includes fire-fighting the same old types of fires over and over again. Routine work eats up our time and our opportunities for creative thinking.

Here is one example - Leaders need to simplify Routine work to remove communication-confusion…McDonalds provides the best case study. Simple tools like checklists help: checklists stop airplanes from crashing and infections from spreading during major surgeries. If checklists can work such wonders in the airline and medical sectors you can be confident they will do the same thing at your business.

not-Routine work requires a different approach...

not-Routine work-tasks require different skills. And, as educators like Dan Pink point out and companies like Google prove, not-Routine work involves a fun-factor.

Creativity happens when people are motivated. People are motivated when they are working in a Strengths Zone.

Creativity can be taught.

Everyone has creativity…many of us have to un-bury it. There are quick-and comfortable ways of doing this.

And, Creativity is an essential ingredient in the magic potion of business success in the 21st Century.