Courageous Creativity in Color

Creativity, Courage, and Clarity

Guest Blogger:  Sarah Skidmore, Chief Strategist, Skidmore Consulting

As colorists, color design professionals, or “those artsy types“,  we are known for, and often paid for, the creativity in color and innovation we bring to businesses and clients. There is some theory that goes along with creativity; it isn’t mere magic – ha!

Creativity, Courage, and Clarity

In Creative Change (2017), creativity is connected with the themes of uncertainty and the unknown.  Mueller links the concept of creativity with a mindset of “why/potential” – meaning that this type of mindset looks to the future, looks for the value, and looks for potential. Creativity involves reference points. It causes individuals to identify differences and familiarities. Creativity is about ideas – categorizing ideas, but also dropping trivial thoughts and ruling out ideas that are too bizarre. This type of work has a real impact.

Thinking in New Boxes (2013) offers another thought for this discussion: deductive and inductive thinking. While deduction limits one’s thinking to what is known and existing, induction opens up the possibilities by creating ideas, enhancing capacity, testing assumptions, and furthering innovation.

These are pretty neat connections when you think of the work of Color Marketing Group (CMG). CMG members, together, step out into the unknown and uncertain, taking leadership in global color forecasting.

Every year during the regional ChromaZones® our members diverge and generate ideas with freedom and courage. Then, CMG’s Steering Committee comes together to converge, align, prioritize, and collaborate, bringing clarity to the trending work. The annual work of CMG concludes at the International Summit where our World Color Forecast™ is revealed to the members at large.

Inspiring and Impactful

Think of how you are energized from the creative collaboration experienced at CMG events. How do you harness that flow of creativity, fascination, and collaboration, and bring it home to your teams and clients?

• Andragogy is a learning theory highlighted in The Adult Learner (2015). This theory holds that adult learners learn through experience while also engaging topics that are critically important to their context.

How can you create color experiences with your co-workers and clients and build the CMG collaborative culture to new contexts?

• Succession planning is not just for CEOs and Presidents; it’s relevant for all roles. Think of succession planning as a tool for strategically planning knowledge transfer, enhancing intellectual capital, and developing future leaders – for color work!

How are you strategically developing the next generation of color leaders at your organization?

• We all know the importance of culture and we’ve all most likely been on a team with a horrible culture. Relationships and social capital are so vital as we work with teams and clients. By encouraging, communicating with, and empowering others – we are positively impacting the cultures.

How are you empowering your team to be courageously creativity?

These are just a few thoughts to contemplate this week as you are working with your team or clients – Courageously Creativity… in Color.

If you found this article interesting, check out Lead in Color, where Sarah discussed the influence design professionals have as “we lead in color, literally coloring the world through our collective work.”

Sarah Skidmore spurs the creative application of theory & strategy for leaders and organizations seeking to enhance their competitive advantage. Sarah serves as a consultant, freelance writer, and speaker for industries including plastics, construction, medical & pharmaceutical, food & beverage, and consumer products. e: Sarah@Skidmore-Consulting.com

Skidmore Consulting offers Innovation + Leadership + Marketing services to drive organizational growth and enhance business growth of clients.

 

 

 

 

Color Marketing Group® (CMG) is the premier international association for color design professionals. A not-for-profit, CMG is a forum for the exchange of all things color. Members represent a broad spectrum of designers, marketers, color scientists, consultants, educators, and artists.

You live in color and so do we. Its influences are everywhere, the environment, social issues, changing political climates – they all impact color in one industry, which has a reverberating effect on another. We believe the only way to stay competitive within such constant change, is by harnessing each other’s endless flow of knowledge and understanding.