The Work Clinic

"Once upon a time I dreamed of being a writer, but I became a management consultant instead. It’s not that I was unhappy in my job, I just thought there was more out there and felt that my creativity wasn’t being used. So every day on my way to work, I began writing. After three years and having completed my first novel, I handed in my resignation: “I’m going to be a novelist I declared,” sending out jiffy-bagged copies of my manuscript to publishers.

As my leaving day loomed, all of the manuscripts came back rejected and I wanted to tell my boss that there was some terrible mistake and my decision had been made in a moment of madness, but I didn’t want to lose face.

I was living at home at the time, saving for a flat, and could not bring myself to tell my parents that I had given up work so I put on a suit every day and went to the library, and in the library I let my imagination wander.

If I was truly creative, I could find a solution to my dilemma and so I took a sheet of paper and wrote what the 'end frame' would look like. In one sentence, I wrote that I was an international novelist, with films and plays, and in another sentence, I wrote how I would get there: This was my story line:

“Rejected by every major publisher, takes the deposit for a flat, sets up publishing company and PR company and works under an alias hyping novel.”

This is what I did, set up my own publishing and PR company, hyped my novel under an alias, got it into the book charts and then sold it off as part of a three book deal to HarperCollins. My alter-ego Pru was short-listed as publicist of the year.

My second novel is currently being adapted by the BBC and my books are translated internationally. In my down times (of which there were many), I focused on my one sentence. Having used my imagination to accomplish what I set out to do, I understand its value and now take creativity back into organisations as it is hugely undervalued as a resource for innovation and problem solving. The two ways I do this are through creative visioning and storytelling.

Creative Visioning

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, talks about beginning with the end in mind. You have to have a clear definition of what that end looks like.

Within a team, it may be difficult to come to an agreement on what that end frame looks like due to incongruent views. Creative visioning enables people to take themselves out of what they normally do and play with the imagination where pretty much anything is possible.

For example, I did some work recently with an investment bank; they are used to dealing with a left, logical side of the brain and hard facts. I first took them through a stream of consciousness exercise to engage with their right brain and then asked them to write their personal vision. After much resistance, they got into the exercise and once this was completed, I asked them to individually write the story of the group vision and tie in one value from their personal vision.

This was so they would have a vested interest in making it work. They then shared their points of view and came up with an action plan or 'plotted the group story'. It broke the deadlock and worked because they were in unfamiliar territory on an even playing field."

How to tell a good story

• Telling a good story can help anything from making better presentations to pitching succinctly.
• Good storytelling is all about getting your theme (intention) across in a way that is engaging and emotionally resonates with the listener/reader. Before you even begin to tell a story, you have to know your intention – what is it that you want to convey to the listener and how do you want them to feel?
• Summarise this in one concise sentence and then build around this. A storyteller does this by using every available device to get the theme across. If it is not relevant, leave it out.
• Storytelling can also be applied to problem solving – in one sentence, where is it you want to go? Look at the resources available to you: characters, setting, language, time frames, and perspectives, and use all of them to help you get to that one place; do it with focus and vision, engage with the imagination, and know that anything is possible.

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