“Be reasonable.” How many times have you heard that in your life? Most often, what that really means is, “see it my way” or “do it the way we’ve always done it.” Unfortunately, doing things the way they’ve always been done leaves little room for creativity. Doing things the way they’ve always been done means your input is neither wanted nor required, and that works wonders in stifling the creative part of you that makes your work so unique.
It’s when we step outside the status quo – or think outside the box – that we can achieve a more meaningful and impactful level of creativity. And coming up with new, creative ideas is fun. It inspires others. It brings enthusiasm and energy to any project . . . once you get there. However, moving outside the box is often akin to being outside our comfort zone, since we’ve been taught all our lives to conform to the way things are supposed to be done. So creative brainstorming is a challenge for many of us. Yet, through pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone, we’re able to grow as creative beings and build great things. All of mankind’s greatest inventions resulted from someone coming up with a new and better way of doing things.
I, for one, not only love creative brainstorming, but thrive in it. Frankly, my team probably gets sick of me wanting to open it up and hear people’s ideas. I am a firm believer that when you give people the space to think through things and see it from different perspectives and angles, you will get to the best outcome, even if it takes some time. That is ok. The journey is part of the process.
Some people may be downhearted during these times, knowing that business is not as usual, that things will need to be rebuilt. However, there is an overarching positive to this moment. We are poised to reinvent the way we think as we rebuild processes. The pressure to move us out of our comfort zone has already been applied. We didn’t have to consciously compel ourselves out, because other forces did that for us. In order to survive, businesses that once rejected change have had to embrace it, which has opened a multitude of new opportunities for creativity. Half the struggle is already in the past.
Therefore, this is a perfect time to think unreasonably when considering the creative processes of design and construction. Literally everything should be on the table. The old adage, “There are no bad ideas,” is truer now than ever. Now is the time to embrace the unreasonable nature of true creative problem solving. Right now, we’re being flooded with opportunities to be more imaginative. It’s also a great time to retool connections. We’ve already been tasked with coming up with creative solutions to everyday challenges and, in most cases, we have been successful.
In the Bridging the Gap Podcast episode 26, “Thinking Unreasonably, Challenging Architectural Design and Stepping Outside of the Box” architect and builder Renzo Verbeck and artist Sylvia Lisse talk about thinking unreasonably to meet challenging designs, timelines and project coordination. Listen to discover how each of them feels about the status quo. While learning about their individual processes, journeys and project takeaways, you’ll develop a new appreciation for unlocking your creative self through thinking unreasonably. As someone in the construction industry, you probably have a lot of questions about where the future will take us and what lasting impacts these current events will have. You may no longer have the choice to do things the way they’ve always been done – maybe it’s time to become a trailblazer.
Just maybe, it is the perfect time to think unreasonably.
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