{"id":930,"date":"2020-02-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/how-google-can-help-your-team-to-be-more-creative\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T13:33:51","slug":"how-google-can-help-your-team-to-be-more-creative","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-google-can-help-your-team-to-be-more-creative\/","title":{"rendered":"How Google Can Help Your Team To Be More Creative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n Feb 17, 2020 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Five pearls of Wisdom from Google\u2019s Head of Creative Capability Development.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n
As a coach, you\u2019ll almost certainly have your trusted assistants but do you call upon your wider performance staff as often as you might? Come to think of it, do you prioritise the views of your coaching assistants as much as you could?<\/h6>\n

While they may or may not share your intimate knowledge of the sport, it could be your experience, your technical expertise, that hinders your attempts to solve a performance problem.<\/p>\n

That is the view of Kirk Vallis, Google\u2019s Global Head of Creative Capability Development, and he shared it with the audience<\/a> while speaking at the 2019 Leaders Sport Performance Summit in London.<\/p>\n

Vallis, who was granted the freedom to choose his own job title, was at Twickenham Stadium to discuss the tech giant\u2019s approach to disruption and creativity.<\/p>\n

Far from being a wishy-washy concept, he explained that the World Economic Forum as listed \u2018creativity\u2019 as the third-most in-demand skill by 2020 (behind critical thinking and problem-solving). Creativity sat at No10 five years earlier and at No20 two years before that.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreativity is an underrated skill,\u201d he suggests. \u201cAnd creativity is just creating more options \u2013 with more options you can make better decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is where your people can come in, as you are likely to already have the requisite expertise in the building. \u201cWe\u2019re not lacking in knowledge or technology in the world,\u201d declares Wired<\/em> Founder Kevin Kelly from a presentation slide Vallis projects onto the screen, \u201cwe\u2019re lacking the imagination for what to do with it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Vallis adds: \u201cThose organisations that are most successful are those who use that expertise to do things a bit differently to everybody else \u2013 how do you outthink the pack by thinking differently?\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are five steps to help harness the talent in your building and, consequently, the creativity of your people.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t be a slave to your success<\/strong><\/p>\n

While no one is questioning your knowledge, might your performance department suggest another way to think about a performance question? \u201cWe are slaves to our success,\u201d says Vallis. \u201cOur brilliance prevents us looking at things in a different way.\u201d He proffers that it is about mindset, not skillset. \u201cTechnical expertise is overvalued \u2013 especially at the expense of being able to think differently.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Create a positive relationship between success and failure<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vallis hits the audience with a stark fact: only one in four people feel they can be creative at work. \u201cThat\u2019s a worry, especially for those of you who are leaders,\u201d he tells the room. \u201cWhere are you sign-posting, role modelling, \u2018big picture, little deeds\u2019; where is it you\u2019re giving people the ability to think differently or to fail? Where does failure live? I asked England rugby Head Coach Eddie Jones a couple of years ago and he said \u2018Mondays\u2019. \u2018Mondays we\u2019ll fail. We\u2019ll try new stuff on Mondays \u2013 I don\u2019t want to fail on a Friday when we\u2019re trying to wriggle around execution \u2013 but on Mondays we fail loads.\u2019\u201d This is perfect: \u201cTest the premise of your ideas, not the execution \u2013 do it fast and do it cheaply.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Explore related worlds<\/strong><\/p>\n

In making this point about related worlds Vallis is speaking to the Leaders Performance Institute and our efforts to connect the great and the good of world sport. \u201cEvery challenge we face has been faced before in a different context,\u201d he explains. His three-step process is 1) define the essence of your challenge 2) Explore a different world with the same issue and \u2018steal with pride\u2019 3) Use as a stimulus for new ideas. \u201cValue your loose connections.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Break the rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

The instructions could not be simpler here: 1) List the roles or conventions 2) Choose one and break it 3) Use that as a stimulus for finding the best ideas.<\/p>\n

5. Find expansive options for reductive decision-making<\/strong><\/p>\n

A greater variety of creative options is great \u2013 Vallis is staking his reputation on that very notion \u2013 but a decision must still be made. \u201cExpansive options are good but not if nothing gets done,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to be reductive, analyse, judge and make decisions. How do we know we\u2019ve got the best idea? You never will but you will gain confidence from the number of options considered.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is it going to take to win in 2020?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is the focus of our latest Performance Special Report. Download The High Performance Manual: Winning in 2020<\/em>, which features sports organisations as diverse as Red Bull<\/strong>, the Brisbane Lions<\/strong> and the Royal Military Academy<\/strong> discussing the pertinent topics across Leadership & Culture, Coaching & Development, Human Performance and Data & Innovation.<\/p>\n