We are creative beings. And creativity shines brightest when the unexpected happens...
📉 Marketing? Your competitor beat you to launch.
⚙️ Operations? The system upgrade rolled out and nothing is shipping out this week.
👥 HR? A merger announcement blindsided your team, leaving your team scrambling.
Messy. Stressful. Costly.
Creative thinking can become your most valuable asset if you've created a culture of trust and collaboration.
Workshops can be practice runs for crisis creativity. By simulating unexpected scenarios, teams get to test their problem-solving skills in a low-risk environment. When a real disruption hits, those rehearsed responses give them the confidence and agility to respond with creativity instead of panic.
Rapid Response Simulations: Put cross-functional teams in a room and throw them a real-world curveball: The shipping dock just burned down due to meteor impact. How do we fulfill orders? Watch how quickly creative connections form.
Future-State Mapping: Instead of forecasting for accuracy ask “What would happen if we won every single new bid we quote?” or "What could keep us from never launching a new product again?” You’ll surface opportunities and challenges that are uniquely yours.
There really are no bad ideas during a brainstorm (afterwards is a different story). Adding in some context and structure helps guide the conversation.
Set Constraints: Our competitor just launched. We can't cancel our launch and we've already invested 80% of our budget. What can we do with the remaining 20% to reinvent?
Engage Everyone: Once you have everyone in the meeting, make sure each person shares ideas and contributes.
Sum Up: Once you have all the ideas on the table, let the ranking begin! Flesh out which ones are feasible and which ones are too far afield.
Creativity thrives when unexpected voices enter the conversation. Maybe you include folks during a brainstorm session, maybe you gather a trusted voice to simply bring encouragement.
Department Swaps: Bringing in all stakeholders can add unique diversity. Ask IT to sit in on a customer service challenge. Invite sales to a logistics problem. This practice can build empathy and bring new perspectives.
Customer Shadowing: Follow a customer through their day. You’ll see frustrations and opportunities that never come through in a questionnaire.
Rotating Facilitators: Don’t let the same leader run every session. Yes, Steve is really good at it ... so get him to train someone else.
AI isn’t here to replace your thinking, just stretch it.
1️⃣ Describe the challenge to AI in plain language.
2️⃣ Assign it a role: Play my CFO, act like a new customer, pretend you’re our competitor.
3️⃣ Let it interview you with questions until you land on new angles.
Often, you’ll surprise yourself with answers you already had, just waiting for the right questions.
Chaos can drive creative solutions that have long-lasting impact. This is especially true when you practice creative thinking in advance and not just reacting.
That’s where Insightfully Curious comes in. We help organizations design the workshops, frameworks, and conversations that build creative muscle before the crisis hits. Whether it’s guiding teams through scenario planning, building crisis management processes, or introducing practical AI skills, we make sure your business is ready to turn disruption into discovery.
👉 The next time the ground shifts under your feet, you’ll have more than a backup plan. You’ll have the confidence to step forward with fresh ideas, stronger alignment, and real momentum.
✨ How does your team practice creativity before things get messy?