Growth mindset for creativity with ALCS
The organisations that Laughology is privileged to work with are as varied as the venues where we are lucky enough to work. This month, Laura Drury was invited to deliver a session at the very beautiful Southwark Cathedral with the Author’s Licencing and Collecting Society. Her aim? To see how she could help to build a more creative and innovative culture.
The ALCS believe ‘writers should be paid wherever their works are used. We make sure you receive the money you’re owed when someone copies or uses your work.’ They collect money from around the world to pay their members, whether they be authors, journalists, scriptwriters, academics, etc.
Therefore, they are in a unique situation as they don’t need to sell anything or compete with other organisations, which can create a sense of comfort. Whilst comfort is good sometimes, it’s only when we are challenged and pushed out of our comfort zones that we become more creative and build confidence.
So, Laura was asked to come along to a company get-together to help the team think differently and become more creative.
After some discussion, it was decided that the initial focus should be on growth mindset. This session encourages people to create awareness of their belief systems and identify when their thinking is ‘fixed’ or ‘growth’.
Exploring what makes a growth mindset is the perfect foundation for building creativity and innovation. It encourages continuous learning, enables people to become solution-focused, and creates helpful behaviours to help problem-solve when ‘stuck’.
There were many fun activities and fruitful discussions to create awareness of people’s thinking styles, particularly when they become unhelpful or ‘wonky’. A very serious Laughology term). This was followed by examples and opportunities to re-frame that thinking with growth language and curious questions. Also, a focus on psychological safety and its importance in creating the right environment is needed for a growth mindset to thrive.
The activity of the session which created the most hilarity, whilst revealing that tricksy fixed mindset when under pressure, was string handcuffs. A personal favourite of Laura’s. Everyone went away with a piece of personal learning that they can apply in the workplace. Next, for ALCS, the focus will be on ways to build that creativity even more.
If you’d like to learn more about this or any session involving string handcuffs (we’re not here to judge), why not contact Doug – doug@laughology.co.uk to discuss?
