John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Effective Leadership

Idea 56: Seven obstacles to creativity

There are a number of obstacles that inhibit creativity. The seven main ones are:

1. Negativity.
2. Fear of failure.
3. Lack of quality thinking time.
4. Over-conformance with rules and regulations.
5. Making assumptions.
6. Applying too much logic.
7. Thinking that you are not creative.

These obstacles can be seen in the following identikit profile of the non-creative person, someone who is:

• Not able to think positively about problems (and does not see them as opportunities).
• Too busy or stressed to think objectively or at all.
• Very self-critical.
• Timid in putting forward a new idea (fearing ridicule).
• Viewed as a conformist by friends or colleagues.
• Prone to apply logic as a first and last resort.
• Skeptical that many people ...