Creative Friction x Design Team

What is Creative Friction?

Creative Friction is a series of three immersive workshops within IAG's Creative Intelligence Program, designed to enhance skills in creative conflict, connectedness, and confidence. The workshops focus on "Expression," one of the six core human cognitive needs, which involves effectively expressing emotions, managing conflict constructively, and converting friction into creativity. Through engaging discussions and interactive exercises, participants learn to turn friction into a powerful catalyst for creativity and growth, thereby driving team performance and innovation.

Challenge

How might we improve creative friction and expression within the Design Centre Team to enhance collaboration and innovation?


Context: The Creative Friction workshops were designed for the IAG Design Centre Team, which is dedicated to enhancing creativity and collaboration. This initiative emerged from the need to tackle a major barrier to effective teamwork: the inability to manage conflict and creative friction constructively. Aimed at equipping the team with skills to navigate and leverage conflict, the workshops sought to foster a more innovative and cohesive work environment. Grounded in "Expression," one of the six cognitive needs, and informed by neuroscience, the sessions focused on advancing emotional literacy, conflict management, and creative expression.

Objectives:

  • Improve the team’s ability to effectively manage and use creative friction and emotional expression.

  • Provide practical exercises for navigating tough conversations and embracing creative friction in daily work.

  • Develop and implement actionable commitments to integrate creative friction into daily operations.

  • Cultivate a culture of creativity within the team that encourages continuous improvement and innovation.

  • Grow and refine the Creative Intelligence Program to meet the team’s evolving needs.

Role: Creative Intelligence & HCD Lead

Experience Creator, Creativity Advocate, Content Creator, Visual Designer, Thought Leader, Facilitator, Researcher, Quality Gatekeeper, Relationship Alchemist, Knowledge Nurturer, Coach.

Timeline: August 2019 – January 2020

Things I designed: Workshops and Co-creation Sessions, Frameworks, Interactive Prototypes, Feedback and Metrics Mechanisms, Design Content Library, Templates, Handbooks and Tools, Rituals and Shared Language.

What is the DNA of Creative Intelligence?

Creative Intelligence requires mastery of the 5c's – context, curiosity, collaboration, conflict and confidence. These elements empower individuals to understand, interpret, and act with imagination. The 5C’s play a role with enabling and engaging in the Creative Process.

Conflict | Removing personal tension and biases to shift towards compassionate friction that enables expression of thoughts and experience on ideas.

The Design Solution

The design solution involves a structured series of workshops aimed at enhancing creative friction and expression within the Design Centre Team. The workshops are designed to be interactive and informative, providing participants with skills and tools to leverage in their daily work. By fostering an environment where conflict is managed constructively, the team can convert friction into creativity and innovation.

The approach to implementing the Creative Friction workshops and supporting materials was structured around a comprehensive, four-phase process: Discover, Define, Design, and Deliver. This structured approach ensured that the Creative Friction workshops were well-researched, effectively designed, and delivered in a way that maximised learning and application, ultimately fostering a culture of creativity and innovation within the Design Centre Team.

  • Reverse-brief: Conducted a session with the Director of the Design Centre at IAG to clarify the focus and align on the objectives and desired outcomes.

    Observation: Observed team dynamics and interactions to gain a deeper understanding of existing issues and potential areas for improvement.

    Benchmarking: Looked at best practices and case studies from other organisations to inform our approach.

  • Clarification of Goals: Established clear objectives for the workshops, focusing on enhancing creative friction, emotional literacy, and conflict management.

    Problem Framing: Articulated the core issues and opportunities for growth, ensuring alignment with the "Expression" component of the Teaming at IAG framework.

    Stakeholder Engagement: Engaged key stakeholders to gather input and ensure their support for the initiative.

  • Workshop Development: Designed interactive and informative workshop content, including activities and tools to help participants manage conflict and leverage creative friction.

    Takeaway Creation: Developed a takeaway that balanced theory and practice, ensuring participants could apply what they learned to real-world situations.

    Toolkits and Resources: Created practical toolkits and resources to support participants in their ongoing development.

  • Facilitation: Conducted the workshops, guiding participants through exercises and discussions on expression, emotional literacy, conflict, and creative friction.

    Interactive Sessions: Ensured the workshops were highly interactive, allowing participants to engage actively and practice new skills in a supportive environment.

    Feedback and Iteration: Collected feedback throughout the workshops to continuously improve the content and delivery, making adjustments as needed to maximise impact.

Impact

The Creative Friction workshops enhanced the Design Team’s ability to collaborate confidently with diverse stakeholders and subject matter experts. Participants gained practical skills and confidence in managing conflict and creative friction, improving daily performance and strengthening emotional literacy, conflict management, and creative expression. By integrating creative friction into operations, the initiative fostered a dynamic and resilient work environment. It also cultivated a vibrant creative culture and expanded the Creative Intelligence Program, ensuring ongoing support for creativity and innovation aligned with the team’s evolving needs.

Outcomes

Enhanced Team Collaboration

The team improved their ability to collaborate effectively by managing and leveraging creative friction, leading to more innovative solutions and stronger interpersonal connections. This was achieved through a series of workshops and practical activities designed to build comfort with conflict and diversity while having fun.

Boosted Competence and Confidence

Designed and facilitated Workshop Two: how to Engage in Conflict, to put knowledge from Workshop One into practice. Participants gained practical skills and confidence in handling tough conversations and navigating conflict, which they applied in their daily work, enhancing overall team performance. This included exercises from the Creative Friction Practice Worksheet, Rumble Scenario Canvas, and real-life scenarios.

Actionable Commitments

The team developed and adopted clear commitments to incorporate creative friction into their everyday operations, fostering a more dynamic and resilient work environment. The final workshop focused on setting these actionable commitments, ensuring everyone had a clear path to practice and improve.

Strengthened Creative Culture

A more vibrant culture of creativity emerged, driven by continuous improvement and a proactive facilitation of activities that translated knowledge into action. Activities like the brainstorming ideas into action map, role-playing tough conversations using the Rumble Scenarios Canvas and the Permission Slip to open workshops encouraged this cultural shift. These efforts not only benefited individual team members but also enhanced the overall dynamic of the Design Team.

Documented and Shared Learnings

The "How to Engage in Conflict" takeaway book was created to support ongoing development, capturing and sharing the learnings from the workshops.

Reflection:

A key takeaway from the Creative Friction workshops is the importance of embracing discomfort and navigating through emotion rather than avoiding it. Constructive conflict is essential for high-performance teams, and the ability to manage it effectively can drive innovation. The workshops highlighted that creativity thrives in the tension between predictability and surprise, and that fostering an environment of open expression and managed conflict can lead to greater team cohesion and innovative outcomes.

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