Creativity is critical to innovative problem solving.

Having attended a small liberal arts college, I had an opportunity to meet and befriend incredibly talented people. A particularly gifted artist (shout-out to Artist Jerry Bennett (thejerrybennett.com) once told me that the hardest thing to teach is creativity.

That statement has framed how I chose to raise my kids and how I choose to lead teams. How? I give space to solve problems.

Some of the best creative work I’ve done was the result of a mistake. Why? It gave me the chance to see something from a perspective that I didn’t anticipate. It put my work in a different space all together.

The thing is: you can’t memorize creativity. It is a process. And often a messy one at that.

Whether you’re an engineer trying to solve a technical issue or a graphic artist trying to create a new logo – you need space. Space to make mistakes. Space to see other options. Sometimes, just space.