Everyone's an Artist (Or at Least They Should Be): How Creativity Gives You the Edge in Everything You Do by Scott Kavanagh

Author:Scott Kavanagh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business & Money, Management & Leadership, Leadership, Self-Help, Success
Publisher: Collins
Published: 2016-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

The university was, of course, filled with experts in all of those areas. But Gordon Cassidy didn’t appeal to any of them for help. Instead, he relied on his group of “non-experts.” By the time he launched the second year of the program, he had four program managers working in the national executive MBA, and two in the Ottawa-based executive MBA. Of the six, four were phys. ed. grads, like Ron. Yup, to help deliver the most innovative and cutting edge professional graduate programs at one of the most respected academic institutions in the country, Cassidy turned to four people who had taken ballroom dancing, winter camping and “Games of Lower Organization.”

When Ron asked Cassidy why, the director said, “You’re all perfect for this environment because you’re social, you’re competitive and you know how to play and win on a team. I don’t need accountants or marketers; I need people who can work together to solve the problems we don’t even know we have.” What Cassidy was doing was avoiding “experts” who would immediately know and reference what had worked in the past, who would rely on what had been done before to solve the problems as they perceived them. What he wanted were fresh thinkers who weren’t afraid to challenge the status quo, in part because they didn’t know what that was.

The young people on the team were, not surprisingly, full of questions. Would this work? Could we try this? What if we approached it like that? They didn’t have answers at their fingertips. They had questions.

They put those questions to use in trying to solve the telecommunications cost problem. Very few, if any, businesses and institutions were using the quantity of broadband that an online video-conferencing degree would consume. The telecommunications companies weren’t, therefore, ready with bulk rates and high-volume discounts. But even as the group began negotiating for some sort of deal, they wondered if a little bartering might drop the costs further. At whom was this MBA aimed, after all? Executives. What did the telcos have plenty of? Executives. They asked the telcos if they wanted to have some of their emerging leaders join the inaugural cohort—in exchange for reduced telecom fees. The telecommunications companies agreed. It was a brilliant plan. The EMBA would be able to meet its budget, and the companies would be able to experience their technologies being put to new use—and perhaps be inspired to think of other new markets and sales potential.

It was a great solution, but given its “swap meet” approach, not one that was likely to come from an accounting professor.

Queen’s EMBA turned out to be a huge success. Of course, it won its reputation because of the quality of the education it provided and the talented and dedicated faculty that gave the courses. But there’s no doubt that Gordon Cassidy’s understanding of the importance of creative thinking was a huge factor in getting the program off the ground in the first place. By hiring people who were full

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