Singapore Entrepreneurs

Mention the word “military”, and a whole series of words that include “rules”, “strict”, “lack of freedom” accompany it. The word usually connotes something other than creative. So how can we bridge the seeming divide between the two words? Continue reading this post by our resident contributor, DT.

Being creative in the military? Is that not an oxymoron? Not really especially if you, like me, believes that the “the most creative freedom comes from a tight brief”. After my last rant on creativity in a structured environment, where I insisted that creativity cannot occur in a vacuum or in an environment of total freedom, I continue to be surprised to see pockets of extreme creativity in what I would say in the most structured and stifling environment: the top-down regimental military command structure.

I continue to be surprised at how good soldiers are able to think of combat solutions in the heat of battle, how resourceful soldiers are in being able to solve problems in shortage of supplies, or at how the infamous shirking soldiers are able to hide from their duties.

So what does a good Military Officer have in common with a shirking Grunt?

Or in other words how does one navigate within a very tight and structured organization or brief and yet still be creative?

1) Stop!
We often take instructions at face value, and quickly go ahead and do it. Especially in the Military, instructions tend to be orders which are obeyed without questions. Many a time, however, information through the grapevine often get skewed when tempered with biases or human agendas.

This only really becomes an issue when people don’t stop but blindly follow instead.

2) Assess the situation
I’m not asking you to be insubordinate here and question authority, but what I’m asking you to do is to stop to identify the instruction’s objective or end results desired.

Assess the situation and list the facts and influences that have a direct impact on your desired objective.

Marketing objective, manufacturing requirements, corporate budgets and casualty rates are such factors that could affect your desired outcome.

3) Know your limits
Identify what you can and cannot or are not willing to do. At this time you would also need to know and consider the corporate system or the way things work in the environment around you.

This way you will be able to know where your boundaries are and how far you can push it to get or NOT get the job done.

I have found the best Shirkers all somehow knew intimately how the system worked!

4) Think creatively to solve the problem
Once you established the first three points, you will find that this fourth point comes naturally. At this time you will find that instead of feeling oppressed or stifled, a whole realm of opportunities opens up before you.

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So dear readers, the next time you find you are in a situation where your boss is twisting your arm to do something you are not happy to do, or an instruction that negatively impacts your project, or you can’t seem to come up with a design solution for that tight brief, do try these four points and let me know what you think? Now it’s time for me to get some sleep and do keep in touch?