Summary
For the past 20 years, Dr Karl K. Jeffries has been fascinated by the study of creativity. In this presentation, he shares some of what he has learnt about creativity and how it applies to DesignOps professionals. Whether you consider yourself creative or not, the science of creativity has much to offer professional design practice in all its many forms. As a critical 21st-century skill, having an informed understanding of creativity is crucial to navigating the next five years. In this presentation, Dr Jeffries begins to explore a few insights to ignite your interest in creativity for DesignOps.
Key Insights
-
•
Creativity is often misunderstood, with myths such as 'you are either creative or not' or 'creativity equals art' prevalent even in design professions.
-
•
Research defines creativity as requiring both originality and effectiveness, highlighting novelty plus usefulness.
-
•
Creativity fuels design, which in turn drives innovation and resilience, both critical in UX and design ops.
-
•
Viewing creative professionals as 'ideas athletes' or 'creativity Olympians' changes how we approach supporting them, emphasizing coaching, recovery, and ecosystems for peak performance.
-
•
Burnout in creative roles is common, with reports showing tech workers are five times more likely to be depressed than the general population, harming creativity.
-
•
The workplace typically fails to nurture creativity properly, often using creative people up and discarding them rather than supporting their growth.
-
•
Design ops is positioned uniquely to redefine creative work cultures by intentionally supporting creativity resilience and challenging damaging myths.
-
•
Optimism—not naive hope—but a realistic yet hopeful mindset is essential for sustaining creativity and resilience amid ongoing challenges.
-
•
Creativity coaching goes beyond hacks; it involves deep shifts in beliefs and values that underpin creative potential and performance.
-
•
Creative professionals benefit from personal practices like cultivating identity and courage, as well as organizational support structures to maintain creative energy.
Notable Quotes
"Are you creative? Such a loaded question, isn't it?"
"Creativity fuels design, design fuels innovation."
"If you value innovation and design, then you're investing in creativity."
"The biggest myth of all is you can't teach creativity."
"I was talking with a person who said I’m like an idea machine, a 24-7 idea machine. The reply was immediate. It isn’t, you get used up and spat out."
"Think of a creative professional as an ideas athlete or a creativity Olympian."
"An elite athlete doesn’t turn up at the Olympics and do their thing without coaches, physios, nutritionists."
"Tech workers in the UK are five times more depressed than the UK average, with stress killing creativity."
"Design ops has the opportunity to set a new default future, not follow the path set by the past."
"If you said are you creative, I’m gonna say hell yeah."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Screen readers let us jump from one heading to another, replicating the experience of skimming a page visually."
Sam ProulxSUS: A System Unusable for Twenty Percent of the Population
December 9, 2021
"Most of our designers are contractors; they have limited voice because they’re bound by contracts."
Michael LandEstablishing Design Operations in Government
February 18, 2021
"We had to push through analysis paralysis and trust our guts as customer-facing teams that knew the business."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"Leadership doesn’t only mean managing; it can be mentoring, product leadership, or technical influence."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"Emotional intelligence is key to navigating situations with senior leaders multiple grades above you."
Isaac HeyveldExpand DesignOps Leadership as a Chief of Staff
September 8, 2022
"Self-service was a model with the most unknowns but possibly the biggest rewards."
Amy EvansHow to Create Change
September 25, 2024
"You should take risks, and if you fail, you need to fail fast and pivot immediately."
Kate Koch Prateek KalliFlex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX
September 30, 2021
"Most enterprises are not emotionally safe places; people can’t just leave emotions at the door."
Dave GrayLiminal Thinking: Sense-making for systems in large organizations
May 14, 2015
"The challenge is whether your organization has the energy to overcome cultural and technical barriers driving researchers back to disposable knowledge."
Matt DuignanAtomizing Research: Trend or Trap
March 30, 2020
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What are practical ways for a product team to embrace change rather than resist it?
How does adaptability contribute to a team’s ability to thrive in changing environments?
What are the benefits of long-term knowledge management for building trust with federal agency partners like the Veterans Experience Office?