I have noticed that my children were more creative in their teens than they are now. The same is true for me. I am not as creative now, but I am much more effective. How did this happen?

I think it's related to what psychologists call the four stages of competence in any skill. Take walking, for example. Newborns just lie there, beginning to figure out who protects them and how they get fed. They can't yet walk, they are incompetent, and they are unconscious of that fact. As they begin to understand what is happening around them, they begin to understand that they can control their movements and move objects. They become conscious of the fact that others can move. Though as walkers they are still incompetent, they are now conscious of that fact. They are motivated to walk, to become competent. But it requires focus and attention to keep their balance, to avoid obstacles. They are conscious of every movement. Very quickly, though, they learn to walk, even run, without thinking. They are now unconscious of the various movements required. The progression is expressed simply as:

Unconscious Incompetent to
Conscious Incompetent to
Conscious Competent to
Unconscious Competent.

With practice we can learn to do any task without being conscious of it. What I have found interesting is that people who have reached that unconscious competent stage very often have difficulty teaching someone else the skill. Think of parent and child (or employer and employee). I also think this begins to explain that loss of creativity.

Creativity involves combining things in unexpected ways. But, the better our skills get the more unlikely it is that there will be opportunity for the unexpected. Over the years we all develop or adopt solutions to problems and we continually fall back on those solutions. We become less creative as we become more effective so it takes much more focus to be truly creative. It is only the true artists that have maintained their ability to capture those creative moments and that seems to be because they no longer have to think about the technical part - how to create tones and textures. They can do that unconsciously and that allows them to focus on the infinite possibilities, the combinations of notes, or colors, or movements.

My clients often need my help to "think outside the box" with their marketing and business processes. What I actually do is to help them to regress to the conscious competent stage and examine the way they are doing things, to look for those possibilities. That's a skill you can develop to improve your results. And, since few of us can recapture that teenage creativity, you can also tap into the innate creativity of the young - they have not yet learned the "right" way to do it and being open to their insights might provide you with some very creative solutions. You could become even more effective!

Are you just going through the motions in your sales calls , using the same old approaches and techniques? Have you reached the Unconscious Competent stage and your results are now stagnant?

Sales is one area where I think you need to be really conscious of what's happening and how you are responding to it. Like any good jazz musician your technique must be impeccable, but your notes must bend to the mood and blend with those playing around you. That's magic!

Holiday parties are a great time to network. Good networkers have fun and meet lots of people. Great networkers have intelligent conversations, remember who they talk to and wake up the next morning feeling great. Now that's fun!

Our results depend on the choices we make each moment.