Getting employees to tap into creative thinking on-demand can be a roadblock to innovation, especially if it’s not a requirement in their day-to-day role. While it may not be possible to achieve creativity on demand, it is possible to establish an environment that encourages team members to get their creative juices flowing.
One of the reasons RGAX’s Life Design Sprints have been so successful at driving innovation in the insurance industry is that we use tried-and-true activities that foster a productive and neutral environment to help teams get outside of their comfort zones. By borrowing and adapting sprinting techniques, the concept developed at Google Ventures, Life Design Sprints eliminate some of the normal roadblocks that often halt internal innovation.
Start boosting creativity and out-of-the-box thinking today by incorporating some of these exercises used by RGAX Sprint Masters.
8 Exercises that Promote Creativity and Champion Life Insurance Innovation
Creativity on demand is a big task, especially since it must be done right to deliver real innovation in the life and health insurance industry. Specific techniques used in RGAX Life Design Sprints get teams thinking in new ways and eliminate the echo chamber organizations may experience internally. The effectiveness of Life Design Sprints lies in encouraging people to reach outside their comfort zones in a highly productive, safe environment that promotes creativity, connection, and collaboration. Here are some techniques RGAX sprint masters use to foster a relaxed, creative environment to deliver impactful results whether in a virtual or in-person setting:
- Space for Silence
A key difference between design sprints and brainstorming is the use of silent time for individual work before reconvening as a group. This approach avoids groupthink while allowing quieter, more reflective individuals the opportunity to contribute. Everyone has the space to think their ideas through before voicing them. - Show, Don’t Tell
When people hear a concept described with words only, each person listening will likely reach a different understanding of it. With a “show, don’t tell” approach, participants communicate their ideas in self-explanatory sketches to avoid ambiguity, for example. - Timeboxing
Participants have a specific amount of time to complete an open-ended task such as writing down as many ideas as possible on Post-it notes in two minutes. This approach delivers greater results in less time. - Dot-mocracy Rules
At several stages of the sprint, we use “dot voting” to canvas the team’s views to prevent undue bias. We then use the dots to form a heatmap focusing the discussion on the most highlighted topics. - Decider Decides
Even though it’s a team exercise, no ideas will make it to market without the sponsor’s support. The Decider’s vote is the only one that counts in the end, and that’s why they always vote last. - One-to-One Interviews
Participants learn more about the problem by interviewing subject matter experts and/or potential customers. Direct conversations quickly lead to a clear understanding of end-user needs. - Lockpicks
We use a collection of tools for unlocking people’s creativity to ensure innovative ideas. Take for instance, Crazy Eights, in which the repetition of one theme pushes people out of their comfort zone, and river-jumping, in which we study related problems in different contexts to see how best to solve them. - Masterclasses
Experts on the discussion topic share their knowledge of the problem and its impact on potential customers.
Deliver Insurance Innovation Faster with Life Design Sprints
RGAX has combined design thinking best practices with its own life and health insurance expertise to effectively accelerate product development and help solve modern industry problems. Don’t settle for roadblocks, get your guide to mastering innovation >
