Yesterday, we looked at 4 areas that can impact our creativity at work:

• Our identity: how we view our own creativity
• Our space: how we design and use our physical environment
• Our culture: how we treat each other and our habits as a group
• Our processes: how we go through work cycles

@paulabraun asked “How might one decide which of these to tackle first?”

This is an excellent question to answer in today’s daily.

1. Assess your needs

Take a look at each of these areas and assess the current status of each. Depending on the size of your team or organization, it may be helpful to survey a cross-section of employees. Anonymous surveys are best for getting honest feedback. Just be sure your questions are phrased clearly and in a way that will not create a bias.

2. Assess the level of effort needed

Realize these areas do not require the same amount of effort, resources, or capital. Addressing the physical needs of your space may be the most capital-intensive area. Culture may take the longest to generate returns. Processes may require new tools, and it could temporarily affect the timing or quality of deliverables.

All this being said, a great place to start is with your creative identity. Tackling identity doesn’t typically demand a high level of effort compared to other areas, and it can pay off early by generating buy-in. Another benefit is the output of assessing your identity and identifying actions to take can be used as input for addressing space, culture, and processes. Unless you believe your needs and the level of effort say otherwise, I would consider identity to be the best starting ground for buillding creativity in your workplace.