Paul Lindley, founder of the organic baby and toddler food company Ella’s Kitchen, recently delivered an inspirational talk in our HKX offices to coincide with the launch his new book ‘The Power of Thinking Like a Toddler’.
Believe it or not, toddler-like thinking can be helpful and stimulating for both businesses and individuals. Some examples that Paul shared were:
Walt Disney, who was famously quoted as saying: “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children”.
Richard Branson, who consistently rebels against the establishment, and is unafraid to question why we do things a certain way and challenge the status quo.
Roger Hargreaves, (author of the Mr Men books) who was inspired by his child, who asked: “what does a tickle look like?” As a result Roger brought to life Mr Tickle, Mr Bump, Little Miss Chatterbox and many others.
What does this tell us, Paul asked? Two things. First of all, small people have big ideas, and putting ourselves in the mind of a toddler can have a big creative impact.
Children are great at thinking divergently – this is the concept of thinking in a spontaneous, free-flowing, ‘non-linear’ manner and it’s a highly creative way to work. This creative skill is lost as we get older, but it can be rediscovered, helping us to produce new and unanticipated ideas!
At HAVAS Just::, we use our Just:: Invent programme roadmap to help us come up with pioneering ideas that deliver for our clients and are fun to work on. We think brilliant programming is all about CONFIDENCE, COLLABORATION and CURIOSITY. It’s about getting yourself and others into a happy, creative place, having a simple process to follow and lots of tools and techniques up your sleeve to build great ideas and bring them to life! Below is the Ella’s Kitchen guide to rediscover this and think like a toddler:
Learning to smile – confidence and creativity
Toddlers don’t worry about what they’re doing. They just listen to their instincts and keep things simple! They challenge convention, try different strategies, question everything and then challenge the answers they’re given.
They have no judgement and aren’t embarrassed to be creative, as they don’t know the rules. They know that the journey is as important as the destination, so they play, they explore and they prototype.
Learning to walk – ambition and determination
When we were toddlers, we would take on big goals and dive right in. We aimed high and even after falling down for the 499th time, we picked ourselves up and tried for the 500th time. We trusted ourselves and tried until we succeeded. Paul spoke of the importance of staying stubborn, being persistent and showing grit, especially in a millennial world where we are used to instant results.
To achieve things which matter – for example, the perfect campaign or product – can take time and a child’s persistence.
Learning to talk – honesty and emotion
Toddlers are honest. We should be, too. We need to start having those difficult conversations, being transparent and trusting others more. Toddlers also have no trouble showing emotion, so make it personal and show your feelings – business is about life, and about inspiring people.
Companies that inspire emotion have better values and are understood by their customers. We all want to be noticed, but this means listening first, and then telling your story and being heard. When we do inspire emotion, we should be purposeful and empathetic.
Learning to play – we used to play for a living!
We need to follow toddlers’ lead and enjoy the journey of our work – don’t just focus on getting something done but have fun doing it, and don’t forget to involve others. Having a team matters – helping and bouncing ideas off of each other can lead to chance discoveries. Helping hands are all important and we should remember to connect to others.
We all need ‘play spaces’ as adults to help us feel more energised and creative. Playful companies are happier companies.
“Perhaps the most important lesson in Little Wins – and one that encapsulates my other eight steps to growing down – is the need to embrace the power of play” ~ Paul Lindley.
So, if you’re reading this… play, create, and succeed!