How We Accidentally Shut Down Creativity at Work

One of the most transformative lessons I learned while training to become a coach wasn’t a new technique, but a simple principle: That clients are "naturally creative, resourceful, and whole". This idea is drawn from the Co-Active model and fundamentally reshaped how I view conversations, both in coaching sessions and in workplace settings.

What we miss

What surprised me during training was the discovery of how frequently and unintentionally we shut down the inherent resourcefulness and creativity of others. What became clearer was a pervasive and systematic issue: in meetings and interactions, colleagues frequently and unintentionally stifle potential. My coaching training heightened my sensitivity to those moments and to the conversational turns that shut out the creativity and resourcefulness of others. It can happen in myriad ways, but the most common involve:

• Jumping to solutions: Quickly offering an answer without inviting the expertise of those present.

• Reshaping the conversation: Taking control or redirecting the flow of the discussion prematurely.

• Ending the dialogue: Closing the conversational space before potential solutions or deeper insights have been surfaced.

• Demonstrating expertise around the issue at hand.

As I shared with a coach friend at the time, the moment this sensitivity became heightened in training I couldn't unsee it unfolding before me. This recognition brought into focus how much organisations may be losing when so much potential remains untapped.

The shift in perspective

Acquiring this new understanding was a powerful moment of self-reflection and self-understanding. The core lesson is this: when we approach a colleague or client as someone with our own expertise in mind and a mindset of solving their problem, we deny their innate capability.

Coaching not only alerts us to this but furnishes us with the tools for making the shift from a reflex of offering answers to one of eliciting them, in dialogue with one another. By adopting the coaching mindset of trusting the resourcefulness and creativity of others, we unlock the inherent wisdom and creativity that already resides within individuals.