Basketball, a game played by males and females of all ages, is particularly active during the holiday season with multiple games and tournaments being held.

In the past, I’ve shared the Silent Night Celebration tradition of Taylor University. Every year on the Friday before final exams, Taylor students (wearing pajamas or costumes) remain quiet from the start of their team’s basketball game until the 10th point is scored. After that, the crowd erupts in one of college basketball’s most outrageous traditions. Fans later sing “Silent Night” together. Pretty special!

You absolutely must see this video of a long-standing tradition that’s truly fun and inspiring.

It was on this date, December 21, 1891, 30-year-old fellow Canadian James Naismith introduced the first game of basketball. Apparently, as a physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training School, he needed an activity during difficult New England winters to keep his students from being bored and unruly. So, he created one. “The invention of basketball was not an accident,” Naismith said.

But today’s tip is not about basketball. Instead, Naismith’s creativity leads us to appreciate how he intentionally recognized a problem and solved it. He could have tolerated bored, unruly students through the long winter or done what had always been done. But he didn’t.

Leadership Tip
When you identify a problem in your organization, think through multiple creative ways you can develop a solution.

Easy to say, difficult to do, I know. But the key to creative thinking is having a curiosity and willingness to explore fresh options. Without these, you could fall into one of these traps: do what you’ve always done, put a bandage on it, or do nothing and decide to live with the problem.

How can you develop long-lasting creative solutions to your organization’s problems? Here are my top five:

• Ask “what if” questions – Doing an unrestricted dump of “what if” questions stimulates new ideas to consider. If it doesn’t, you may be asking the wrong “what if” questions. Don’t give up.
• Brainstorm – Get a group together to exchange ideas. No idea is bad or wrong. Typically, one idea leads to another, which leads to a creative solution.
• Experiment – Try one solution, then make necessary adjustments and refinements as you go.
• Adopt a clear mind – Prasad Mahes said, “A mind is like water. When it’s turbulent, it’s difficult to see. When it’s calm, everything becomes clear.” This is definitely true in my experience. To clear your mind, it’s important to find calm waters.
• Seek analogies – Think of people, companies, industries, games, problems, or inventions that came with similar problems as yours. They created solutions and so can you. As an example, if you’re looking for a new holiday tradition to inspire your employees, consider what Taylor University did, then brainstorm what you could do that’s similar. Keep looking for comparable actions—not to be a copycat but to stimulate creative thinking.

Problems will always need to be solved. Being creative in developing solutions can be long lasting and life changing—just as the simple game of basketball has been since 1891.