Creativity: The Courage to Break the Pattern
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”
- Edwin Land
All too often, people think that creativity is about being artistic, activities such as painting, music, and design. But in leadership, creativity is something else entirely. It’s the courage to look at the same situation as everyone else and see a different possibility. It’s refusing to get trapped in “the way it’s always been.” Creativity is not optional for leaders. It’s survival. Because the moment you stop creating, you start copying. And when you’re copying, you’re already behind.
Creativity isn’t chaos. It’s not throwing ideas against a wall and hoping something sticks. It’s disciplined freedom—the willingness to explore new approaches without abandoning standards. It’s the grit to innovate, not for novelty’s sake, but because yesterday’s solutions won’t solve tomorrow’s problems.
In Management: Innovation or Irrelevance
I’ve been part of teams that were dying, and the cause wasn’t lack of talent or resources—it was lack of creativity. Leaders were clinging to methods that used to work but no longer did. They resisted new ideas because they were afraid to fail. They punished people for mistakes, which killed initiative. Eventually, the competition punished them harder.
In contrast, the most successful leaders I’ve worked with were creative in how they approached problems. They encouraged each segment of the organization to test new ideas, even if some failed. They didn’t dismiss the “crazy” suggestion in a meeting—they pulled it apart, searched for the thread that could change everything, and then refined it. Their teams thrived because their leaders stayed curious.
The biggest mistake managers make is thinking that creativity belongs only to a specific department, such as marketing, design, or innovation teams. Creativity belongs everywhere. A leader who can’t adapt, who can’t imagine innovations that would change the landscape of the sport or the business, will eventually be left behind.
Remember
The most dangerous phrase in leadership is, “We’ve always done it this way.”
Failure isn’t fatal. Fear of failure is.
A leader’s openness to ideas determines a team’s willingness to give them.
In Coaching: Schemes Don’t Win Without Imagination
In sports, you see creativity every week. It’s the coordinator who draws up a play no one saw coming. It’s the coach who changes a scheme during the offseason to fit the talent he has instead of forcing players into a failing system. Creativity in coaching isn’t about trick plays; it’s about flexibility. It’s about adapting to what you’ve got instead of whining about what you don’t.
I learned this firsthand. The success I had in coaching came from changing the way we trained. I knew that if we prepared like every other team, we’d end up like every other team. To separate ourselves, I used creativity to reshape preparation. We didn’t follow the road-grader blueprint of the Big Ten or SEC. Instead, we leaned our athletes out, trained them to move faster, and built them to stay strong deeper into the game. We were rarely the heaviest team on the field, but we were the quickest to the point of attack. Our flexibility let us play lower. Our specific strength and core training allowed us to control our opponent. With this new training methodology, we took great athletes and made them better, not by copying the standard, but by creating a new one.
Creativity also shows up in how you reach people. Every player is different. Some need fire, some need calm. Some learn by doing, others by seeing. A coach who only has one approach loses half his team. Creativity in leadership means finding new ways to teach the same standard until everyone gets it.
Remember
Predictability is the enemy of progress.
Coaches who stop adapting start losing.
Creativity without discipline is chaos. Discipline without creativity is dead.
In Personal Life: Breaking the Ruts
It’s easy to think creativity doesn’t matter at home. But personal life is where creativity matters most. Routines turn into ruts. Relationships drift into patterns of neglect. Families settle into autopilot. Without creativity, the spark dies.
Creativity at home isn’t about inventing something new every week. It’s about paying attention. Finding new ways to connect. Trying different rhythms when the old ones aren’t working. It’s about being curious about the people closest to you instead of assuming you already know everything.
I’ve seen too many people who worked tirelessly to innovate at the office but lived on repeat at home. They gave imagination to their careers and monotony to their families. The result? Broken trust, distance, and relationships that collapsed under boredom. Creativity at home means being intentional—making small changes that show the people you love that they matter.
Remember
Families don’t want your leftovers—they want your imagination.
Comfort kills more relationships than conflict.
Creativity is proof that you’re still invested, still growing, still present.
The Work: Training Creativity
Creativity isn’t luck. It’s a muscle. And like any muscle, it strengthens when you train it.
1) Ask Different Questions.
Stop asking, “How do we keep up?” Start asking, “How do we break through?”
2) Steal with Honor.
Look outside your lane—other industries, other sports, other leaders. See what works and adapt it. Innovation often comes from unexpected places.
3) Protect Idea Time.
If every minute is consumed with execution, there’s no space for creation. Carve out time where ideas can surface without judgment.
4) Reward Risk, Not Just Results.
If you only reward success, people will be less inclined to try. Reward the courage to attempt something new.
5) Challenge Your Own Patterns.
Ask yourself regularly: “If I had to start from scratch, would I do it this way?” If the answer is no, change it.
Why It Wins Everywhere
Creativity isn’t optional. It’s the difference between leaders who adapt and leaders who fade. It’s the engine behind innovation in business, the edge in competition, and the lifeblood of relationships. Without it, companies stagnate, teams crumble, and families drift. With it, leaders keep finding ways forward, no matter how the world changes.
The leaders who last aren’t the ones who memorized the playbook. They’re the ones who keep creating a new one.
