Finding creativity in your job can not only help your career, it can make it much more enjoyable, according to David Talamelli.

“The jobs we have have their ups and downs but they make up a large portion of our day, our time and our energy. Ideally we should enjoy what we do and if you are in a job to just ‘pay the bills’ it does not have to necessarily be a bad thing,” he said.

Doing the same tasks each day will make you an expert on those things, but it could also become monotonous over time. David recommends talking to management about creative outlets that could help keep you passionate about your job and also benefit the company in the process by finding new ways of doing things.

David’s suggestions include tweeting a message or posting a blog article because his creative outlet is writing, but your ideas could include new customer service ideas or team building days outside of the office.

“Yes there are guidelines/processes in most companies and yes employees need to work within these guidelines, but being in the corporate world does not mean you cannot express your individuality and let that flow through in your job,” he said.

Source – ‘Career Longevity: Finding Creativity in Your Job’ by David Talamelli

http://blogs.oracle.com/jobsatoracle/2010/01/career_longevity_find_creativi.html

We love to support deserving charities, and following the success of previous drives we know that you do too! But have you ever considered donating your time?

Our local affiliate, Uncle Bob’s Club plays an integral role in the success of the Good Friday Appeal, and would love to hear from you if you have ever considered becoming involved. So, they have put the call out! If you are not already involved somehow with the Appeal, I urge you to visit their site at: http://www.unclebobsclub.org.au/ and lend a hand!

Uncle Bob’s will be grateful for all the help that you can offer.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t have all day, even if you only have an hour to spare…I’m sure that you will be welcomed and appreciated for what you have to offer.

We’ve all heard the self-help gurus say that if you keep doing the same thing you’ll keep getting the same result. Want a different result? Do something differently.

At the workplace many meetings are filled with the same people discussing issues and opportunities, and often getting similar results.

So if the marketing team is always discussing marketing, why not bring in someone from another department and get their ideas on the marketing strategy. Or shake up your team by bringing in guest speakers to inspire and motivate and help get the most out of your team. Welcoming new people to offer ideas that may be outside of the box can encourage the existing team to share more ideas that may not be what the company normally does – and that’s what you want.

Source – ‘The Unusual Suspects’, Fast Company

www.fastthinking.com.au/the-magazine/summer-2009/the-unusual-suspects.aspx