People equate job titles to levels of creativity. We think that musicians are creative while accountants are not. Job title has nothing to do with human creativity. In fact, we all have enormous creative potential. Even those that often state with authority that "I'm not creative." With a systematic approach to building creative capacity, we all have the opportunity to create and leave a mark on the world.

Fear is the single biggest barrier to creativity. Unless we're brave enough to risk looking foolish, we'll inevitably find ourselves sticking to the status quo. That fear is disabling, One of the things we need to do as business leaders is build and nurture cultures that encourage responsible risk taking so making mistakes is OK.

You don't often see the words "Discipline" and "Dreaming" in the same sentence. But I believe this duality is critically important to win in both business and life. Dreaming without discipline is fantasy land. Discipline without dreaming creates rigid and stifling bureaucracies. Having a process to enable the creative process will help liberate the creativity that lives within every organization and individual.

Innovation is a subset of creativity. Innovation often deals with product launches and is often relegated to the C-suite or to heads of R&D departments. Innovation requires creativity, but creativity is something that is much more broad. It applies to people at all levels of an organization. Today, we all are responsible for delivering "everyday creativity". Small creative acts that add up to big things.

We can no longer rely on the rules of the past to win.

One idea can be transformative. One idea can change your career, your life, your community, your family, and even the world. I truly believe that each of us have at least one special game-changing idea inside us right now. The trick is, how do we get it out?

Creativity is what will separate the winners from the also-rans in the emerging world of business - and life.