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How often do we hear this excuse? After reading the book it will be no more excuse! It will show that everybody can be creative…

Here the fourth preview, a part of the chapter “Creativity, concepting & designing”:

Within the MICE industry it becomes increasingly difficult to be distinguished from others. Fairs, meetings and conferences are very similar to each other and because people travel easily, it becomes increasingly difficult to be original and diverse in organising incentive trips.

In addition to this there are also technological developments through which it becomes in some cases easier to organise virtual meetings.

An important added value of the ‘live’ events are the ‘live’ meetings, it is increasingly important to create an added value for the visitor. This added value is especially reflected in the design of an event: the concept. A concept ensures that we all see the total picture of apparently unrelated loose elements.

When we talk about a concept within MICE events, we mean the elaborate design of the event. It is a way to predetermine the vision and realise the resulting objectives in a strategic way. Here the imagination and the emotional feelings of the MICE event visitors are addressed. It is important that the concept is creative allowing visitors to engage in something new, which will turn into a meaningful experience.

What is creativity?

According to the Cambridge Academic Content dictionary: ‘The ability to produce original and unusual ideas, or to make something new or imaginative.’

According to the business dictionary: ‘Mental characteristic that allows a person to think outside of the box, which results in innovative or different approaches to a particular task’.

When we compare these two definitions we can see the following clear similarities:

• It is about new concepts or ideas, different thinking, innovation and imagination.
• To be able to create a good concept, creative thinking is an important tool.

Creative thinking according to the business dictionary: ‘A way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective that suggests unorthodox solutions (which may look unsettling at first). Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking‘.

It is important to realize that ANYONE can think creatively. Children are accustomed to think of more than 60 new solutions per day in response to a problem. When we get older this diminishes to about 6 solutions per day. As a child we have to think creative to be able to survive.

When we go to school it is important that everyone fits in a system whereby solutions to many problems are dictated, so we no longer have to think of solutions ourselves. This decreases the routine in creative thinking, but as a basis we all possess the creative thinking ability.

By (re)development, practice and in particular by doing, the creative thinking ability is there for everyone.

Three components of creativity

Within every individual, creativity is a function of three components: expertise, creative-thinking skills and motivation. The creative process is a combination of these three components.

Adapted from Teresa m. Amabile, Harvard Business Review Oct 98

Expertise is in one word: knowledge.  In this book: knowledge of the MICE industry and everything that is associated with it.

Not all motivation is created equal. An inner passion to solve the problem at hand leads to solutions far more creative than external rewards do, such as money. This component (intrinsic motivation) is the one that can be most immediately influenced by the personal environment.

Motivation is the reason for people’s actions.

Creative-thinking skills determine how flexibly and imaginatively people approach problems.

These three components can all be influenced or developed. In particular the creative-thinking skills are easy to learn. We give some examples in the book.

Do you understand me? That is always the question when you communicate within another cultures.

Here the third preview, a part of the chapter “Intercultural communication”:

Intercultural communication

Within the MICE market working with other cultures will often occur. This makes the communication more complicated than communication with equal cultures.

Intercultural communication is the study and application of knowledge on ‘cultural perceptions and symbol systems’ of people belonging to different cultures.

The intended meaning of any message differs when encoded by a person of a certain culture and decoded by someone of the other. The different meanings of symbols in different culture also vary making the interpretation difficult.

While applying intercultural communication, it refers to making people aware and able to adopt others’ cultures when they communicate with them and thus have a meaningful communication.

Sometimes cross-cultural communication is mentioned, but there is a difference between cross-cultural and intercultural:

According to William B Guddykunst (2000) the difference is as follows:

‘Cross-cultural’ and ‘intercultural’ are often regarded as interchangeable. They are, nevertheless, different. Cross-cultural research involves comparing behaviour in two or more cultures (e.g. comparing self-disclosure in Japan, the USA and Iran when individuals interact with members of their own culture). Intercultural research involves examining behaviour when members of two or more cultures interact (e.g.. examining self-disclosure when Japanese and Iranians communicate with each other). … Understanding cross-cultural differences in behaviour is a prerequisite for understanding intercultural behaviour.

From the above it will be clear that it is not enough to speak only the language of the other country to be able to communicate in another culture. It is also important to understand the other culture.

Culture isn’t only intellectual happenings like arts, festivals, traditional foods, heritages or literature, but refers to daily lifestyle of general population or a group of people or an individual. It also describes family life and social life.

It can be tangible or in-tangible and are ever-changing. Not every aspect of cultural pattern is noticeable. As of which it is compared with an ice-berg whose 7/8^th part cannot be seen and is hidden from view.

Culture is created by humans and can be different from place to place. It creates a human environment with shared meanings within a society through beliefs, values, norms, etc. and are a learned behaviour.

Culture defines how a person behaves, interacts and gives meaning to actions. People identify themselves with their culture and tend to behave differently in different cultures. This is due to the different perception of people, on world, from different cultures.

There are two different forms of intercultural communication:

• Verbal
• Non-verbal

Both forms occur naturally also within the own culture, but will be less of a problem than in intercultural communication.

Verbal communication consists of words used to communicate messages whereas non-verbal communication is gestures that give out messages.

Spoken and written language are parts of verbal communication which must be considered highly while in intercultural communication. Cultural factors affect verbal communication as people can sometimes not be able to speak or write in the language of the receiver. Use of words, dialects, accents, slang, etc. can also be different according to their own cultures.

Similarly, non-verbal cues consist of communication that occurs without words like facial expressions, hand and body movements, eye contact, use of objects, clothing, etc. They help in making a message clear or can give different message as well.

Importance of intercultural communication:

Lack of intercultural communication can lead to insult the culture and people involved. People interpret messages based on their culture, so what you mean might not be what the other person understands. Your intentions might not be met as their attribution towards you might be telling them something else about you.

Intercultural differences also cause lack of trust between people as the meaning of trust itself can be different. Non-verbal communication differences can also increase trust issues between people.

Material culture and its use are also different between cultures like the use of spoons and chopsticks for eating. Other things like architecture, clothing, cosmetics, etc. differ culture wise and if you do not have knowledge of it, your communication fails or is not effective.

Intercultural communication is on bridging differences in coding and interpreting a message.

More about this topic you can read in the book…

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