A former boss of mine used to tell this story about working in a restaurant. The story goes that a fork had fallen on the floor and employee after employee continued to step over or around the fork, rather than picking it up and addressing the issue. He stopped what he was doing, picked up the fork and fixed the problem. This became a metaphor in the organization for taking care of the problem right away, and people often challenged each other on who could "pick up the fork" more quickly.
This story illustrates the virtue of initiative or "the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do." If you read through a handful of job postings, employers are often seeking "self-starters" or individuals who show initiative. It's clearly seen as an asset when someone is able to identify issues and begin to address them without being directed to do so. In this description, initiative is powered by action.
The Virtues Project defines initiative slightly differently by describing it as "daring to be original. Using creativity to bring something new into the world." In this case, initiative is powered by creativity. Taking these two drivers together, we could say that initiative happens when creativity meets action. This gives us a tangible platform from which to reflect on ways we could bring more initiative into our lives.
Considering this formula Action + Creativity = Initiative here are some questions to reflect on:
1. Where in my life do I feel creative?
2. What does creativity mean for me?
3. What actions do I want to take or have I been avoiding?
4. How can I bring more creativity or originality to the actions I want to take?
5. What is possible when I combine creativity and action?
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