Unstuck

Why do some leaders get stuck when they try to unlock creativity? In a time already dubbed by business experts as “the year of innovation,” this question is more relevant than ever. But, unsticking might be easier than we think.

Known as “the most beautiful woman in the world,” Austrian-born Hedwig Kiesler, known to U.S. audiences as Hedy Lamarr, appeared in more than 30 films between 1930 and 1958, and inspired the likenesses of Disney’s Snow White and DC’s Catwoman. Her glamorous exterior, however, hid a creative mind with a nearly inexhaustible capacity to reinvent herself, and the genius behind some of today’s most used technology, including cell phones, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. How did a movie star, who never finished high school, accomplish this? Two of her core beliefs, in particular, offer valuable lessons for today’s leaders:
​

1. Never be afraid to pivot:  While acting in a stage production in Vienna, 18-year-old Kiesler met Friedrich Mandl, a wealthy arms merchant and munitions manufacturer fifteen years her senior. Caught up in a fairytale romance, she quickly wed her suitor, and found herself in a marriage vastly different than she imagined. Almost immediately, Mandl began curtailing her freedom, insisting she abandon her acting career and instead, focus her attention on helping him to extend his influence into political circles.
   
   Despite both his and Kiesler’s Jewish descent, Mandl became increasingly involved with Germany’s Nazi regime. One summer evening in 1937, four years into what had become an unquestionably abusive marriage, she overheard her husband promise arms to Hitler, and to aid his quest to rid Austria and Germany of its Jewish population. Knowing she had to escape, Kiesler disguised herself as a maid, then fled her home, boarding a train to Paris, then again to England. But, escape was only part of her plan.
   
   Learning the head of MGM Studios would be traveling from England to America aboard the Normandie, Kiesler purchased a ticket, and arranged to “accidentally” meander past his dinner table their first night at sea. Catching the mogul’s eye, she negotiated the highest salary paid to any female actress, and assumed the name by which American audiences would soon come to know her: Hedy Lamarr. Immediately, she rose to fame, reinventing herself in what she called her “second history.” But she never forgot the impending atrocity she fled, and her mind never stopped working to find a way to thwart her husband and the Third Reich.
   
   
2. The best ideas come from unexpected connections: In September 1940, two weeks after a Nazi torpedo sank a British vessel full of refugee children and their caretakers, Lamarr found herself seated beside composer George Antheil at a Hollywood dinner party. Preoccupied with rage over her ex-husband’s undoubted involvement in providing the weapon used for the attack, and survivor’s guilt for escaping, Lamarr was silent throughout the meal. Wanting to cheer his dinner companion, Antheil invited her to join him in a duet when the other diners moved to the dance floor. Beginning with a simple melody, Antheil encouraged Lamarr to follow him through a series of songs, and as she synchronized with him effortlessly, her mind made an extraordinary connection. Jerking her fingers from the keys, Lamarr turned to him, suddenly. “Would you work on a project with me?” she asked. “One that might help shorten the war?”
   
   While still married to Mandl, Lamarr learned the Third Reich was pouring considerable funds into developing a radio-controlled torpedo. An opponent, however, had only to discover the radio frequency of the signal to jam it and render the weapon useless. Determined to design an unjammable radio-guided torpedo system for the Allies, Lamarr had been working fruitlessly to solve the radio frequency problem, until her piano duet epiphany.
   
   ​During their first brainstorming session, Lamarr explained to Antheil that as he guided her from tune to tune on the piano, and she synchronized, it occurred to her that he was operating like a submariner, who issued a radio signal, and she was like the torpedo, which received it. She began thinking, if the radio signal and torpedo constantly hopped from radio frequency to radio frequency, just as she and Antheil had hopped from tune to tune, the signal would be impossible to anticipate, and therefore, impossible to jam. Working together, Lamarr and Antheil designed a “frequency hopping” signal system using miniaturized rolls of perforated paper, much like the ones used in player pianos. They were granted a patent for the technology in 1942 and immediately passed it on to the United States Navy. Although the military did very little with the technology during the war, Lamarr’s groundbreaking idea—to synchronize rapid frequency changes between signal and receiver—has been a foundational element in our increasingly interconnected, digital world, laying the groundwork for cell phones, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
   
   ​ When creativity stalls, consider how you might lead your team to pivot, to reinvent an idea that no longer serves your goals, or brainstorm with people outside your area of expertise for a new and unexpected perspective. Every experience can unlock creativity, if we’re unafraid to make changes, and conscious enough to see the connections.

Are you looking for ways to lead your team toward creativity and innovation? Let us share more leadership lessons from empowering leaders in an online workshop. You bring the team members, and we’ll create an immersive learning program, linking real-life examples with your individual workplace issues.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
What have you done to inspire creativity in your teams? Do you have a process that is working? Do you have questions for other leaders? Please join the conversation, below!