Tapping into a creative mind when working in Supply Chain Management

If i were to describe my ADHD mind, I think about filing cabinets. Those old ones in offices, big metal things with tons of partitions and papers in between. 

Some days these files and cabinets are organised. I can go in, find the right file and also file things away in a logical order. 

Other days the filing cabinets have exploded, files everywhere and total chaos.

Some days I can go into this chaos and methodically put everything back together, with focus and clarity about how I am going to deal with this situation. 

But then other times it's like the filing cabinets are exploding, and I cannot be bothered to put the papers back in order, because for every one cabinet I organise, another two explode. 

I often try to describe situations by giving a visual comparison, especially at work. Recently we discussed how we manage scrapping goods and should we be scrapping faulty goods on behalf of our supplier when they supply faulty product.

Our scrap statistics look poor if we scrap things on behalf of a supplier. And so a visual came to mind.

Imagine your neighbour does not separate their recycling. And on bin day, they put all their rubbish in your bin because theirs is full because they did not bother to sort. You make all that effort to be greener and more sustainable but your neightbour can't be bothered. Why should you be forced to take their waste?

I develivered this with my full 'sense of justice' ADHD approach and with such energy and enthusiasm.

I could see the team thinking, considering this and imagining the exact scenario. "You're right, that's not cool and I wouldn't like that'. And from this, we now progress, to either send back faulty goods by default, and where this is impossible, have two separate options to declare as supplier scrap or as company scrap. 

I used to fear being thought of as strange for throwing out ideas like this because I was often called strange. But this is me, it's who I am and what I do to help find solutions. My creative mind excels when I allow it. And there is opportunity to be creative in any industry. When you listen to yourself and allow creative expression, positive energy flows that is visible to others. This is important. This is the genuine you and it is really visible in a positive way. It is very difficult to try to be like everyone else, which is something I tried to do for a long time. And I failed at being me. The person who I wanted to be was actually me, but I had self imposed shackles on. I feared because I took the feedback, the opinions of others, as the truth. 

It's not easy. It takes time to realise that one is self sabotaging. If you are doing the same thing, trying to be a certain way or 'fit in' and you're failing, then that is not the way for you. Reflect on different scanarios at work where you think you could have shown your real self. There might be a standard way of doing things that everyone else does, but has anyone said to you that it was the only way?