What happened to all of the wild ideas? When was the last time you ran across a new, innovative and exhilarating idea? It’s time to cure the business boredom. It’s time to take a walk on the wild side. Here’s how you can be creative – anyone can do it.

Everyone is creative

Psychologists at Drexel University and Northwestern University have confirmed what we already knew. Creative people actually do think differently than everyone else. The brain activity of non-creative types was more regular than the brains of more creative people. Creative people’s brains looked like a preschooler dumped paint all over the place.

But, and this it big – everyone is creative in some area of their lives. We are just creative in different ways.

“Staying inside the lines of a picture means you are coloring somebody else’s picture.”

I guess part of the confusion comes from not being able to nail down “creativity.” Is it imagination? Well, creativity and imagination aren’t the same things.

Imagination produces concept and ideas that can’t actually exist. They aren’t real! It’s like seeing pictures in the clouds.

Creativity takes imagination and puts it to work. It’s twisting or shifting your perspective to look at things in new ways and then making them happen.

Creativity on Demand

One of the principles of art is that creativity should never be restricted. That’s a beautiful sentiment, but when you have a 4:00 deadline it’s hard to wait for an idea to flutter down and whisper in your ear. To use creativity in business we feel we have to assign it a process, give it a budget and work to specifications.

Of course this is exactly the opposite of what creativity is and how it works. Being creative isn’t like watching DirectTV. Ideas aren’t “on demand.” I was a consultant on an event a few months ago that had this on the agenda.

10:45am – 11:00am Develop creative ideas to increase revenue

Wow, creativity on cue. Just flip the switch and the ideas just magically appear! Gang, you can’t make an appointment to be creative.

Remember the science guys at Drexel and Northwestern proved that we all have a creative side. What happened to it? Where did we lose the crayons? Well I believe that we haven’t forgotten how to cut loose, we just decided we have better things to do. So let’s go where the wild things are and allow our brains to make a mess for a little while.

Wiggle Your Mental Toes

The first thing our kids do when they get home is take off their shoes and let their feet breathe. Kids find joy in wiggling their toes. It’s liberating. That’s what we’re going to do with out brains – let them breathe. This article isn’t going to tell you how to be creative – after all it’s your head. There are a few things you can do to feel more liberated in your creativity. These aren’t tips, they’re things to jumpstart your juices.

• Forget about looking for answers and start looking for the questions – Answers make us feel good. Somehow we put more importance on knowing the answers than asking the right questions. Creativity lives in the questions. That’s how we fuel the fire.

“Great minds are those that have asked the greatest questions.”

• No Rules, Just Ideas – You don’t need software, a training course or a wall filled with diagrams. Let go, work fast, don’t over think it or even think at all. Any idea is acceptable. It’s okay to have an objective but forget about the structure, formats and outlines.

• Doodle & Scribble – One of the biggest ways to kill creativity is not having a way to record the ideas. We forget many of our best brainstorms. Instead of trying to remember them until later – write them down. My back pockets are filled with scraps of paper or business cards with notes scribbled all over them. I’m famous for writing on the palms of my hands to “hold” an idea until I can write it down. You want to get in the habit of capturing an idea as soon as you can.

How To Make The Most of a Good Idea

The world is filled with good ideas. Everyone gets them. Good ideas don’t mean a thing until you do something with them. Here are a few things you can do to take a good idea and make it better.

• Turn it upside down and think in opposites – Flip the question around and let your brain consider it in a different way. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve used this trick to come up with an unexpected approach. Here’s how it works.

Instead of thinking about how to increase sales by 30 percent, turn the question around. “What can we do to reduce our sales by 30%?” What about, “How can we get our most valuable franchisees to leave?”

I know it sounds crazy, but when you come up with ways to do destroy your business – you’re stimulating ideas to build it. So try turning everything upside down.

• Simplify the idea to the bone – Keep asking, “So what?” and “What does this really mean?” Keep simplifying until something happens or the solution appears.

• Forget Perfection – Don’t expect a neat answer. It won’t be completely developed, refined and “correct.” Remember the goal is to stir up some wild ideas. It’s okay if they’re a little unpolished. Hey, they’re wild and that’s what collaboration is for.

• Eliminate “No” – I love the classic Warner Brothers cartoons. One of the creative geniuses behind them was Chuck Jones. In his book, Chuck Amuck, Jones talks about ‘Yes Sessions.”

During these uninhibited creative sessions, no one was allowed to say “No.” Every idea was explored, no matter how far out. The point is to eliminate any negatives. Pretend there are unlimited time, people, budget and resources. Go for quantity. Now here’s the Big Payoff. Once you’ve collected all the ideas, whittle the list down to your favorites. Practicality doesn’t matter yet. Look at the list and come up with ways to do as many of them as you can. Make the goal to find creative ways to say “Yes” to your ideas.

“A great idea doesn’t have to be huge or dramatic, it just has to change things.”

Creativity is personal

I’ve been Mr. Big Ideas for a very long time and I have a “true confession.” There are actually very few new creative ideas. Everything is a remix. You don’t have to shake the world to see things differently.

Creativity is intensely personal. As I said earlier you can’t make an appointment to be creative. You can’t make it happen – you have to let it happen. Still, you can crank out a wild idea when you need to. Just understand what works best for you. Frankly, I do my best work in the shower. I just let the water beat on the top of my head until I think of something. Hey, I said creativity was personal.

So cut loose and go wild. Just remember, no boring ideas allowed!

Let’s spend 15 minutes talking about your next project or challenge. It’s a free consultation so we can get to know each other. Just click on CONTACT US or send an email to andy@ideagroupatlanta.com and get in touch.

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