You don’t have to be a certain kind of person to be creative. And you don’t necessarily have to come up with entirely new ideas or products. Most of the time, it’s simply about making new associations in your head, in order to do something better or to solve a problem.
The following steps will help you become a more creative thinker.
First, abandon logical thinking
To think more creatively it’s important to get into a new mindset. Instead of thinking in logical steps to force yourself to come up with ideas, let your mind wander around the subject. For example:
Break tasks down into their different parts, then reassemble them in a different way. For example, a process that has always followed the same sequential steps and often stalls in the same place could be broken down into these individual steps. Is each step dependent on another? Or, is each step actually necessary? Rebuilding the process into a different formation may eliminate any uneccessary steps, or put them in a more logical order.
Think of the most unlikely solutions to your task – you’ll be surprised how this can help throw up original but workable ideas. Don't be constrained by what you think may or may not be possible, just let yourself think 'In an ideal world I would ...' and then try to determine how you could actually work the solution.
Create a mind map to split a topic up into different parts that you can consider separately. You can do this by writing a heading in the middle of a piece of paper, e.g. Leadership. Draw branches coming out from this theme and label them with sub-topics for your theme, e.g. Strategy, Skills, Benefits. Break each sub-topic down into as many more levels as necessary. Not only will you find yourself generating more ideas, but you may start to think of approaches to the task that you would have missed if you had tackled it in a more logical way.
Ask lots of questions
Curiosity is creativity’s friend. To generate creative insights, you should constantly be asking ‘Why’ and ‘What if?’ questions, e.g. ‘Why do I always follow this process?’, ‘What would happen if I changed the way I do this?’ or 'What if I asked the team to work in a different way?'.
Work with others
Working with others can help you be more creative. Bouncing your ideas off others in your department can provide you with different viewpoints and fresh inspiration. Similarly, taking time to find out what people are working on in other departments can help spark off ideas which can be shared across the organisation.
Go on a course
Creativity courses can be a great way for you to learn new techniques and overcome barriers to creativity, such as lack of confidence in your ideas, feeling intimidated by the creative people around you, fear of failure, etc. External courses can be particularly useful, because they offer opportunities for brainstorming and open discussions in an environment removed from everyday work. This can help generate ideas and renew your creative energy.
Practise makes perfect
The more you exercise your creativity, the more creative you will become. And if a good idea comes to you, nurture it. Often the only difference between a good idea and a great one is the time spent fine-tuning it to really make it work.
Set realistic goals
While you need to put in effort to reap creative rewards, remember you’re only human. So don’t expect to solve your company’s invoicing problems overnight. Or design the next iPod™ in the space of a weekend. Even the most successful creators and innovators need time to come up with the goods.
Take time out
If you’re working on a problem and you’re getting nowhere fast, put it to one side and move on to something different. Or even leave the office and go for a walk. You may not realise it, but your subconscious mind will take over and quietly work away on your behalf.
Because creativity usually works by lateral associations, the more different influences you expose yourself to the better. Why not try visiting an art gallery, or taking a night class in a new subject that interests you? Holidays can be great for your creativity too. Your mind should be more relaxed, while taking on board new experiences that your brain might use as inspiration at a later date.
Enjoy the ideas when they come
There’s nothing more satisfying than that ‘Eureka!’ moment when you realise you’ve had a great idea, or finally found the solution to a particularly difficult problem. Take time to really enjoy the feeling when it happens, and then remember it the next time you are feeling less than creative. It can help inspire you.
Think positive
Finally, remind yourself every day ‘I am a creative person’. Combine this with practising creativity techniques and you can and will be a more creative thinker. Think of yourself as a professional problem-solver and look upon every difficulty or challenge as an opportunity to develop your creative skills.
By unlocking the creative powers of your mind, you can solve virtually any problem, overcome any obstacle and achieve any goal.
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