How to be creative – learning from creative writing

How to be creative – learning from creative writing

by | May 29, 2020 | Creativity, personal development

I hear many people make statements like, ‘I am not creative’. Well, I believe we are all capable of being creative. This blog offers a overview of how to be creative, tapping into my learning from creative writing.

To be creative, we need to allow our imagination to be free to roam wherever it will, and not be censured by our logical, rational mind. In this way our ideas can flourish and not be shut down prematurely.

This can be very difficult, however it is worth pursuing if we want to develop our creativity.  In creative problem-solving workshops we work on suspending this critical mind by introducing tools and techniques that allow the intuition in. Image based techniques  fall into this category.

When we work with word-based tools, we can often revert to a logical rational mode which censors ideas.  It’s only at the evaluative stage that we start to consider the appropriateness of our ideas and apply some logical thinking to them.

As someone who has always encouraged imagery to express ideas, it seems a contradiction in terms to talk about creative writing. However let me show you what I have learned from creative writing that can be applied more generally to creativity.

Some guidance on ways in which you can encourage ideas to flourish.

  1. Write daily, preferably at a fixed time, and for a similar amount of time. I have made this a ritual in my life, so I write in the morning for at least an hour when I have a coffee. What can you create as a ritual around your writing?
  2. Take a random word or phrase and use this as a starting place to write from, then free-write and see where it takes you. Allow yourself to move into a state of flow.
  3. Observe people  and notice details about them, note them down, then write about them, developing a story around them. Who are they, what were they doing at that place, where do they live etc? If you keep a notebook with you at all times this helps.
  4. Write longhand, and don’t edit as you go along. Editing allows the rational logical mind in.  Perfectionism is the enemy of achievement, so leave the editing as late as possible.
  5. Be happy to write badly, trust to write rubbish. Don’t judge. In time these ramblings will develop into words you can use and develop ideas and projects from.
  6. Incubation works well. When you have written something and have come to a point of closure or stuckness, put it aside and leave it for a day, a week, even a month before looking at it again. You will then see it in a fresh light and will know whether and how to move on. Insights will have occurred in the meantime which can be very helpful.
  7. Don’t be hard on yourself. We are our worst enemies when it comes to self-censure.
  8. Reward yourself for small achievements.

Finally, what are the main points to take from this and apply to creativity in a general sense?

  1. Allow your imagination the freedom to roam. In writing we can do this by using daily writing times, in creativity we can use techniques such as image work. don’t leave room for the censor to enter!
  2. Don’t be afraid to incubate your ideas. Leave them, put them to one side, do other things, then come back to them. This can be for any amount of time. Trust your intuition here.
  3. Allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes.

What would you add to this?

Barbara is an executive coach, leadership and creativity facilitator. She has coached people  in a variety of corporate settings, and developed a unique approach to using creative techniques in her coaching and workshops to enable change at a group or individual level. She has recently published a book on creativity for leaders with Dr. Tracy Stanley, entitled Creativity Cycling .

Creative Problem Solving when working alone

Creative Problem Solving when working alone

by | Mar 27, 2020 | creative problem solving

We are living in extraordinary times, and it is even more important not to shut down our minds to new ideas. When we do, we often leap into solutions for our problems. Creative problem solving (CPS) is an approach which encourages fresh and open thinking. However, with more of us living in a confined situation, due to COVID 19, how do we work on CPS techniques when we are working alone?

One approach is to use technology to set up virtual meetings and I am sure that many are doing this. However, we can work successfully alone in a creative mode. There are many possibilities in the technology field for working alone, such as this mind mapping software.

However, working with a screen all day can be counterproductive. Often, we have our best ideas when doing something away from our desks such as going for a walk, taking a break, even while we sleep. It helps to prepare our minds to allow ideas to incubate while we are doing other things.

So how do we prepare our minds?

I propse here to lead you through an approach to the three-stage process on creative problem solving whilst working alone. You can of course try any of these techniques on their own.

Stage 1: understanding the problem

In the same way as we prepare in group problem solving, we can use techniques to explore the problem. I favour using imagery for this and suggest you draw the problem as a rich picture or put together a collage to represent the problem. This is an activity you can do  alone. You can virtually share this with others if possible as it helps to get  reflections and  perspectives around the problem..

After working visually you can then pull all the elements of the problem together using mind mapping or a fishbone diagram.

Stage 2: Exploring solutions

When we understand what the problem is, then we can brainstorm ideas to resolve it. This is also something we can do on our own, even though input from others is so much better.

Other techniques you could try include using metaphor as a prompt for new ideas. Find a random image from magasines or photos you find online,  and ask yourself, in which way is this image like your problem. Note what comes up. don’t search for anything spexiific, it is imporatnt that the mage you choose is a random one.

At this stage you could select your best solution and move onto stage 3 or collect your ideas together into a storyboard.

Stage 3: implementing the solution

At this stage of the CPS you start with some bullet proofing to see if your ideas are viable. Some techniques you can do on your own might include drawing up a help/hinder diagram or a force field analysis. Both identify the forces that would work in favour of any ideas being implemented and those that would work against.

A fun approach to try on your own is the Disney strategy. Although this is normally done with others.  Place three chairs in a triangle ,  marking each one  to represent one of the three roles, Dreamer, Realist or Critic.  Then spend a short time in each position making the case for the idea you are bullet proofing. Note the arguments that would be made in each position, and on the next round adjust your ideas to take these into account.

When this is finished, after  three or four rounds, collect any insights or changes you have made to your ideas and start to build your action plan.

If you have used the storyboard then this becomes your action plan and you can add in more detail as the plan takes shape.

You can find all of these techniques and more in the book, Creativity cycling that I co-authored with Tracy Stanley.

Stay safe, stay creative.

Barbara is an executive coach, leadership and creativity facilitator. She has coached people  in a variety of corporate settings, and developed a unique approach to using creative techniques in her coaching and workshops to enable change at a group or individual level. She has recently published a book on creativity for leaders with Dr. Tracy Stanley, entitled Creativity Cycling .

For Innovation-how to generate ideas

For Innovation-how to generate ideas

by | Sep 25, 2014 | Creativity, Innovation

It has been reported recently that the famous 20% idea time through which Google encouraged employees to work on their own projects, is no longer in use.
However on further research it would seem that it is in principle still possible for Google employees to work on individual projects but the pressure of time is such that employees often end up working 120% overall.

  Why is this an important topic?business concept

  Well my take on this is that innovation, or rather creativity and idea generation which proceeds innovation, takes  time, requires commitment from the organisation and engagement from employees. Therefore it calls for a process and systems to manage the flow of ideas.

 Google were not the first company to introduce this ‘idea time’ concept. In the 50 ties 3M had an approach that  encouraged people to spend 15% of their time on new ideas.
One of the most famous results of this was the post-it which originated with Spencer Silver, a researcher at 3M, who discovered a new kind of light adhesive in 1968. This was initially shelved because it had no obvious commercial application. A decade later, his colleague Art Fry turned this product into the now famous Post-it product.

There are many examples of companies supporting and managing the generation of ideas through a variety of means.
Companies such as Texas Instruments and IBM encourage innovation through collaboration and crowdsourcing.

IBM introduced the concept of Innovation jams which provide online space for collaboration both inside IBM, and outside with clients. One example given by Liam Cleaver, VP  of the IBM Social Insight group, is of a Jam with Nato which is about building a collaborative community across the whole organisation.

Texas Instruments leads a global innovation challenge for students which involves setting competitions worldwide to encourage students to collaborate on a design  project that uses TI technology. This is a great example of utilising outside expertise and fresh ideas to push the boundaries of existing technology.

Other schemes I have come across involve funding being available for employees to develop their ideas through their own projects. This type of scheme usually demands having some justification for the funding and a sponsor or champion being allocated to support the project.  Robert Rosenfeld at Eastman Kodak developed the concept of the Office of Innovation in the 1970 ties which encouraged collaboration across functions,  the development of ideas and management of them them through a process of screening, review and sponsorship.

What is important, irrespective of the type of idea generation scheme that is introduced, is that ideas are encouraged and from as diverse a  background as possible; both fresh ideas from outside the organisation through the type of collaboration that IBM and TI encourage or ideas from your employees. This latter group interact daily with your systems, processes, products, customers etc and are in the best position to come up with new ideas, or ideas for improving upon what already exists.

The question is how will you support this?

  • As in the example of Google or 3M, will you allow people to take some time outside their normal work to try out new projects?

  • Will you both empower and encourage your employees to try out new projects?

  • Will you fund this project, or allow free access to your resources?

  • Will you provide a champion who can be a support for the new ideas?

  • Will you offer recognition to people trying out new ideas even if they fail?

  • Will you offer support for the employee in selling this new idea/project internally?

Do you already have an idea management scheme? If so I would love to hear from you how it works.