We all strive, or at least hope, to be creative in our business and personal lives. We would love to be called “innovative” and be attached to some brilliant idea.
Remember when you were in elementary school? Think about the unbridled creative energy and abundant curiosity surging in you back then. You drew pictures with a great splashing of colors. You made up stories for classroom writing assignments that were brilliant… interesting… original… and creative. You had idea after idea after idea.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, in the painful process of “growing up” and learning the “rules,” you seem to have abandoned your box of colors.
Years ago, researchers did an experiment to measure creativity and discovered a striking trend. Their research indicated that ideas developed by children under the age of five were defined as “original” nearly 90-percent of the time. By age seven, though, the percentage of ideas considered original dropped to 20%. The horrible news was that only 2% of adults’ ideas were classified as original. This experiment raises the question, “Are adults less creative in their thinking than children?”
The answer is a resounding “no.” Adults often simply stop believing in their creative abilities. For whatever reason, most adults abandon their childhood creative genius and accept less originality in their life.
Don’t fret. Don’t be concerned. There are ways you can increase your creative ability and hatch brilliant ideas.
Here is a list for you to read, re-read and work to apply if you truly want to resurrect your creative you. One tip is obvious and put forth by Thomas Edison, “To have a good idea is to have lots of them.”
One important way to increase your creative ability is to learn to constantly ask questions. Philosopher Socrates was considered one of the world’s brightest human beings. When asked the secret to his wisdom, visionary insights and creativity, he simply replied, “I ask a lot of questions.” In fact, his “Socratic Method” was less about speaking, lecturing and presenting and more about master the art of questioning.
Collaboration is also a very important activity to fuel creativity. Winning ideas become so because they are often the result of collaborating. Consider the Wright Brothers… Hewlett and Packard… Ernst and Young… Apple’s Wozniak and Jobs… playwrights Rogers and Hammerstein… and more.
Reading, reading and more reading is a trait of creative people. St. Augustine wrote, “The creative world is a book… and those who do not travel read only a page.”
Travel can be a tremendous source of new ideas. If you need a dose of inspiration, try traveling. It has been said that we live within our own minds. Travel can create a wealth of experiences outside your own points of view and perspective.
Be optimistic about your ideas. There is tremendous creative energy in optimism. Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Too many creative ideas are crushed because of negativism. Consider these favorite negative expressions ALL designed to destroy a new idea.
- “It’s not in the budget.”
- “We’ve tried that before.”
- “That will never work.”
- “The customer will never accept that.”
- “Let’s forget you even said that.”
Let’s face reality. The world seems to be eager to stomp on a new idea. Let’s rise above this and create and innovate. Here are a handful of tips to consider.
- Arrange a creative place in your home or office where you can go to relax… to think… to daydream. Give yourself plenty of “dream space.”
- Practice “creative destruction.” Destroy old ways of doing things that are just not dynamic or effective anymore. Iconic artist Picasso said, “Every act of creation is also an act of destruction.”
- Seek out… and surround yourself with idea-oriented, creative, unique people. Creativity can be contagious.
- Work to change out the “same old, same old” everyday routines. Drive to work a new way (and see new sights), change your eating habits, dare to do something differently.
- Impose deadlines on yourself like never before. Dedicate and motivate yourself to accomplish objectives. Make the “new you” a “productive new you.”
- Study visionary innovators and learn how they got their big ideas.
- Protect your ideas from negative people. Surround yourself with positive optimists.
- Understand imaginative, creative ideas come from:
Reading, watching, listening, observing, experiencing, surrounding yourself with creative people, studying innovators, experimenting2. Failing
- Reading, watching, listening, observing, experiencing, surrounding yourself with creative people, studying innovators, experimenting
- Failing
- Think outside the box. Move the box. Expand the walls on the box. Break the box. Reshape the box. Etc.
In conclusion, anyone can have creative ideas, but trusting them and putting them into practice builds lasting, creative character.
“Creativity is a joyful and playful use of intelligence.” (Albert Einstein)
Augusta Press columnist Ira Blumenthal is a business consultant, a best-selling author, educator and youth Lacrosse coach. Learn more about Ira and his latest book, Your Best Is Next, at www.IraSpeak.com. Follow Ira on instagram @irajblumenthal.
