Photo Props:

I think sometimes artists have to be reminded that they have permission to create. We want ideas to appear inside light bulbs over our heads but the reality is, ideas are waiting to be uncovered by the ways we approach our work. Ideas are around, waiting to be discovered, it is our job to make sure we are setting ourselves and our teammates up to win, capture these ideas, and transition them to momentum inside of our organizations. Here are a few reminders of how to get in the right posture to be our creative best:

• Create in community – Don’t be a lone ranger. Input & diversity help us be better creatively.
• Document every idea – Write it down. Take a picture. Don’t take ideas for granted. When we don’t capture them they will fly away.
• Change the Canvas – Find a new spot. Go offsite. Work in a different office. Visit a coffee shop. Change the canvas to change the perspective.
• Listen – Allow music to create atmosphere. Change it. Turn it up. Listen to something you know and something new.
• Talk – Talk to people in different departments or organizations. Get new and varying perspectives.
• Re-frame – Find new ways to look at your project or ideas. Redefine your challenge from time to time.
• Go Back To The Question – Why are we doing this? What are we trying to accomplish? How will this be used? Where will this be used?
• Change The Routine – Change something in your routine. Drive a different way to work. Use a different entrance. Sit in a different seat.
• Sprint – Write down as many ideas as possible in 5 minutes.
• Pump The Gas – When you face resistance ask how you can make something better out of this situation?
• Beat the Early Bird – Be the first one in the office. Arrive before anyone else and get a start on the day that changes your perspective.
• Readers R Leaders – Read a blog (you already are), read a book, read a magazine.
• Trust What You Know – You have refined your instincts so trust them.
• Get Up – Be willing to get up and walk around every 20 minutes to keep perspectives fresh.
• Don’t Be A Ball Hog – Invite your boss and co-workers into conversations about projects and ideas.
• Press Pause – Take a break from ideas or projects in order to see more clearly what you actually are creating.

This is just a starter list. What have you found that works best for you? Share with the rest of us!

Photo Props:

We envy the overnight success.
We marvel at the campaign or idea that sweeps in and succeeds effortlessly.
We’re amazed by the product that changes the way we do life almost overnight.

None of these successes actually appear out of nowhere. Behind every single one of them is a lot of work.

In order to do anything great we have to remember: It takes Hustle. It takes Passion. It takes Execution

Daniel Coyle writes in his book, The Talent Code, about how important it is to focus on the small things, not the “hail marys,” in order to create success behind our creative team and creative ideas.

We can apply the same concept to how we manage our creative teams. We have to remember that we’re not going to wake up to success one morning – we have to build success day by day, task by task, execution by execution. It’s up to us to build success.

• Little is Big – Are we focused on only the BIG parts of the creative process, or are we digging into the details regardless of size? It’s not about the massive unveil, but the execution we implement leading up to that moment. Every action, step, and decision is a chance to create a win or suffer a loss. Consistency builds upon itself and when we’re able to replicate wins, we move towards success methodically – step by step.
• Identify Game Changers – Who is paying attention? Who is listening, focusing, and creating momentum on our teams or in our organizations? Who has hustle? Who is anticipating and problem solving, not just identifying problems? The people who’s names you filled in after these questions are the ones we must pay attention to, they’re the people who are going to do the most with the opportunities that come their way. They create trust.
• Blueprints vs Renderings – Architectural renderings look great, but they can’t build buildings. Blueprints can. Blueprints aren’t as sexy as renderings, but they create steps to success. Stay focused on the fundamentals. Without them, we have a lot of sparkle but very little substance. Idea fundamentals remind us to ask if our ideas communicate our desired story. Do they create emotion? Do they force conversation or questions? WIll people like and connect with our ideas?

These are just three steps to build success – there are so many more. Do you have a concept you would like to share?

Photo Props

In 1976, psychologist Silvano Arieti wrote a book entitled “Creativity:The Magic Synthesis.” Arieti specialized in two fields: creativity and schizophrenia. The two fields are probably not as far apart as we would first believe. Arieti’s book summarized nine conditions that he felt were necessary for creativity:

• Isolation. Being alone allows us to find ourselves, as well as to be open to new kinds of inspiration.
• Inactivity. We have to find time to get out of our routines. We need time to focus on “inner resources”.
• Daydreaming. Creating the space to allow ourselves to explore our thoughts and dreams; to just freestyle and not have the pressure of constraints to limit or stagnate our creative process.
• Free thinking. Finding ways to allow our mind to wander in any direction. Doing this gives us permission to explore topics that are not in our normal routines or thought processes. Doing this helps us find connection points between things we may not have connected and concepts we wouldn’t naturally link up.
• State of readiness to catch similarities. Seeing things from our creative lens and not our analytical lens; looking at things differently.
• Gullibility. Suspending judgment allows us to explore ideas without treating them with prejudice.
• Remembering and replaying past traumatic conflicts. Conflict creates more and new creative concepts.
• Alertness. Having our antenna up allows us to the ability to find relevance in things we may not normally be recognizing.
• Discipline. Finding the ability to do the work necessary to realize and then, systematically plan the execution of our ideas.
• We all love the times we are “in the flow” – when creativity is flowing and we are just able to ride the rhythm. But often that rhythm is broken. Especially when we are busy, tired, or under stress. Being intentional with these nine tools can help us rejuvenate our creative process and find that rhythm we are looking for to create our best work.

When do you find yourself needing to create creativity?
Have you identified any other practices that work for you when you need to create creativity?

Creativity is a muscle. When we work it out, it gets stronger and when we fail to exercise it, we get weaker. The act of creating takes sweat and effort. A series of studies done on some of the most creative “geniuses” in history has identified a few trends common in extremely creative people that innovate and create ideas to influence change in their fields. Here are eight exercises that can make us creatively stronger:

• Think Visibly. – Don’t just rest on language. Allow space, pictures, diagrams, and technology to enhance how we see communicate and articulate. Find ways to tell stories via pictures instead of words. Images will change how people relate to our art and will change the way stories are told.
• Don’t just talk, produce – We won’t always create masterpieces. However, masterpieces will never exist if we don’t create. Creativity takes reps, and lots of them. We always see the highlight reels of creative teams, but we don’t see the number of attempts, the failed ideas, the edited content, the stuff that never sees the light of day. Great creative elements and ideas are the result of lots of failed, dorky, bad, and poorly executed attempts to create something good.
• Create Connections- Some of our most creative ideas come from combining things that don’t naturally live together. Creating connections between opposites is a fantastic exercise for enhancing our creativity. Work to connect unconnected items in an effort to get creatively better.
• Change the Lens – Don’t be afraid to tear a problem or situation apart. Sometimes deconstructing a situation and rebuilding it can help us identify solutions. Changing perspectives can help us find solutions not always visible at first look. This process takes work and often takes some patience, but when done correctly will uncover ideas and results that can make lasting impacts.
• Suspend Reality – We live in a real world, but creativity thrives in imagination and possibility. When we’re able to suspend reality and cut off the voices that try to rationalize our creativity, we’ll find new creative roads to travel. Without reality, we see new possibilities.
• Dream in Metaphors – Metaphors are ways to articulate story in more accessible ways. People may not remember data, but they remember stories. When we share our ideas in metaphors, we learn to be more creative and more complete in creating our thought processes.
• Get Back Up – Failure provides the opportunity to try again. When we try again, we have a chance to be more audacious, more creative, and more gritty with how we create. Leveraging fear and failure makes us better than we could dream possible. Failing also allows us to ask questions and remove data that doesn’t work from the equation.
• Press Pause – Create and work hard…then press pause. Step away. Give creativity room to breathe. Then come back. The chance to get away from our creative process, idea, or project will allow us to come back and see it in a new light. It will give us the chance to identify areas or elements we may have missed. Pressing pause is the least attractive option because it forces us to beat deadlines and create margin. But, when it does, it makes us so much better.

Do you employ any of these exercises in your life? Are there any other exercises you might add to the list?

Photo Props:

Part of the pressure of being someone who is creative is understanding timing.

When is it time to share our new idea? When is it time to push for innovation? When is it time to impose new ideas, brands, concepts, and help create change? The sexy answer is all the time, but that’s not entirely possible.

Here are a few identifying factors to when timing is right to fight for change:

• When we understand that risk is involved and it starts with you. However, knowing you can create champions to help you carry the weight of that risk is a bonus.
• When there’s a problem that needs to be solved.
• When there’s an opportunity to be better or improve.
• When we can change the mind of people who will oppose, or prove them wrong.
• When we identify that in the next 3-5 years what we are doing today won’t work anymore.
• When momentum is slipping.
• When the status quo is making life boring.
• When complacency has set in and urgency has escaped.
• When resources aren’t available.
• When crises occurs.
• When expectations stop being met.
• When we copy more than we create.
• When we’re more focused on check lists than we are on art.
• When we have more habits than ideas.
• When we’re scared.

We all can contribute to this list based on our own specific experiences.
What would you add to this list?