We start with an idea.

Usually it’s not a good idea – it’s just an idea.

Ideas start conversations that birth other ideas – better ideas – until we get the right idea.

But, we NEVER get there if we’re not brave enough to:

• Step out and share.
• Vocalize our idea.
• Become vulnerable.
• Be willing to fail.
• Take a chance.
• Be brave.
• Be audacious.
• Be willing to risk.
• Start.
• Start again.
• Keep working.
• Not settle.
• Finish.

Being creative is not about being cool, it’s about being brave enough to ignore safety.

Being creative isn’t about knowing the answer, it’s about being willing enough to ask harder questions.

It doesn’t take the most creative person to ignite great ideas, just the person brave enough to try something different.

Can you be brave today?

Let’s be honest, it doesn’t take a lot to sidetrack a creative person or a good idea. We actually have to work hard just to keep ideas alive, let alone make them successful. The resistance around us is looking for any and every opportunity or excuse to get us to stop doing creative work – excuses like:

• That will take too much effort.
• That will take too much time.
• That will take too much energy.
• This does not make sense.
• There’s no space for creativity.
• We can just do something simple, it doesn’t have to be creative.
• You should always follow the rules.
• Stop asking questions.
• Don’t fight the status quo.
• Don’t try anything crazy.
• That’s not practical.
• What if you fail?
• What will people think?
• It’s never been done before.
• That’s impossible.
• I’m not creative.
• When we last tried this, it didn’t work.
• We can’t afford to fail.
• What is the ROI.
• Failure is final.
• That’s not how we do things here.
• That is not ‘us.’

Words have power. Words can speak life that inspires and uplifts and – just as fast – words can discourage and destroy the spirit of an idea or a creative person. Manage your words, watch what you say, and speak life!

We all want to have better ideas. We want to work and live in places where we’re poised to be our absolute best. We all have the ability to be better creatively; it’s part of our nature. While there are some personality traits that are common among creative people (being open to experiences, impulsive, in touch with our emotions, and non-conformists), there is now research that supports how environments can enhance our creativity. From 42 studies on the relationship between creativity and environment, these fourteen keys to enhancing creativity emerged:

1. Positive exchanges between teams, team members, and departments
2. Being stimulated intellectually
3. Working where there is a challenge
4. Flexibility and support in taking risks
5. Being supported by superiors
6. Healthy and supportive relationships with superiors
7. Peer groups that are positive and supportive
8. Clear vision and clear mission
9. The ability to believe in the organization
10. Being involved, not just being a pawn
11. Being clear on what needs to be done
12. Rewarded for good work – emotionally and financially
13. Being fully resourced
14. Having the space to do work without being micro-managed

When we’re not working in these types of environments we have two choices: 1. Quit and go someplace else or 2. Work to create these environments. As leaders, it’s our responsibility to build environments where our artists can create their best art.
Do you get to work in an environment where you thrive? Are you given the ability to be your absolute creative best? How can you help create these type environments?

Last Easter we had an idea.

We wanted to try something different. Something artistic that could connect to the content of the day and the message Pete prepared. A piece that would help drive home the power of the day…a day that represents God’s love for us and grace he designed for our lives.

Normally, big days like Easter are not days we would take big chances. These type of days are days when we have high visitor attendance. We can use the rest of the year to experiment and on these kind of days we should put the best of our best on display for an audience who may not come back to church for another year. There is no reason to create distractions with stuff that might not work. Make the day right top to bottom with stuff we know will be amazing and hopefully draw people to the hope of Salvation.

But on this day, we felt passionate about the song we found, the content Pete developed, and the idea we believed could make a special moment. So we went to work. We created this piece:

The piece was a song written by The City Harmonic. They are a super talented group of worship leaders. A few weeks ago we found out the band are using the piece in their lives shows. Then today, they released a new music video that incorporated our piece with their art. It is AWESOME! Check it out here.

We love when God allows us the opportunity to create art. We are thankful for that gift. And we are working our absolute hardest to create art that impacts our local community while connecting to what God is doing at Cross Point…and when possible the Church at large. It is cool to see this piece working inside worship that takes place around the world.

Remember when we first started? Every day we did something for the first time. Innovation was not a goal, it was a necessity…and it worked. It worked really well. In fact, it worked so well we found some things we got REALLY good at doing and we shifted from innovating to executing.

During that shift, we started to get scared of innovation because innovation and new ideas might change the methods we found that worked. We traded new ideas and innovation for successful execution. It’s an honest situation, but it gets scary. When we stop innovating and ONLY execute, we stop growing creatively.

It’s a fight every single day to avoid this very tempting trap. Never sacrifice great for good. So, how do we make sure we continue to innovate? How do we get unstuck if we have slipped into “execution only” mode?

1. Identify the innovators on our teams. Who are the people who have not gotten sucked into the norm? Lean on them. Usually, they are going to be new to our organization. They tend to be young and not know what is or isn’t acceptable. Some of them may be attendees or volunteers. They have a different lens and filter. It’s key to LISTEN more than we TALK to these people. Empower them to use their voice…it does not mean you’re a bad leader, it actually means you’re a smart leader.

2. Ask Questions About Everything. Questions inspire creativity. Statements cement fear. Why can’t we change this? Why would we not want to try something different. How can we make this better. How will people respond if we adjust this thing?

3. Embrace Teams. If we have ideas we know will work but we don’t have the bandwidth to pull them off, create a team to work on the idea. Pull people from other areas and task them to work together. It will help your creative culture and help get things done. An hour of intentional work will move the ball. Further, people working on projects that are outside of their area will be more creative through the process. This is a great space for testing before an idea gets too costly or too far down the line if it’s not viable.

4. Focus on passion, not job description. If someone is passionate about something, create space for them to work on that idea or project. Just because it doesn’t fit in their job description doesn’t mean they can’t excel at these endeavors. Some of our best projects or ideas will come from passion, not paper.

5. Study Others. As connected as we all are, we can learn from one another better now than at any time in our history. Use twitter, Facebook, internet campuses, podcasts, blogs, and email to find out the HOW and the WHY of people we admire. Technology allows us to be closer than ever. Take advantage of the tools, but don’t stop studying. Always be ready to share what we are learning with our teams. This will also help you identify some unique new ideas that may not be happening in your community or in the world, for that matter.

6. Be Intentional With Creativity. Don’t assume ideas are coming. Change the canvas often. Be intentional with creating space for ideas to be developed. Invest in creativity and culture. It does not have to cost a lot to break the norms of the day. Getting out of the routine will help you get back to everyday innovation.

7. Put Execution Into Vision. I know it sounds like an odd idea to break out of execution mode by executing, but our new ideas will never change our norm if don’t put them into action. As we develop the new things God has for us, we have to be sure they fit into our vision. If they don’t, we are just trying to be cool or different for the sake of being cool or different. That is never successful. Never waiver for the vision, but never let grass grow under our feet by not putting ideas into action.

How do you fight the temptation to execute more than you innovate?

It takes intentionality to live in our sweet spots. Organizations, teams, job or whatever is not created to set us up to be our best, they are set up to achieve an objective. That’s the nature of a position. So we have to be intentional to be our creative best by making sure we are managing the process of finding our sweet spot and then staying in it over time. Here are 5 keys to knowing if we are headed in the right direction:

• Explore the world & opportunities. To figure out where we are our best we have to do a little exploration. What makes us tick? What makes us feel we matter? Stop focusing on the title on your door and more on the passion in your heart.
• What excites you? When you use your core strengths it becomes obvious to everyone around you. What projects make you feel most engaged? Where do you feel the energy?
• What makes you unique? What sets you apart from everyone else in your organization? What do you bring to the table that no one else can bring inside your organization? Does your history create space for you to bring a different toolbox to the job than anyone else? Your unique YOU will help you approach the job and projects different, and thus gives you a lens no one else can have. When you feel this happening you know you are on to something that
• Put a tag on it. Name your strengths and identify your weaknesses. When you do this you know what should be delegated and where you can excel. Further, as you develop you will start naming strengths in other, strengths that can help them be their best and curate the best possible team. Avoid using cliché words. Be creative and unique in how you frame yourself, your team, and your work.
• Be scared & brave. When you are scared…you are probably doing the right thing. When you are forced to be brave you figure out that this fear and courage is forcing you to engage in something bigger than you…big enough to challenge you and make you better. When we do work that does not scare us or force us to be brave we are not being challenged enough to get into our sweet spot.

So, are you living in your sweet spot? What are you going to do about it? What other questions do you ask yourself to make sure you are finding your sweet spot?

Recently, I discovered a post written around the concept of Idea Magnets. Idea Magnets are people who attract ideas and other creative people around their projects and thus, create amazing content repeatedly. Idea Magnets are necessary on any creative team that’s going to grow and enhance organizations. They’re necessary because they bring out the best in others. They also balance inspiration and implementation. Here are eleven characteristics of Idea Magnets:

• They’re always absorbing diverse and interesting points of reference. They collect all the time and this allows them to always have content ready to share and ideas in the bucket.
• They ask rich questions. They understand how questions uncover the real problem and solution.
• They prefer to listen before they talk.
• They generalize opportunities and challenges in an effort to find places from which to develop and create new possibilities.
• They are connectors. They connect people, problems, solutions, and resources. Sometimes these are obvious connections and other times they are far from obvious.
• They drift from foreground to background in group settings. This allows them different perspectives. It also can depend on how they’re feeling, how inspired or engaged they are, or how uncomfortable the setting has become.
• They embrace the opportunity to add by employing an intentional “and then” philosophy that enhances creative thinking.
• They are encouragers of other creative people and ideas.
• They’re active at cheering for others to win.
• They continually stretch what is possible and have a vision for accomplishing the “impossible.”
• They understand when it’s time to change course, stop, or end an idea. This takes bold confidence and leadership. Idea Magnets tend to see this end before the masses.

Have you identified any Idea Magnets in your life? Are there other characteristics that you think would benefit Idea Magnets?

Success is never guaranteed. There are so many factors at play for our efforts to start to gain traction and birth momentum. Success, especially in creative matters, is not given, it is earned There is however an equation that can help position us for our best chance to succeed:

Vision + Ideation + Vulnerability +  Hustle + Perseverance = the launching pad.

• Vision – We have to have it. It may not always be ours, but we have to have vision. Without a clear vision of the why and the inspiration that vision brings there is no reason to get out of bed and try to make anything happen. Vision also breeds excitement and passion, two necessary ingredients for creating owners not renters of our initiative.
• Ideation – Develop the ideas that will propel the vision. Ideas are vehicles that make vision move.
• Vulnerability – It takes a healthy dose of vulnerability to share our ideas. Further, when we have vulnerability as part of our equation it creates space for authenticity to exist. Authenticity develops trust and in order to do anything of substance we have to trust the tools, people, and vision around us.
• Hustle – It takes a lot of work to be successful. Don’t buy the lie that overnight successes are just that…overnight. There is a lot of blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice, pain, joy, and emotion in every successful entity. Work, and creative work at that, is not sexy, rarely admired, and often detested. But, if you want success you have to be willing to do the things no one else will do. You have to care more about your project than anyone else. The minute someone else cares more than you do…you are sunk.
• Perseverance – Some days are great don’t get too high. Some days are awful don’t dip to low. Persevere. Stay on task. Don’t get distracted. Follow the plan, work the plan, stay on vision…the methodic march is more effective than sprinting for a day and being forced to rest for two. When we understand that we are running a marathon not a sprint we understand pacing and the need to respond to issues rather than reacting to them.

Then there is luck. Some people believe in it and some don’t but anything successful has to have the right environment around it. Time, market, team, audience, and a host of other “stars” have to align. Hopefully when they do, and they will for your entity, you have worked your equation and are ready to chase the momentum that they can create…the sail towards success.

At the end of the day, we need you to be successful. Its not a want…it’s a need. Are you ready?

I think we often confuse creativity and art.

Art is the expression of creativity. Its birthed from creativity and lives because of creativity. Likewise, artists are conduits for creativity. Still, art is not creativity.

Then, what is? I think creativity is_____:

• Simple
• How we solve problems
• How imagination comes to life
• A peak into the future
• Everywhere
• Never entitled
• A gift that’s respected
• Inspiring
• The ability to inspire
• The chance to bring clarity
• Beautiful, yet sometimes ugly
• Amazingly humbling
• Desperate for attention
• Desiring to be stretched
• Found in our intuition
• Teachable
• Confusing
• Abstract
• Comforting

Now it is your turn, what do you think creativity is? ___________

It is not easy to stay creative. We get busy. We have responsibilities. Life gets fast and intense. We want to create our best stuff, all the time, but it is not easy. Sometimes we need a little jump-start. Other times, we need to intentionally create just to stay fresh. Here are a few FREE ways to keep you creative:

• Stay alert – Look for creative inspiration. Look for things that spark an idea or your imagination. They may be anywhere. When we stay alert we identify the hidden nuggets of creative inspiration in the world around us.
• Write something down – Daily. Write down an idea or a thought, maybe a picture. Write it down and save it. If we don’t write ideas down we risk losing them. Are you willing to lose a unicorn if you could capture one?
• Take a picture – Every day. Take a picture of something. Taking pictures forces us to frame our world. It forces us to look at one area not the entire panoramic. Taking pictures gives us a lesson in composition of the world around us.
• Have a conversation – Talk to someone who agrees with you, someone who will disagree. Someone who challenges you and someone you can encourage. Conversations build community and community builds great art.
• Change positions – Find a different place or angle to work. New canvases create new opportunities for ideas.
• Get alone – Sometimes we have to get alone. Block out the noise and the distractions. Turn off email and twitter. Avoid Instagram. Find the screaming ideas that are hiding in the silence.
• Listen to something new/ different – Music we love can inspire us but so can music we don’t know. Change the soundtrack and adapt it to the mood you are in or the mood you need to get into.
• Don’t settle – Look at art you have created and find adjustments. What can you make better?
• Don’t quit – Ever. It is the only thing that will keep you from being your creative best. Quitting is the end goal of the resistance…don’t fall victim. Failure and setbacks can make you better. Tomorrow is only a day away…unless you quit.

What are some things you do to stay creative?