10 Steps to Creative Thinking (and problem solving)
10 Steps to Creative Thinking and problem solving. This is Part 1… Part 2 is posted here.
Creativity is our most valuable resource. I’ve used these 10 Steps for Creative Thinking for a while now… and since a lot of my fellow producers are coming up new projects, I decided to share what works for me.
I use these steps when I hit the wall creatively. Either the problem is particularly challenging, or I’ve already tried several approach that have been rejected (welcome to the world of TV advertising), or I’m feeling fatigued and uninspired.
When creative death happens, I call it “facing the blank page”. It’s the proverbial writer facing the blank paper and wondering where to start.
By the way, creativity is useful to everyone, no matter their job or age. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking since you’re not an artist or writer, you have no use for creative thinking. People use creativity every day to solve problems and it’s not for “artists” only.
These 10 Steps are in roughly sequential order, but that’s only because of my personal creative instincts. Feel free to mix them up; with the exception of the first step – clarity always come first.
1. Clarify the Problem – Before you begin the creative process, the first step is to clearly and succinctly state the problem or creative challenge. Actually write it down several times, to distill it into as few words as possible.
2. Walking & Exercise – Pumping blood into the brain gets the synapses firing Walking and relaxing puts us into the mode not thinking consciously about the problem, which allows the subconscious to start working. Einstein walking anecdote.
3. Seek Broad Input – Creativity is about ideas. Read magazines, blogs and books for new ideas; not just in your own area of interest, but across a broad cross-section of subjects. Who knows? Maybe your next great idea will come from a profile of a football coach or an explanation of genetic engineering. RSS feeds populated into your homepage are a great way to graze across a variety of subjects without the cost of magazine subscriptions.
4. Borrow – borrow other ideas and adapt them for your own.
5. Brainstorm – When you approach a problem, come up with a variety of approaches. This is essentially brainstorming. Take out a clean sheet of paper and without worrying about how crazy your thoughts are, write down at least 5 different approaches to your problem. Since brainstorms come to me at the strangest times, I always carry a pen and paper with me.
