As I mentioned yesterday, 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.

6.    Group Brainstorming – this deserves its own mention, because it’s so different from solo brainstorming.  When a group starts throwing around ideas, the different perspectives will always bring up ideas that no one would’ve thought of on their own.

7.    Connect the Dots – because creativity usually means borrowing from others, the great talent is connecting unrelated ideas to make new associations and powerful new answers to problems.  Having your problem clearly stated helps you connect the dots.

8.    Sleep on it – when I write a piece, I try to allow time away from the project.    Sleeping on it allows a fresh perspective on ideas.   Of course, sleeping also produces ideas that come from dreams.  Here’s how I access the power of dreams: state your creative challenge just before you go to sleep (see Step 1) and repeat it several times, and drop off to sleep.   Be sure to have a notepad next to the bed, so you can jot down the ideas quickly.  Dreams tend to vanish quickly unless we write them down.  Voice recorders work too, but I tend to fumble around with them and start to lose the dream memory.

9.    Course Correction – ideas don’t come fully formed.  Be prepared to tweak and change the ideas.

10.    Embrace Failure – overcoming failure is a key to success in life.  This is a lesson I’ve had to re-learn countless times.  The bottom line is: failure isn’t a problem, only your reaction to it is.  The difference between average people and Achievers is their response to failure.

No matter what you currently do, creative thinking can add value to it.  Interestingly, as your generate more creative thinking, you draw people to you, who are inspired by your ideas and (naturally) your enthusiasm.

Beware of the Negativity!  Like many people, you might find yourself doubting the effectiveness or value of creative thinking.  Perhaps a family member or friend might roll their eyes when they learn what you’re doing.  Don’t let people kill the creativity.  You can’t make a powerful change by doing the same old thing; you must “think different”.

There’s a dynamic tension in creative thinking.  One the one hand, the process of creative thinking means you learn more; but on the other hand, the act of creative thinking means you sometimes approach a problem with “beginner’s mind”, by emptying your yourself of preconceived notions.

Just think of the possibilities.

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.

Part Two of “10 Steps to Creative Thinking”