This Advice about Being Creative Sounds Wrong: The Infinite Ideas Lab 002

The Infinite Ideas Lab

A weekly newsletter about transforming your creative process and generate bigger and better ideas.

Ideas are your currency in the modern world. You need them to stand out, but it’s not always easy. Whether you’re building your brand, marketing your business, leading a team, or delivering a project, it’s the power of your ideas that defines you.

And that’s what this newsletter is all about.

Every week I’ll give you the frameworks, tips and inspiration to elevate your creative ideas process.

You've been thinking about your limits all wrong.

All the best things are unlimited, right?

Unlimited data, bottomless brunches, all-you-can-eat buffets...

"The fun happens when there are no limits."

That's what we're told.

But when it comes to the creative process, it's terrible advice.

We've been sold a lie for generations.

Free-thinkers, mavericks, creative geniuses...

This is the perception we have of creative people not playing by the rules and plucking incredible ideas out of thin air.

But the reality is these people very rarely exist, and even the idea of them makes some people feel inferior.

"I'm not creative, I like order and structure"

"I find it hard to come up with original ideas. I'm more of a strategic thinker"

Sound familiar?

But that's because you've been thinking about the creative process all wrong.

The truth is creativity thrives on order and structure. In fact, it's the constraints or pressure that you exert on your creative process that actually generates the biggest and best ideas.

This is what's called?creative constraint.

The creative process is like baking a cake ??

Imagine you have to bake a cake in a limited time.

You're a novice baker, and you're given no instructions and infinite ingredients.

You can use absolutely anything you want in any unlimited combination.

You spend so much time trying to decide what kind of cake you want to bake that you run out of time. Everyone's hungry.

This is called the?'paradox of cake'. (*joke, but it should be!)

It's really called the 'paradox of choice'

Now there's a second scenario.

Same task, same time.

But this time, you get butter, flour, and eggs, and you're also given 5 extra ingredients to choose from.

Your choices are limited. But you're now free.

You're channelling your focus on delivering the most creative cake with the 5 extra ingredients you have. No distractions.

Obviously, a lot else could still go wrong baking the cake, but the question you're asking yourself is no longer "What am I baking?" it's "How am I baking it?"

You're now focused on the creative process itself, not the unlimited choice of possible creative ideas.

And when that moment comes, that's when real creativity starts happening.

How to use limits to be more creative

Limit your environment

Distractions are the creativity killer. You know that already. But don't complain about a lack of creativity when you won't put your phone down! (I see you ??)

Create brainstorm boundaries

There's nothing worse than leading a team's creative ideas process, and you open the floor and crickets! I've been there plenty of times.

Instead, give the team as specific a brief as you can. Try ideas like every person has to build something onto the last person's idea until you hit gold or a dead-end. Boundaries help everyone be more creative.

Set a timer

Time is a powerful constraint. Set your timer for 2 minutes. Write down as many ideas as you can in that time. Don't judge your ideas as you go, just speed write.

Set a word count

Nothing focuses your ideas like knowing every word must count.

It's how Ernest Hemmingway was able to produce a beautiful and poignant story in 6 words (this is probably apocryphal!):

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

If you're writing a proposal, brief, blog or LinkedIn post. Set yourself a word count and stick to it. Doesn't matter if it's arbitrary.

No more 'out of the box'

Hope that helps.

Particularly if you struggle with the 'on-demand' creativity, you often need in a busy modern work environment.

Social media is full of advice like "go for a walk to generate your ideas", and I totally agree with that, but it's not realistic for many people.

Sometimes you just need ideas in short order, and creative constraint really helps.

So next time someone says, "We need more out-of-the-box thinking"

Just reply....

"Actually I do my best thinking INSIDE the box"

See you next week.