The world we live in is becoming increasingly complex and interconnected. This complexity will only be solved via continuous improvement and thinking outside the box. Hereby my thoughts on enhancing creativity and being innovative.
- Be like a child. Use your imagination. Combine bizarre ideas and often you will find the goose that lay the golden eggs. The world has yet to find innovative ideas behind our grown-up politics, bad pasts, and structures. These birth our problems, not our solutions. Imagining doesn't take much effort and is the best part of relaxing and enjoying life. Best of all it can be done during leisure times every day. Make imagining a habit.
- Forget the trends, observe the world. Often I encounter designers who somehow think that boundaries are the forming parts of the design. We have forgotten our roots. Designers are creatives who need to observe as much as possible about the ever-changing world around them.?If the world is constantly changing, so should your thinking. Design should adapt alongside the processes and people it tries to help. A fluid foundation is all we have for tomorrow.
- Go beyond your normal - break the boundaries. Don't settle for the same. Nothing has ever changed by thinking the same. Taste and experience different things. Talk to people on different subject matters. Read about everything. Feed your purpose with interesting ideas and be curious about the world around you. Why consume only a single medium? Discuss, philosophy, and understand whilst applying conscious effort.
- Visualise and conceptualise. Stop worrying if you draw a stick figure or paint the next Mona Lisa. Get your ideas on paper, a whiteboard, or any medium. Your ideas should be bizarre and not fine art to be observed by the world.?Sketches are the birthplace of amazing products and services, not the final product. Make it a clear goal amongst your team members to first understand before critiquing.
- Never fear failure. Constant iteration and failure form part of the ingredients that leads to success. Get advice from your peers about both the functional, interactive, and communicated features of your idea. It is essential to understand that some form of structure always applies after creativity, but that structure in itself is not the pathway to innovation or greatness.
