THE POWER OF CREATIVE THOUGHT

As an entrepreneur in business, you will know the wonderful sensory feeling of that ‘AHA Moment’, when you or your team deliver a creative and innovative solution to a challenge that has plagued you. Better yet, when that solution meets or even surpasses expectations.

The experience may have happened recently and frequently or some time ago and rarely since, but the thrill of a creative thought stays with us.

There is barely a product or service on the market today that customers can’t buy from someone else for about the same price, about the same quality, about the same level of service with about the same level of features and benefits. Even with a ‘first-to-market’ advantage, it’s likely to be lost in a matter of months. Something that is truly novel and unique is soon emulated and bettered.

In a world of demanding consumerism, creative thought becomes as much a necessity for survival as value rich products and services.

Your company may not be Apple but without doubt, within it you will have access to that very same wealth of creative thought. Your challenge is to tap it to your advantage.

Stimulating Creative Thinking

There’s a lot more to creativity than thinking. It’s possible to sit around having lots of creative thoughts, but without actually making anything of them. But if you start making something, creative ideas seem to emerge naturally out of the process. So given the choice, creative doing beats creative thinking.

A lot of ‘creative thinking techniques’ leave many of us cold. Brainstorming, lateral thinking and thinking outside the box have always felt a bit corporate and contrived. Artists and creatives and plenty of other creative professionals don’t use them. Creative thinking cannot be reduced to a set of techniques, the process isn’t as conscious and deliberate as these approaches imply.

Here are four types of creative thinking which are used extensively by high-level creators. Only one of them (reframing) is under conscious control. Another (mind mapping) works via associative rather than rational thinking. And the other two require us to let go of our logical, analytical mind and open up to whatever inspiration visits us from the unconscious mind.

1.    Reframing : Reframing opens up creative possibilities by changing our perception of an event, situation, behaviour, person or object.

 Think about a time when you changed your opinion of somebody. Maybe you saw them as ‘difficult’ or ‘unpleasant’ because of the way they behaved towards you; only to discover a reason for that behaviour that made you feel sympathetic towards them. So you ended up with an image of them as ‘struggling’ or ‘dealing with problems’ rather than bad.

Or how about a time when you were pleased to buy something at a very low price, only to be disappointed when it broke the first time you used it? In your mind, it went from being a ‘bargain’ to ‘cheap rubbish’.

 Or what about a time when you experienced a big disappointment, only to discover an opportunity which emerged from it? As the old saying goes, ‘when one door closes, another opens’.

 All of these are examples of reframes, since the essential nature of the person, object or event didn’t change — only your perception of them. When you exchanged an old frame for a new one, things looked very different.

 So reframing isn’t just an intellectual exercise – it changes the way we feel, which in turn changes our capacity for action. Which makes it a powerful creative tool for changing our own lives and influencing other people.

 Creative frames of reference

 Here are some frames to help you generate creative solutions. Next time you’re facing a creative challenge or are stuck on a problem, run through this list and ask yourself the questions. Once you’ve done this a few times, you should get into the habit of asking yourself these questions, and making creative use of reframing.

?         Meaning — what else could this mean?

?         Context — where else could this be useful?

?         Learning — what can I learn from this?

?         Humour — what’s the funny side of this?

?         Solution — what would I be doing if I’d solved the problem? Can I start doing any of that right now?

?         Silver lining — what opportunities are lurking inside this problem?

?         Points of view — how does this look to the other people involved?

?         Creative heroes — how would one of my creative heroes approach this problem?

2.    Mind mapping : When you make notes or draft ideas in conventional linear form, using sentences or bullet points that follow on from each other in a sequence, it’s easy to get stuck because you are trying to do two things at once: (1) get the ideas down on paper and (2) arrange them into a logical sequence.

Mind mapping sidesteps this problem by allowing you to write ideas down in an associative, organic pattern, starting with a key concept in the centre of the page, and radiating out in all directions, using lines to connect related ideas. It’s easier to ‘splurge’ ideas onto the page without having to arrange them all neatly in sequence. And yet an order or pattern does emerge, in the lines connecting related ideas together in clusters.

Because it involves both words and a visual layout, it has been claimed that mind mapping engages both the left and right hemispheres of the brain, leading to a more holistic and imaginative style of thinking. A mind map can also aid learning by showing the relationships between different concepts and making them easier to memorize.

Visual approaches to generating and organising ideas have been used for centuries, and some pages of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are often cited as the inspiration for modern mind maps. Tony Buzan is the leading authority on mind mapping. Among his tips for getting the most out of the technique are:

?         Start in the centre of the page

?         The lines should be connected and radiate out from the central concept

?         Use different colours for different branches of the mind map

?         Use images and symbols to bring the concepts to life and make them easier to remember

For more tips on mind mapping, as well as books and software tools, visit Tony Buzan’s website. At https://www.tonybuzan.com/

 3.    Insight : The word insight has several different meanings, but in the context of creative thinking it means an idea that appears in the mind as if from nowhere, with no immediately preceding conscious thought or effort. It’s the proverbial ‘Aha!’ or ‘Eureka!’ moment, when an idea pops into your mind out of the blue.

There are many accounts of creative breakthroughs made through insight, from Archimedes in the bath tub onwards. All of them follow the same basic pattern:

1.    Working hard to solve a problem.

2.    Getting stuck and/or taking a break.

3.    A flash of insight bringing the solution to the problem.

The neuroscience of insight

Although it may look (and even feel) as though you are doing nothing in the moments before an insight emerges, brain scans have shown that your brain is actually working harder than when you are trying to reason through a problem with ‘hard’ thinking:

These sudden insights, they found, are the culmination of an intense and complex series of brain states that require more neural resources than methodical reasoning. People who solve problems through insight generate different patterns of brain waves than those who solve problems analytically. “Your brain is really working quite hard before this moment of insight,” says psychologist Mark Wheeler at the University of Pittsburgh. “There is a lot going on behind the scenes.”

So if anyone accuses you of being idle next time they see you staring out the window or strolling in the park, point them to the research!

Neuroscience has also revealed that the right hemisphere of the brain — long associated with holistic thinking, as opposed to the more logical left hemisphere) — is strongly involved in the production of insights. Another finding is that you are more likely to have an insight when you feel happier than when you feel anxious. So maybe suffering for your art isn’t such a good idea after all!

It’s important to recognise when you get stuck on a problem and instead of trying to push through it by working harder, deliberately slow down, calm your mind and allow your thoughts to wander. Every insight comes with a burst of energy and enthusiasm that helps you put it into action.

How to have an insight

In a book published over fifty years ago, advertising copywriter James Webb Young outlined A Technique for Producing Ideas which dovetails neatly with the accounts of creators and the discoveries of modern neuroscience. He describes his own practice in coming up with ideas for advertisements, which he distils into a five step sequence:

1.    Gathering knowledge — through both constant effort to expand your general knowledge and also specific research for each project.

2.    Hard thinking about the problem — doing your best to combine the different elements into a workable solution. Young emphasises the importance of working yourself to a standstill, when you are ready to give up out of sheer exhaustion*.

3.    Incubation — taking a break and allowing the unconscious mind to work its magic. Rather than simply doing nothing, Young suggests turning your attention “do whatever stimulate your imagination and emotions” such as a trip to the movies or reading fiction. (Remember what the neuroscientists say about being happy rather than anxious.)

4.    The Eureka moment — when the idea appears as if from nowhere.

5.    Developing the idea — expanding its possibilities, critiquing it for weaknesses and translating into action.

*Definitive research concludes that often, the Eureka moment of creative discovery occurs when we least expect it, when most tired, as our brains release the overwhelm feeling and encourage inspiration.   

 4.      Creative flow : You know that feeling you get when you’re completely absorbed in your work and the outside world seems to melt away? When everything seems to fall into place, and whatever you’re working with — ideas, words, notes, colours or whatever — start to flow easily and naturally? When you feel both excited and calm, caught up in the sheer pleasure of creation?

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmahalyi has studied this state — which he calls creative flow — and concluded that it is very highly correlated with outstanding creative performance. In other words, it doesn’t just feel good — it’s a sign that you’re working at your best, producing high-quality work.

Csikszentmahalyi has described nine essential characteristics of flow:

1.    There are clear goals every step of the way. Knowing what you are trying to achieve gives your actions a sense of purpose and meaning.

2.    There is immediate feedback to your actions. Not only do you know what you are trying to achieve, you are also clear about how well you are doing it. This makes it easier to adjust for optimum performance. It also means that by definition flow only occurs when you are performing well.

3.    There is a balance between challenges and skills. If the challenge is too difficult we get frustrated; if it is too easy, we get bored. Flow occurs when we reach an optimum balance between our abilities and the task in hand, keeping us alert, focused and effective.

4.    Action and awareness are merged. We have all had experiences of being in one place physically, but with our minds elsewhere — often out of boredom or frustration. In flow, we are completely focused on what we are doing in the moment. Our thoughts and actions become automatic and merged together — creative thinking and creative doing are one and the same.

5.    Distractions are excluded from consciousness. When we are not distracted by worries or conflicting priorities, we are free to become fully absorbed in the task.

6.    There is no worry of failure. A single-minded focus of attention means that we are not simultaneously judging our performance or worrying about things going wrong.

7.    Self-consciousness disappears. When we are fully absorbed in the activity itself, we are not concerned with our self-image, or how we look to others. While flow lasts, we can even identify with something outside or larger than our sense of self — such as the painting or writing we are engaged in, or the team we are playing in.

8.    The sense of time becomes distorted. Several hours can fly by in what feels like a few minutes, or a few moments can seem to last for ages.

9.    The activity becomes ‘autotelic’ – meaning it is an end in itself. Whenever most of the elements of flow are occurring, the activity becomes enjoyable and rewarding for its own sake. This is why so many artists and creators report that their greatest satisfaction comes through their work. As Noel Coward put it, “Work is more fun than fun”

Passion fuels Creativity

 Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies - far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity - are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TED Talk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this." https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements.

To quote Sir Ken “Often, people are good at things they don't really care for. It's about passion, and what excites our spirit and our energy. And if you're doing the thing that you love to do, that you're good at, time takes a different course entirely. You know this, if you're doing something you love, an hour feels like five minutes. If you're doing something that doesn't resonate with your spirit, five minutes feels like an hour”.

Creative Thought Is Not An Exact Science

Research into the subject provides plenty of support for the view that creative thinking doesn’t require perfection to yield improved results. Creative thought is not the exclusive domain of the genius. By focusing almost exclusively on academia, traditional schooling has educated people out of their creatve capacities.

Picasso once said this, he said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately, that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out of it.

All that is needed to access our creative thinking, is to accept that we need not find perfect solutions first time, far from it.

Another ‘Ted’ talk speaker, Sarah Lewis makes a strong case for ‘Embracing the Near Win’

 In her talk, one of the many examples she gives is of her visit to watch a set of varsity archers, all women as fate would have it, at the northern tip of Manhattan at Columbia's Baker Athletics Complex. She wanted to see what's called archer's paradox, the idea that in order to actually hit your target, you have to aim at something slightly skew from it. She stood behind one archer and watched her. The ten-ring from the standard 75-yard distance, looked as small as a matchstick tip held out at arm's length. And this is while holding 50 pounds of draw weight on each shot. The lady archer first hit a seven, and then a nine, and then two tens, and then the next arrow didn't even hit the target.

The near miss, whilst hitting the target would be construed a success, but mastery in archery means to align your body posture for many hours in order to hit a target, pursuing a kind of excellence in obscurity. So, success is hitting that ten-ring, but mastery is knowing that it means nothing if you can't do it again and again. Mastery is not just the same as excellence, though. It's not the same as success, which I see is an event, a moment in time, and a label that the world confers upon you. Mastery is not a commitment to a goal but to a constant pursuit. What gets us to do this, what get us to forward thrust more is to value the near win.

In business parlance then, creative thinking need not necessarily mean striking the mastery bullseye at the first attempt but deriving satisfaction at hitting the target at all.

The surprising habits of original thinkers 

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant studies "originals": thinkers who dream up new ideas and take action to put them into the world. His research revealed unexpected habits of originals -- including embracing failure. "The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they're the ones who try the most," Grant says. "You need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones."

One of Adams most creative students was an organizational psychologist, curious that her most creative ideas came when procrastinating. Adam challenged her to explore the validity of this and to get some data. She went to a bunch of companies and had people fill out surveys about how often they procrastinate. Then she got their bosses to rate how creative and innovative they were. Sure enough, the uber organised folk, who rush in and do everything early were rated as less creative than people who procrastinate moderately.

Extending the survey to a much wider audience the results were unanimous. The people who wait until the last minute are so busy goofing off that they don't have any new ideas. On the flip side, the people who raced in were in such a frenzy of anxiety that they don't have original thoughts either. There's a sweet spot where originals seem to live. Why is this?

To find out, Adam designed some experiments. He asked people to generate new business ideas, and then had independent readers evaluate how creative and useful they are. Some of them were asked to do the task right away. Others were randomly assigned to procrastinate by dangling computer games in front of them for either five or 10 minutes. Sure enough, the moderate procrastinators were more creative than the other groups. Now, however awesome the computer game, it's not the driver of the effect, because if you play the game first before you learn about the task, there's no creativity boost. It's only when you're told that you're going to be working on this problem, and then you start procrastinating, but the task is still active in the back of your mind, that you start to incubate. Procrastination gives you time to consider divergent ideas, to think in nonlinear ways, to make unexpected leaps.

Leonardo da Vinci toiled on and off for 16 years on the Mona Lisa. He felt like a failure. He wrote as much in his journal. But some of the diversions he took in optics transformed the way that he modelled light and made him into a much better painter.

What about Martin Luther King, Jr.? The night before the biggest speech of his life, the March on Washington, he was up past 3am, rewriting it. He sat in the audience waiting for his turn to go onstage, and he was still scribbling notes and crossing out lines. When he got onstage, 11 minutes in, he left his prepared remarks to utter four words that changed the course of history: "I have a dream." That was not in the script. By delaying the task of concluding the speech until the very last minute, he left himself open to the widest range of possible ideas. And because the text wasn't set in stone, he had freedom to improvise.

Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it can be a virtue for creativity.

What you see with a lot of great originals is that they are quick to start but they're slow to finish.

It turns out the first-mover advantage is mostly a myth. Adam looked at a classic study of over 50 product categories, comparing the first movers who created the market with the improvers who introduced something different and better. What he found was that the first movers had a failure rate of 47 percent, compared with only 8 percent for the improvers. Look at Facebook, waiting to build a social network until after Myspace. Look at Google, waiting for years after Altavista and Yahoo. It's much easier to improve on somebody else's idea than it is to create something new from scratch. So the lesson he learned is that to be original you don't have to be first. You just have to be different and better.

Author Comment

Business consumes so much of our life. Fulfilment in life and our work is a right and not a privilege for the chosen few. Every single one of us is entitled to feel fulfilled by the work we do, to wake up feeling inspired and impassioned to go to work, returning home with a sense that we are contributing to something larger than ourselves. Fulfilment is not a lottery reserved for a lucky few who get to say, “I love what I do” and mean it wholeheartedly.

Why is this relevant to a creative, innovative business? The answer is that the individual fulfilment of everyone in the business is the biggest single factor that creates the culture of the company presented to its customers and the success it enjoys as a result. The culture of the company determines the type and number of customers the business attracts and retains. For long-term business success, the culture is more important than the features, benefits and price of any product.

There is a big difference between repeat business and loyalty. Repeat business is when people do business with you, multiple times. Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or a better price to continue doing business with you. Loyal customers often don’t even bother to research the competition or entertain other options.

Loyalty is not easily won. Repeat business, however, is.

Encouraging a spirit of creativity within a business, feeds the spirit of everyone that contributes, which in turn feeds their energy and passion.

Creative, passionate people give off a ‘happy vibe’ that in itself, is magnetic to customers and co-workers alike. It is my sincere belief, that people buy from people they trust and have confidence in and are more likely to be persuaded to your cause if you encourage creativity and passion among your team.

Wishing you lots of creative thoughts and success with your business.

Steve Bennett

Sparta

www.sparta-group.co.uk