5 Ways to increase Creativity

Lets examine this thing called Creativity. All day we search for new ideas and come up dry and yet the very instant we fall asleep and cease the mental struggle, our dreams are flooded with the fantastical. Our challenge is to find a way to tap into that Creativity with our eyes wide open.

Be conscious of your nose
Nope, not the nose in the middle of your face, but the No's that arise every time you see, hear or read something different. To be conscious means to be aware of what's going on around you, of being 'in the moment' and also being aware of the passage of time. I'm suggesting that this is a good thing. Unless you play with ideas, they cannot become good ideas.

Make your intuition visible
A very simple technique. Next time you cannot logically, rationally, choose between two alternatives, Flip a coin, heads it's A, tails it's B and then at the very instant when you see the result are you pleased or disappointed with the outcome? By focusing your attention to that split second of discovery, you'll learn which choice you prefer I'm not suggesting you follow that knowledge blindly but at least you'll have some more information with which to decide.

Put "Freudian" slips to good use
We make slips, mistakes and typos all the time. A simple method of forcing yourself to think along a different track, is to ask yourself the question, What would I have meant, if I'd meant to say that?

Look to the flipside
This is the old, yet still useful, chestnut of turning Lemons into Lemonade. It's not really a bad strategy; it's what's used to keep bridges from falling down. Take the most powerful force working against you, gravity in the case of bridgefavor get it working in your favour. Bridges don't fall down, because we've learned to harness gravity and make it work for us. Admittedly the concept is simple enough, but making it happen takes determination and a not insignificant amount of skill. But, when it works? Situations that once created problems - suddenly create profit.

Ask the stupid question...Why?
Keep asking it until there aren't anymore answers. Of all the Why? questions, the most powerful one you can bring to bear on your organization is "Why are we doing it this way?" Ask it until people scream at the sound of it, and then keep asking it. Unless there's a good answer to that question, and "Because I said so!" isn't a good answer, then you shouldn't be doing what you're doing.

The amount of Creativity you can bring to bear on a task, is more a function of the courage to do something new, than it is of coming up with new ideas