I went to a business forum last week at the Innovation Hub where Lu-Marie Sobey from Synnovation talked on behalf of Blue Catalyst about creativity. More specifically the process of creativity and how we can unlock the ideas that are spooling around in our heads - I think Blue Catalyst really get it. They seem to really grasp that innovation starts off with an idea. That light bulb moment everyone gets, but its how we interpret, evolve and evaluate the idea that really makes the difference.

I believe eMarketing is an “ideas” industry, but because we work with strategies that are extremely measurable, we do tend to take the tried & tested route. But this discussion really got me thinking that we must keep on evolving our current creative processes.

One of the key points I picked up on was that most companies stop thinking at the “Operational Thinking” stage. This is the sort of thinking that deals with the operations inside a particular company. Now don’t get me wrong, every company needs a set of operational rules & regulations. The problem with most companies is that they miss the point of Operational Thinking.

Operational Thinking must lay the foundation for Creative Thinking, so that employees have the freedom to think way out of the box, and to supply them with the tools to evaluate any idea. Remember that if you want your employees to be dynamic in their thinking there must be room for errors. Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s how you handle them in the creative process that makes all the difference.

A classic problem is the way we communicate within the first brainstorming sessions. Lu-Marie said that if the intent is negative, you’ll get a negative reaction, and thus your response will be negative. If you react positive on initial feedback, you’ll see the idea in a positive light and now you can start evaluating the idea.

The three steps of evaluating the idea are quite simple…

1. Look for the positives
2. List a maximum of 4 concerns not just 1. This helps not to discard the idea immediately.
3. Now look for ways of overcoming those concerns by asking how?

That’s pretty interesting. Your brain reacts the way you want it to react. If you ask “how to?” the brain switches to creative mode. Try it - remember to think positive.

The last thought I want to leave you with: A study has shown that 98% of 5-year olds have genius levels of creativity. As we grow older this level drop to the point that, when we reach 25, only 2% of us, can be considered creative geniuses.
What happens when we grow older that makes the creative in us drop out? I think two things generally. Logical thinking takes over and we’re not encouraged to think creative anymore. No one shouts hooray if you draw pictures of your family anymore, and no-one runs around on the grass, playing cops and robbers or kiss-catch (which is a real pity).

The need for a synergy between logic & creation is extremely important and true creative geniuses bring the two processes together to create something magical.

So with no further ado…

Tag – you’re it!