We all get into a mental rut sometimes. The same commute, the same magazines, the same pictures of someone else’s dessert flowing through your Facebook page (sigh). Creativity really doesn’t prefer to manifest itself under those kinds of conditions, says Peter Rivera*. To remain as creative as we can be we need to shake it up and get different stimulus through the brain to keep our thoughts fresh. Jumpstarting creativity is really only possible when you put some new items in there to be creative with. Breakthrough ideas are generally interpretations or re-combinations of old ideas – you either have not made a new connection on the synaptic level yet, or you just don’t have the right raw material at your disposal to re-combine in surprising new ways.
If you find yourself feeling as though your creativity is not flowing as easily as it should, some of the following ideas may help you to see things from a new perspective:
Take a different route to work. Don’t follow the same old path. For example, go an extra stop on the Tube and walk back to the office. If you drive, take a train. If you take a train, drive. Or plan a totally new route that exposes you to new streets, buildings and neighbourhoods. You may be a few minutes late, but you may also be twice as revved up with ideas when you get there.
Ask a child’s opinion on something. Kids see the world without all the self-critical gunk you’ve built up your entire life. To them, things are far more (and sometimes painfully) clear as crystal. If you’re looking to get a totally different point of view, then talk to someone under 10. If you share an idea they may crush your ego to bits by bluntly stating ‘That’s stupid’ or ‘I have no idea what you are talking about’. But you may also get some gems like ‘It could use more elephants’, or ‘Those colours look like a bathroom’, or ‘What time is it inside this design?’ This may just put you back in touch with your calcified sense of wonder. And a sense of wonder is a key part of being creative.
Combine the two most absurd ideas you can and see what happens. Which brings me to science fiction and westerns. I always wanted to write a screenplay by mashing up these two disparate genres as a personal challenge to myself (but, alas, never did). Would the results be foul? Possibly. But Joss Whedon seemed to pull it off with his cult show Firefly. Here, he combined two things that often do not intersect and the results were extremely creative (if a ratings bust). Anyway, the point is that combining seemingly disparate ideas is the source of innovation and breakthrough thinking. Start mashing up the absurd. Combine two existing apps, or an app and a TV show, or a blender and an airplane, or… you get the idea. New killer ideas will be spawned. Just this past month we were talking about a Ferris wheel that you drive up to in your car.
Do something you normally criticise. We all have a bit of a critical streak at some level, so try doing the opposite of your normal approach to life this week. If you don’t like sports, go to a football game. If you hate romantic comedies, watch one. Read up on foreign affairs, baking or poetry, whatever seems like something you would never do. You may have all of your initial feelings validated. Or you may expose yourself to a whole new world. Creativity ensues.
Sign up for some cool new app and really explore it top to bottom with a critical eye. Some won’t take you very long. But looking at a competitive experience thoroughly may trigger your competitive streak and get you revving on how it can be improved. And before you know it you are in creative mode, coming up with a whole different business concept or idea. Everything can be improved to the point where it doesn’t even resemble what you originally started riffing off of in the first place.
Got a good tip to shake yourself out of automatic pilot and see things from a different perspective? Send an email to privera@infusion.com.
*Peter Rivera is executive creative director and gm of Infusion’s digital agency. He works directly with clients to help them strategise and conceive next generation brand experiences enabled through technology.
Originally Posted October 22 Brand-e.biz